Saddleback Church (Rick Warren)
Major California evangelical megachurch founded by Rick Warren (1980). 'Purpose Driven Life' best-seller. 2023 SBC disfellowship over female associate-pastor ordination.
CLCI radar
BITE breakdown
0 — major evangelical megachurch; mainstream low-control reference.
Profile facts
In context
Saddleback Church is one of the largest US evangelical megachurches. Rick Warren's 'The Purpose Driven Life' (2002) sold 50+ million copies. SBC disfellowshipped Saddleback in 2023 after Warren ordained women as pastors.
Recovery resources
- ICSA (International Cultic Studies Association) — General referral and cult-aware therapist directory.
- INFORM (Information Network on Religious Movements) — LSE-founded UK research-based information service covering new religious movements.
- Freedom of Mind Resource Center — Steven Hassan's organisation; BITE-model resources and family-side exit guidance.
See the full curated list at /resources.
This profile is in progress — history, deeper BITE evidence and survivor voices are still being added. Contributions welcome via GitHub.
Timeline
- 1980Saddleback founded by Warren
- 2002'Purpose Driven Life' published
- 2023SBC disfellowships Saddleback
Sources
- Various Rick Warren publications search ↗
We cite sources by name and outlet rather than fabricating links. Where a source includes its own URL, the open ↗ link opens it directly; otherwise search ↗ runs a Google Scholar query for the cited title — useful for verifying academic sources. For news outlets, search the outlet's own archive.
Change history
Substantive edits logged per the score-updates policy.
- 2026-05-29Phase 1 Batch J: per-group recovery resources applied via programmatic palette (closest-fit by category + subCategory + score). Palette: Mainstream-comparator lighter.
- 2026-05-20Score band scheme migrated from 4 bands to 5 (Minimal 0–5 / Low 6–12 / Moderate 13–20 / High 21–30 / Extreme 31–40). No CLCI value changed; the new Minimal band was carved out of the bottom of the previous Low band.
Key terms in this profile
Relevant hubs
Curated entry points on CLCI Hub for situations connected to this group.
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