Blog: Saddleback Church
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Saddleback Church - Sunday, January 21, 2007
I had the opportunity yesterday with Priscilla, her mom, and around 15 people from MBCLA to visit Saddleback Church, the church founded by the famous pastor Rick Warren (author of The Purpose Driven Life), 75 miles away in Lake Forrest.
We began our visit with an architectural tour of the very nice campus, that looked more like a resort than a church with its rolling hills, giant palm trees, a water fountain bisecting the main stairway, an upscale cafe and plaza, and elegantly designed and multi-themed buildings. At first glance, one might be quick to denounce such luxuriousness as worldliness or a misuse of God's resources. But hearing of how Rick Warren believed that a church is not about buildings but about people, how they did not have a building to call their own for 15 years, and some pondering on my part helped me understand their intentions.
For a church that's grown so big (22,000+ members) and has six services plus dozens of ministries per week, a large campus is a must, complete with facilities for food and relaxation. Because let's face it- some people spending the whole day at church are bound to get hungry and tired. Something I found interesting is that Saddleback's main priority is reaching non-Christians: the unchurched and those with negative church experiences. To those people, the upscale (Orange County, need I say more?) and inviting atmosphere of the campus offers an immediate welcome to those already hesitant to set foot upon the grounds of a church. Members of the church are warm and welcoming, and are glad to volunteer their time serving in ministries of all kinds. In fact Saddleback has only a couple hundred paid staff, and several thousand volunteers.
We concluded the day with a visit to the huge worship center where pastor Doug Fields spoke on control of your life vs. faith in Christ. He was funny, animated, and his messsage really spoke to my heart. It was interesting to see that he used only a few verses from the Bible, and members were not expected to have their own Bibles (nor were Bibles provided). Prayer was also not much of a focus, with only one prayer said at the end of the service. But again, considering again the goal to reach non-Christians, these can be good methods to communicate the Gospel to them in a way that is not threatening and still meaningful and true. Our tour guide did say that Saddleback has individual ministries that delve more into specific ares of Bible study and life issues, but we didn't have time to check out any of them. Saddleback has been successful in leading thousands to Christ. My hope for them is that once they have found Christ, they will continue to grow in faith, maturity, and love. Seeing how people at Saddleback worship and serve was greatly encouraging to me.
We began our visit with an architectural tour of the very nice campus, that looked more like a resort than a church with its rolling hills, giant palm trees, a water fountain bisecting the main stairway, an upscale cafe and plaza, and elegantly designed and multi-themed buildings. At first glance, one might be quick to denounce such luxuriousness as worldliness or a misuse of God's resources. But hearing of how Rick Warren believed that a church is not about buildings but about people, how they did not have a building to call their own for 15 years, and some pondering on my part helped me understand their intentions.
For a church that's grown so big (22,000+ members) and has six services plus dozens of ministries per week, a large campus is a must, complete with facilities for food and relaxation. Because let's face it- some people spending the whole day at church are bound to get hungry and tired. Something I found interesting is that Saddleback's main priority is reaching non-Christians: the unchurched and those with negative church experiences. To those people, the upscale (Orange County, need I say more?) and inviting atmosphere of the campus offers an immediate welcome to those already hesitant to set foot upon the grounds of a church. Members of the church are warm and welcoming, and are glad to volunteer their time serving in ministries of all kinds. In fact Saddleback has only a couple hundred paid staff, and several thousand volunteers.
We concluded the day with a visit to the huge worship center where pastor Doug Fields spoke on control of your life vs. faith in Christ. He was funny, animated, and his messsage really spoke to my heart. It was interesting to see that he used only a few verses from the Bible, and members were not expected to have their own Bibles (nor were Bibles provided). Prayer was also not much of a focus, with only one prayer said at the end of the service. But again, considering again the goal to reach non-Christians, these can be good methods to communicate the Gospel to them in a way that is not threatening and still meaningful and true. Our tour guide did say that Saddleback has individual ministries that delve more into specific ares of Bible study and life issues, but we didn't have time to check out any of them. Saddleback has been successful in leading thousands to Christ. My hope for them is that once they have found Christ, they will continue to grow in faith, maturity, and love. Seeing how people at Saddleback worship and serve was greatly encouraging to me.