Rick Warren’s book The Purpose Driven Life outlines how every human has a divine purpose according to God’s master plan. It has sold over 25 million copies worldwide, on par with Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code. Warren is often given credit for the startling growth of his Southern California church, Saddleback, which began with one family and has grown to some 50,000 members. His blueprint for growing churches is based on what he calls ‘the Purpose Driven church paradigm for church health’. That programme is now being rolled out in Europe, prompting Warren to make his first trip to the UK last summer, organised in partnership with the Alliance. EA caught up with him between conference sessions in Nottingham...
idea: Do you think the Purpose Driven model will work in Britain?
Warren: If a principle is biblical then it is trans-cultural. This is not an American strategy, but a New Testament strategy. Of course it has to be adapted, but the purposes don’t change. In fact there are far more Purpose Driven churches outside the United States. Kingsway Church in London, the UK’s largest church, is a Purpose Driven church.
idea: You speak of five fundamental purposes — fellowship, spiritual maturity, service, evangelism and worship. How do you balance these things in churches with vastly different traditions?
"If churches don't have tje roght purposes, they're just a social club"
Rick Warren
Warren: You need to start multiple services. At Saddleback we have services at six different times, and the music and style is different for each one. The idea is not to do away with the old, but to put more hooks in the water to catch more fish.
idea: With 16,000 people attending each weekend, Saddleback is one of America’s largest churches. Are these kinds of numbers realistic in the UK?
Warren: Definitely not. The Purpose Driven strategy has nothing to do with size or denomination. It’s about church health, not church growth. I don’t particularly like large churches. There is no correlation between the size and strength of a church. Big isn’t necessarily better. The important thing is for a church to be in balance. Churches will grow to however big God wants them to be. But if churches don’t have the right purposes — specifically those five — they’re just a social club.
idea: The President of Rwanda wants his country to become Purpose Driven. George Bush has contacted you about it. And so has our own Prime Minister, right?
Warren: Yes, Tony Blair has a heart for the poor.
idea: You have received a lot of praise, including a mention on Time magazine’s list of the 100 men and women whose power, talent or moral example is transforming the world. What do your critics say?
Warren: I think one of the criticisms we tend to get most is that this is just a money- making machine. In fact, my wife Kay and I are ‘reverse tithers’, we give money back to Saddleback and projects close to our heart such as the Global PEACE Plan, which stands for Plant churches, Equip the leaders, Assist the poor, Care for the sick and Educate the next generation. The goal is to empower the poor and disenfranchised. The purpose of influence is to speak up for those who have no influence.
Liz Hogarth
The Evangelical Alliance Northern Ireland is organising two study tours to Saddleback in California this year. For more information go to Alliance related events.
