Warren, who hasn’t been as publicly vocal about his position as MacArthur has, believes a church shouldn’t be limited to a physical gathering as its sole expression of worship and implies that some churches should reevaluate how they are structured. For Saddleback, which has built itself on a model of small group ministry and community outreach, Warren believes their diversity of programs has served them well:
Saddleback is built not on one purpose, but on five. You take one circle out, we’ve still got four other circles. We’ve got ministry going on. We’ve got mission going on. We’ve got fellowship going on. We’ve got discipleship going on. Those all stand on their own.
In fact, Warren says Saddleback is doing so well they are “in revival” right now. He told Strang “We have led over 16,000 people to Christ since March….We’re averaging about 80 people a day coming to Christ—80 people a day.”
Furthermore, Warren doesn’t see the state’s restrictions on houses of worship as being discriminatory. He says churches “might have a discrimination case if theaters weren’t closed, football games weren’t closed, concerts weren’t happening.” Instead, Warren sees the restrictions as a safety issue.
This isn’t to say that both churches have operated in such opposite ways that they haven’t overlapped in some areas. For instance, GCC does have a small group ministry that has been operating, according to Roys’ reporting and the church’s website. It’s also apparent that GCC isn’t limiting its ministry efforts to worship services once a week that members have no choice but to attend in person. As with most things in life, the situation requires nuance to interpret.
Now that Los Angeles county has lifted its ban on indoor worship services thanks to recent SCOTUS decisions favoring a church’s right to assemble, it remains to be seen if and how MacArthur and Warren might revise their approaches to ministry in as the pandemic wears on.
