Rick Warren

Rick Warren (1954–) is a prominent American evangelical pastor based at the Saddleback Church, a megachurch based in Lake Forest, California. He gave one of the invocations at the inauguration of President Barack Obama, and presided over a debate during the 2008 election cycle with both Obama and his Republican opponent John McCain.

Warren is widely-known as an author of the Christian self-help bestseller The Purpose Driven Life and his book on ministry The Purpose Driven Church. He boils his message down to five essential points: worship, ministry, mission, fellowship and discipleship.

Obama's invitation to Warren to lead the invocation at the inauguration ceremony prompted many progressive and LGBT activists to complain about Warren's alleged anti-gay attitudes and his support for Proposition 8, the California ballot initiative that banned same-sex marriage.