Backlash at Rick Warren's Church

The controversial image 

 

 

Comments by Saddleback pastor Rick Warren and a video shown at the church have prompted hundreds of Asian American church leaders and their supporters have put out an open letter about “the continuing divide that persists in the North American evangelical church in the area of racial harmony.” The letter called on Evangelicals to “make a more concerted effort to both understand and address the concerns of (their) Asian American brothers and sisters.” Warren posted a photo (to the left) on Facebook that many Asian readers found offensive--a smiling Chinese woman dressed in Red Guard uniform with the caption "The typical attitude of Saddleback Staff as they start work each day." The Red Guard has a history of atrocities. Warren called it a joke, but ne commenter said it is like "joking about the Holocaust." He apologized a couple of days later. A video shown at a Saddleback video further created a stir, when a white actor pretended to be an Asian from the movie Karate Kid, speaking in a mock accent. Another apology was issued and the video was taken down. Saddleback opened a new branch this month in Hong Kong.

Getting to Know.. Rick Warren

Rick Warren

• Born: 1954, San Jose, California
• Childhood: Raised a Southern Baptist in Redwood Valley, CA
• Residence: Trabuco Canyon, California.
• Family: 4th generation pastor, married, 3 adult children
• Dress: wears Hawaiian shirts and sandals when he preaches
• Education: Bachelor of Arts from California Baptist College in Riverside; Master of Divinity from Southwestern Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas; Doctor of Ministry from Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California
• Church: Pastor of Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, California; More than 23,000 people attend Saddleback regularly and the church has baptized more than 14,000 people in the past decade; it has more than 20 services that feature different styles of live music from heavy metal to reggae
• Books: The Purpose Driven Church (1995) has sold a half million copies and The Purpose Driven Life (2002) has more than 30 million in English-language sales
• Profits: Gave 90% of his profits from The Purpose Driven Life to his church
• Warren has given "purpose-driven training" to more than half-a-million pastors. One out of 20 US churches have taken the 40 Days of Purpose exercises.
• Favorite Bible verse: Acts 13:36, "He served God’s purpose for his generation. And then he died."

Warren Makes Plans following Son's Death

Rick Warren and his wife are planning private funeral services for their son who shot and killed himself this last week. Matthew suffering from depression his entire life. The Warren's also plan to established the Matthew Warren Fund for Mental Illness and set up a blog site to accept contributions to "others affected by mental illness." Since news of his suicide became public, Warren has been attacked for his political stands against same-sex marriage and for his preaching. Here's a video from the church's Sunday morning service.

Rick Warren's Son Commits Suicide

Matthew Warren, the youngest son of megachurch Pastor Rick Warren, is dead. The 27 year old committed suicide yesterday after a lifetime of battling mental illness. Rick Warren wrote The Purpose-Driven Life and founded Saddleback Valley Community Church. He sent members of his church a letter that read in part:

“At 27 years of age, Matthew was an incredibly kind, gentle and compassionate young man whose sweet spirit was encouragement and comfort to many. Unfortunately, he also suffered from mental illness resulting in deep depression and suicidal thoughts. No words can express the anguished grief we feel right now. He had a brilliant intellect and a gift for sensing who was most in pain or most uncomfortable in a room. He’d then make a bee-line to that person to engage and encourage them. In spite of America’s best doctors, meds, counselors, and prayers for healing, the torture of mental illness never subsided. Today, after a fun evening together with Kay and me, in a momentary wave of despair at his home, he took his life.

Read the whole letter here.

Warren Hospitalized

Megachurch pastor Rick Warren is in a California hospital. The Saddleback pastor said he was having pain in his arms and numbness in his fingers. He's now undergoing tests. He has canceled plans to lead a church event tomorrow (Thursday).

Warren: Jail is Preferrable

Rick Warren says jail is preferable to supporting the Obama administration's policy that forces institutions affiliated with religious groups to provide coverage for birth control, abortion and sterilization. Warren Tweeted: "I'm not a Catholic but I stand in 100% solidarity with my brothers & sisters to practice their belief against govt pressure." He suggested that he's ready to go to jail and asked his Twitter followers to be ready to do the same.

$5 Million by Dec 31

Rick Warren is asking his congregation to give $5 million before the end of the year. The megachurch pastor told his Saddleback Church he would jumpstart the giving by pledging $1 million himself. The money will go, among other things, to start 5 church campuses. Warren says he takes no salary from the church, no money for speaking engagements and he supports his family solely from the royalties off his book.

Warren Makes Top 20

Rick Warren and the Dalai Lama were the only religious figures to make Forbe's list of the top 20 most influential Twitter celebrities. Topping the list was 16-year-old singer Justin Bieber with more than 6.3 million followers. Warren, author of The Purpose Driven Life , has more than 209,000 followers, putting him at number 20. Along with some personal tweets, Warren mostly offers challenges, Scripture verses, mentoring advice and encouragement to his Twitter followers. You can follow him here.

Megachurch Pastor Injured

Rick Warren is recovering from accident that severely burned his eyes. He was pruning in his garden Monday when he inadvertently wiped the toxic sap of a firestick plant in his eyes. Warren was hospitalized and released the next day. The California pastor has been on a leave from preaching at his church to write the church's fall curriculum on Christian service.

