![]() The SBC has in recent years authorized the ouster of churches that don’t conform to its statement of faith. Over the past decade, Warren also launched an ambitious plan to expand the church’s reach across Southern California as well as globally, a vision his successor has promised to complete. With his charisma and easy, informal preaching style, Warren attracted thousands to the megachurch. The church grew from a startup by Rick Warren and his wife, Kay Warren. Warren, with a social media following in the millions, has written multiple books, including the widely successful “The Purpose Driven Life.” In 2005, Time magazine named Warren one of the “100 Most Influential People in the World,” and he delivered the invocation at President Barack Obama’s inauguration in 2009. “However, we remain committed to upholding the theological convictions of the SBC and maintaining unity among its cooperating churches.” The five churches ousted for having women as pastors “have been valued, cooperating churches for many years, and this decision was not made lightly,” Committee Chairman Jared Wellman said in a statement. There are four international campuses -in Hong Kong, Germany, the Philippines and Argentina. ![]() With its main campus in Lake Forest, south of Los Angeles, Saddleback Church has grown over four to 14 locations in Southern California, with an average weekly attendance of 30,000. ![]() It did not respond immediately to requests for comment on the Executive Committee decision. Saddleback has the right to appeal the decision at the Southern Baptists’ next annual meeting, scheduled for New Orleans in June. The Executive Committee’s motion said that Saddleback “has a faith and practice that does not closely identify with the Convention’s adopted statement of faith, as demonstrated by the church having a female teaching pastor functioning in the office of pastor.” ![]() While Southern Baptists’ statement of faith officially opposes women as pastors, each congregation is self-governing, so the main enforcement mechanism is to oust it from membership. It voted to approve a recommendation from the denomination’s Credentials Committee that Saddleback be deemed “not in friendly cooperation with the Convention” - the terminology used for ousting a church. ![]()
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