RICK WARREN (Saddleback Valley Community Church, Lake Forest, California)
Rick Warren was born in San Jose, California and earned a Bachelor of Arts from California Baptist University, a Master of Divinity from Southwestern Theological Seminary, and a Doctor of Ministry from Fuller Theological Seminary. He and his wife Kay founded Saddleback Church when he was just 25 years old and he continues to serve as the senior pastor. He is the author of the bestselling book The Purpose Driven Life. To many, he is Pastor Rick, but to his church, he is Papa Rick—a voice of wisdom, hope, encouragement, and vision.
Since founding Saddleback Church 33 years ago, Pastor Rick has become one of the nation’s leading pastors. He mentors young leaders, and many of today’s leading pastors credit him and his book The Purpose Driven Church for inspiring them to pursue their own callings to ministry. He has trained over 400,000 church leaders from 163 countries on the Purpose Driven principles of church health and balance. Pastor Rick also founded Pastors.com—an online interactive community that provides sermons, forums, and other practice resources for pastors.