Megachurch Raises Even More

Rick Warren says his Saddleback Church has now raised $2.5 million in six days after he appealed for funds. The magachurch pastor his congregation they were $900,000 short. The money will go toward the church's ministries which include feeding homeless families, overseas outreach and small group ministries. The church says most of the donations were small, less than $100.

Saddleback's Fundraising

Rick Warren asked for $900,000. He got more than twice that amount. His Southern California megachurch was running deficit and Warren presented the problem to his congregation. Saddleback members responded with an outpouring of $2.4 million. During a service this weekend, Warren had 24 parishioners rise to represent $100,000 each. The church says nearly all the gifts were individual donations of less than $1,000. More donations remain to be counted since the $2.4 million was the amount brought in by New Year's Eve. Saddleback is the nation's sixth largest church. In 2005, it raised $1.7 million for victims of Hurricane Katrina and $1.6 million in 2004 for victims of the Asian tsunami.

Warren: Goal Reached

Rick Warren says his church got what it needed. The mega-church leader had issued an urgent call for donations to his Southern California church, saying there was a $900,000 shortage in collections. More than 46,000 attended Christmas services at Saddleback Church.

Purpose Driven Fundraiser

Rick Warren is trying to raise nearly $1 million in two days. The Southern California mega-pastor is trying to make up for a shortfall in donations. In a letter to the Saddleback congregation, Warren says the church is $900,000 in the red for the year.

Warren: Newsmaker of Year

California megachurch pastor Rick Warren is the 2009 Religion Newsmaker of the Year for the Religion Newswriters Association.

Prophet of Purpose

There's a new unauthorized book about Rick Warren that says he has battled depression and suffered from marriage troubles. The book is titled Prophet of Purpose: The Life of Rick Warren and written by US News and World Report religion editor Jeffery Sheler.

Rick and Kay Warren disclosed that they were not attracted to each other nor had feelings for each other when they agreed to be married. She had been dating his best friend when Warren says he heard God tell him to marry Kay. He waiting until the couple broke up and then asked Kay to marry him on their second date. Practically strangers their wedding day, the couple had many problems at first, leading to Warren's hospitalization for exhaustion.

Warren also admits he became depressed after his first year of pastoring and litterally fled into the desert because he didn’t feel that he deserved to be successful.

Sheler says in writing the book, he was surprised to find Warren was pretty much the same person in both private and public meetings.

Reader's Digest Project Dropped

Rick Warren and Reader's Digest magazine have called it quits less than a year after starting a multimedia project called the Purpose Driven Connection. Warren's Saddleback Church is taking over the operation and the quarterly print magazine will be completely discontinued. Reader's Digest filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection earlier this year. Rick Warren is author of the best-selling book The Purpose Driven Life.

Warren Speaks to Muslims

Megachurch pastor Rick Warren addressed the annual convention of the Islamic Society of North America yesterday. During his 25-minute speech, he told the audience that "the two largest faiths on the planet" must work together to combat stereotypes and solve global problems of war, poverty, corruption, disease and illiteracy. He went on to say, "My deepest faith is in Jesus Christ. I am committed not only to the good news but the common good. Scripture says 'love your neighbor as yourself.' I am commanded to respect everybody." The annual convention pulls together more than 30,000 people each year.

Warren to Islamic Meeting

Mega-church pastor Rick Warren will speak at the upcoming annual convention of the Islamic Society of North America over the Fourth of July weekend in Washington, D.C. The Saddleback Church pastor will take part in a panel discussion. Some 40,000 Muslims are expected to attend.

Warren Skips Interview

This past Sunday, Rick Warren was supposed to appear on the ABC show hosted George Stephanopoulos "This Week". But the megachurch pastor decided not to go on the show to clarify his controversial remarks surrounding California’s proposed constitutional amendment to define marriage between a man and a woman.. His church said Warren was exhausted. Warren delivered his Easter sermon at his church in Southern California but was sick Saturday when the ABC interview was due to be taped. Fox News told viewers that Saddleback Church had put varnish on the pulpit right before the services and the fumes got to him. Some bloggers are suggesting that Warren is ducking the marriage controversy. The issue started when he told CNN's Larry King that he did not campaign for passage of the measure. He said, "I am not an anti-gay- or anti-gay-marriage activist. Never have been, never will be.”

Warren On Gay Marriage

Rick Warren spoke with Christianity Today magazine about recent media reports that he had changed his position on gay marriage:

In a Beliefnet interview.. Steve Waldman asked me about gay marriage. I said I believe marriage, that term, should be reserved for a man and a woman. I'm not saying same-sex couples don't love each other. I gave some examples of what I think shouldn't be considered to be marriage, like an older guy with a younger woman. Then [Waldman] said, "Are you saying that those are the same thing?" I said, "Oh sure." It made it sound like I was equating homosexuality with pedophilia and incest. I don't believe it, never have, and never would. I don't believe that, but because I made a commitment to not say anything about it, people just ran with it. They were looking for a new poster boy. There's a lot of hatred out there.