Rick warren

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Pastor Rick Warren

Richard Duane "Rick" Warren (born January 28, 1954 in San José , California ) is an American clergyman and bestselling author of Christian books, of which Life with Vision has been sold around 30 million times worldwide.

Rick Warren is the pastor of Megachurch Saddleback Evangelical Church in Lake Forest , California . Rick Warren received his training at Baptist institutions. The church he founded (Saddleback Church) is a Baptist church and belongs to the Southern Baptist Convention .

Life

Warren was born on January 28, 1954 in San Jose to Jimmy and Dot Warren. His father was a Baptist pastor and his mother a librarian.

After graduating from high school, he studied theology and earned a Bachelor of Arts from California Baptist University , Riverside, and a Master of Divinity from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth in 1979 . He also received his PhD from Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California . He was also awarded several honorary doctorates.

In 1980 Warren founded Saddleback Church, which he has chaired ever since. According to the company, 22,000 worshipers visit the 19 branches in Southern California every week. Further branches of the community are in Berlin, Hong Kong, Buenos Aires and Manila.

Warren is married and has three adult children (Amy, Josh, and Matthew) and two grandchildren with his wife, Kay. On April 5, 2013, his son Matthew, who had long suffered from severe depression, committed suicide. This suicide also had a major impact on Warren's ministry and preaching.

On January 20, 2009, Rick Warren offered an intercessory prayer at the inauguration of Barack Obama .

The book The Purpose Driven Life

Warren is through his book The Purpose Driven Life (German: Driven Life ) became known that on the bestseller list of the New York Times led for over two years, the section bound counselor. Warren describes five biblical principles that are necessary for a full life:

  • Worship puts God at the center of my life
  • Community identifies me with the church of God
  • Discipleship : following Jesus makes me grow and mature
  • Service: through charity I serve God
  • Evangelism : I pass on God's message to other people

The notoriety of the book is, among other things a hostage in March 2005 in Atlanta in the US state of Georgia due. The hostage Ashley Smith read passages from the book to the hostage taker Brian Nichols shortly before her release. The US media speculated about the role of the book in the hostage situation, which increased its popularity enormously and also ensured that book sales rose sharply.

Since 2003, more than 700 congregations in Germany, Austria and Switzerland and around 40,000 congregations of various denominations, forms and denominations worldwide have taken part in a campaign for the book. The members of the participating congregations read part of the book every day and discuss it in small groups and in the church services.

A few voices accuse Warren of being influenced by New Age ideas, in part through his alleged mentor Robert Schuller . Richard Abanes is defending Warren against these allegations.

Awards

In 2002, American magazine Christianity Today recognized Warren as the most influential pastor in America. The TIME magazine leads him among the "15 World Leaders Who Mattered Most in 2004" ( English for: Top 15 world's most important leaders ) and the "100 Most Influential People in the World" (2005) ( English for 100 most influential people in the World ). Newsweek names him as one of "15 People Who Make America Great" ( English for: 15 people who make America great ). The magazine US News & World Report named him in 2005 one of "America's Top 25 Leaders" ( English for: America's 25 most important leaders ).

Works

literature

  • Richard Abanes: Rick Warren: It's not about me - the story of a vision . 2006, ISBN 3-417-24968-6
  • Jonas Schilke: Target group-oriented church services with Rick Warren and Dan Kimball. Analysis of the book "Emerging Church". GRIN, 2013. ISBN 978-3-65640-115-5 (student thesis from 2011 in the field of practical theology)

Web links

Commons : Rick Warren  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. Mega Church Statistics (accessed September 18, 2012).
  2. Saddleback Church mega-congregation celebrates 50,000. Baptism , idea.de, article from August 13, 2018.
  3. http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/04/06/pastor-rick-warren-son-commits-suicide
  4. https://www.kath.net/news/41470
  5. As of 2011, according to the German campaign office
  6. ^ Warren B. Smith: Deceived on Purpose: The New Age Implications of the Purpose Driven Church . 2nd Edition. Mountain Stream Press, Magalia 2006, ISBN 978-0-9667071-3-7 ("Mountain Stream Press is the publishing arm of Warren B. Smith's ministry").
  7. Bob DeWaay: Redefining Christianity: Understanding the Purpose Driven Life Movement . 21st Century Press, Springfield (Missouri) 2006, ISBN 978-0-9771964-3-2 (From the publisher's website: "As a royalty / subsidy press, the author only pays the up-front costs for publishing the book") .
  8. Richard Abanes: Rick Warren and the Purpose that Drives Him: An Insider Looks at the Phenomenal Bestseller . Includes Exclusive Interview with Rick Warren. Harvest House Publishers, Eugene (Oregon) 2005, ISBN 978-0-7369-1738-4 , chap. 5: A New Spirituality? ( Limited preview in Google Book Search [accessed October 10, 2016]).