Purpose Driven exists to serve churches by helping church leaders establish, transform, and maintain healthy, growing congregations built around the God-given purposes of worship, fellowship, discipleship, ministry, and missions.

Churches around the world have adopted the Purpose Driven model. These churches are large and small, denominational and non-denominational, charismatic and non-charismatic, new and well-established, urban and rural. Over 400,000 church leaders in 22 languages have been directly trained, and Purpose Driven congregations exist in a large majority of countries worldwide.

Below you’ll find biographical sketches about Purpose Driven’s leaders. For more information about any of these individuals, please e-mail one of the Media Contacts, listed on the right.

Rick Warren
Founder, Purpose Driven; founding pastor, Saddleback Church, Lake Forest, Calif.

Rick Warren, founding pastor of Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, Calif., is often called "America's most influential spiritual leader." US News & World Report named the author, pastor, and spiritual entrepreneur one of "America's Best Leaders," and TIME magazine listed Warren as one of “15 World Leaders Who Mattered Most in 2004.”

Saddleback Church, one of America's largest and best-known churches, is an evangelical congregation of 22,000 that holds six services each weekend on its 120-acre campus. The church offers over 200 community ministries and services to groups as diverse as prisoners, CEOs, single parents, and those with HIV/AIDS. Recently, the church fed 42,000 homeless people three meals a day for 40 days.

Warren also founded the Purpose Driven movement, a global network of over 100,000 churches in 160 countries, and has trained over 400,000 pastors, ministers, and priests worldwide.

Kay Warren
Executive director, HIV/AIDS Initiative, Saddleback Church; author; teacher; co-founder of Saddleback Church

Kay Warren, wife of Rick Warren, has contributed to every phase of Saddleback Church’s ministry. She’s done everything from lead women’s Bible studies to teach Saddleback’s membership class, to co-author a curriculum that teaches the essential truths of the Christian faith.

In 2002, Kay became seriously disturbed by the millions worldwide suffering with HIV/AIDS. Today, she is a powerful advocate on their behalf as she challenges Christians everywhere to bring relief in Jesus’ name to those in pain, sorrow, poverty, and illness.

Background: Rick and Kay Warren on HIV/AIDS >>