Rick Warren

He is married to Kay Warren and they have three children - Amy, Josh, and Matthew. They also have four grandchildren.

In 2013, his family was struck by a tragedy when his youngest son Matthew committed suicide. It is believed that he committed suicide due to severe depression and mental illness.

Richard Duane Rick Warren was born in San Jose, California to Jimmy Warren, a Baptist minister and Dot Warren, a high school librarian. He grew up in the neighbourhood of Ukiah, California.

In 1972, he graduated from the Ukiah High School, where he became the founder of The Fishers of Men Club, a Christian club in the school. He later graduated from the California Baptist University with a degree in arts.

In 1979, he graduated from the South-western Baptist Theological Seminary, where he obtained a Master of Divinity degree. He went on to receive a Doctor of Ministry degree from the Fuller Theological Seminary.

In 1973, by the time he turned nineteen, he was called to full-time ministry, while he was still a student at the California Baptist University. That year, he also drove to San Francisco to hear Pastor W.A. Criswell preaching.

In 1980, he gave his first public service speech at the Saddleback Church, which he founded at the Laguna Hills High School Theater, California. It was the occasion of an Easter Sunday and the service was attended by 200 people.

In 1995, he published ‘The Purpose Driven Church’, a book meant for pastors and church authorities. In this book, he highlighted the concept of God’s purpose rather than the ideology of the authorities on ministry.

In 2002, he came out with his book, ‘The Purpose Driven Life’, which was a devotional book, published by the Zondervan Christian media and publishing company.

In 2006, he spoke at the TED global set of conferences and that year his church (the Saddleback Church) hosted the Global Summit on AIDS, which was attended by Barack Obama.

His book ‘The Purpose Driven Church’, which was published in the year 1995, was voted as the second most influential book in a survey conducted by George Barna.

Published in 2002, ‘The Purpose Driven Life’ was featured on the New York Times bestseller list. This was one of his bestselling books that sold over 30 million copies.

He is the founder of the Saddleback Church, which is an evangelical Christian mega-church. It is the eighth largest church in the United States of America.