“What’s the number one qualification that you’re looking for in a pastor?” another questioner asked. Warren said, “That’s real easy. Someone that will love you as much as I’ve loved you. Someone who’s willing to sacrifice their life, for your benefit, as a good shepherd…I will not allow anyone to become the pastor of this church who doesn’t love you as least as much as I do.”
It’s unknown how long the process will take, Warren he said as he answered another question, adding that there is no timetable.
Saddleback Church elders will lead the process and make the final decision, Warren said. “The elders are in charge of the direction of our church and they will select a task force of members.”
‘One of the things I want to be able to do is spend more time encouraging the leaders at each of our campuses,” he said. Adding that he occasionally plans to teach, he said he looks forward to preaching less. “It takes an enormous toll to do three, four, five, six…[or more] services,” Warren said.
The pastor gave threes reasons for beginning the search now. First, he said it was time for a younger leader who had more energy, new vision, and fresh ideas to lead the next generation and that to undertake that effort during the pandemic would have been a mistake. Secondly, Warren said now the pandemic is waning and the church has a worship center slated to open in the fall, allowing a great opportunity to develop a new leader. The third reason for timing that Warren gave was his health.
“I would like to ask you to pray…Most of you know I was born with a physical condition that has been a thorn in my flesh for 50 years of ministry,” Warren said. He explained that the rare neurological condition called Spinal Myoclonus causes him to shake in a way similar to Parkinson’s patients when adrenaline floods his brain. His condition causes his vision to get blurry when he preaches, making it hard to see his notes, and it gives him painful headaches.
“I don’t love to preach. I love the people I preach to.”
As Warren closed his message, he asked everyone to pray for the Saddleback Church family.
Saddleback Church Recently Ordained Female Pastors
Just a few weeks prior to Warren’s announcement, Saddleback Church landed on the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) leadership’s radar after they ordained three female pastors for the first time in their 42 years of ministry. Saddleback Church is a member of the SBC.
On a Facebook post, Saddleback Church stated, “Yesterday was a historic night for Saddleback Church in many ways! We ordained our first three women pastors, Liz Puffer, Cynthia Petty, and Katie Edwards!”
SBC President J.D. Greear responded to the newly ordained female pastors by saying “While I have long respected Saddleback’s ministry impact and heart for getting the gospel to the nations, I disagree with their decision to take this step, and would even say I find it disappointing.”
You can watch the Rick Warren’s full message below:
