(Author: Jonathan Parnell)
Saddleback Church held its first public service in 1980 when 205 people from all over the spiritual map gathered together in Lake Forest, CA. The gathering had begun as a small Bible study in Rick and Kay Warren's small condo with one other family. Thirty years later the church has grown to host more than 200 ministries that serve the local and global community.
Saddleback highlights four signature ministries of their church:
- Celebrate Recovery seeks to celebrate God's healing and redemptive power over addictive, compulsive, and dysfunctional behaviors.
- The PEACE Plan is a massive effort to mobilize Christians worldwide to address the problems of spiritual emptiness, corrupt leadership, poverty, disease, and illiteracy.
- The HIV/AIDS Initiative was born out of the conviction that "The global HIV and AIDS pandemic is the Church's greatest opportunity to serve the hurting like Jesus did, to show God's love to skeptics, to share the Good News, and to extend a helping hand in communities around the world."
- Orphan Care is rooted in the command of James 1:27 to care for orphans and widows. The Church's role is pivotal here: "As the distribution center for hope in a community, the local church is best able to identify needs and support interventions for orphaned and vulnerable children in every community."
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