Better Together (Study Guide)

Rick Warren
Dr. Rick Warren is a pastor, author, global strategist, theologian and philanthropist. He's often been named "America's most influential spiritual leader" and "America's Pastor." Calling him a spiritual entrepreneur, Forbes magazine said, "If Warren's ministry was a business it would be compared with Dell, Google, or Starbucks in impact."

As a pastor, Warren founded Saddleback Church in Orange County, California in 1980 with one other family. Today, it is one of the largest and best-known churches in the world and one of America's most influential with approximately 22,000 weekly attendees, a 120-acre campus and over 300 community ministries and support groups for families, single parents, prisoners, addicts, those with: HIV/AIDS; depression; MS; Parkinson's; Autism and many others. On one occasion the church fed 42,000 homeless people - three meals a day - for 40 days.

He also leads the Purpose Driven Network of churches, a global coalition of congregations in 162 countries. More than 400,000 ministers and priests have been trained worldwide, and almost 157,000 church leaders subscribe to the Ministry ToolBox, his weekly newsletter. His book, The Purpose Driven Church is listed in "100 Christian Books That Changed the 20th Century." Forbes magazine called it "the best book on entrepreneurship, management, and leadership in print."

His online interactive community, Pastors.com, provides sermons, forums, and other practical resources for pastors - including archives of a bi-weekly newsletter that is sent to more than 100,000 pastors and ministry leaders.

Dr. Warren and his wife Kay are passionate about global missions and what he calls attacking the five Global Goliaths - spiritual emptiness, egocentric leadership, extreme poverty, pandemic disease, and illiteracy/poor education. His goal is a second Reformation by restoring responsibility in people, credibility in churches, and civility in culture. The solution is The Peace Plan, a massive effort to mobilise Christians around the world into an outreach effort to attack these five global giants of today by promoting reconciliation, equipping servant leaders, assisting the poor, caring for the sick, and educating the next generation.

As an author he wrote the #1 all-time best-selling hardback in American history, The Purpose Driven Life, with over 30 million copies sold worldwide. He has also written The Hope You Need: From The Lords Prayer; Rick Warren's Bible Study Methods: Twelve Ways You Can Unlock God's Word; and God's Answers to Life's Difficult Questions.

As a theologian, Dr. Warren holds a B.A. from California Baptist University, a M.Div. from South western Theological Seminary, and Doctor of Ministry from Fuller Theological Seminary. He has lectured at Oxford, Cambridge, the University of Judaism, the Evangelical Theological Society, and numerous seminaries and universities. He is known for explaining theology in understandable ways and his books have been translated into more than 50 languages. Dr. Warren says he teaches theology without using theological terms and telling people it is theology.

As a global strategist, Dr. Warren advises leaders in the public, private, and faith sectors on leadership development, poverty, health, education, and faith in culture. He has been invited to speak at the United Nations, the World Economic Forum in Davos, the African Union, The Council on Foreign Relations, Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, TIME's Global Health Summit, and numerous congresses around the world. TIME magazine named him one of "15 World Leaders Who Mattered Most" in 2004 - and in 2005 one of the "100 Most Influential People in the World". Also, in 2005 U.S. News and World Report named him one of "America's 25 Best Leaders."

As philanthropists, Rick and Kay Warren give away 90 percent of their income through three foundations: Acts of Mercy, which serves those infected and affected by AIDS; Equipping the Church, which trains church leaders in developing countries; and The Global PEACE Fund, which fights poverty, disease, and illiteracy.

Dr Warren and his wife reside in Southern California. They have three children and four grandchildren.
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