Rick Warren

Written by Jeremy Massel

Rick Warren is the founding pastor of Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, California. He and his wife, Kay, began the church in their home in January 1980, with one family.

Now, with 16,000 in attendance each weekend, and over 50,000 names on the church roll, Saddleback is one of America’s largest and best-known churches. It’s been named the fastest growing Baptist church in history, and the largest church in the Southern Baptist Convention.

In the past seven years, more than 9,200 new believers have been baptized at Saddleback. The church has also started 34 daughter churches, and sent over 4,000 of its members on mission projects around the world.