Mega-church pastor Rick Warren will accomplish tomorrow what no one else has been able to do: He will bring John McCain and Barack Obama together on the same stage (albeit sequentially) to be grilled about their faith, leadership and compassion.
Make a note of Warren’s name if you don’t already know it. You will shortly.
The 54-year-old Southern Baptist is the founder of Saddleback Church in Orange County, Calif., with 22,000 members - the fourth largest church in America. His book, The Purpose-Driven Life, has sold more copies than any other nonfiction title besides the Bible.
One of the most influential ministers in America, Warren is often touted as the successor to the 89-year-old Billy Graham (although the likelihood that any religious leader will assume that mantle is small in an increasingly religiously diverse America).
But if Warren has not yet quite attained the stature of Graham, he has built a global franchise, thanks in part to techniques he learned from his mentor, management guru Peter F. Drucker. Through his books, workshops and, more recently, his focus on Africa and HIV-AIDS, Warren has the ear of millions of evangelicals - and also of many secular movers and shakers.
As David Van Biema of Time tells it, Warren personally persuaded the two candidates to come to his church with a “Let’s do it” email.
He is unquestionably the U.S.’s most influential and highest-profile churchman. He is a natural leader, a pathological schmoozer, insatiably curious and often the smartest person in the room. Like Graham, he projects an authenticity that has helped him forge an exquisite set of political connections - in the White House, on both sides of the legislative aisle and abroad.
As for the campaigns, it was a no-brainer to participate. What politician would turn down the opportunity to speak directly to millions of evangelical voters who are expected to watch the forum, from 5 to 7 p.m. Saturday, via live-streaming on Saddleback’s website, or on CNN and Fox?
Warren represents a new generation of evangelical leadership - one that is no longer automatically identified with the Republican Party and which is trying to expand beyond ’sin issues’ like abortion and gay marriage, to global poverty, HIV-AIDS and global warming.
“He’s representative of evangelicals who now see that the gospel message is more than just about getting people into heaven,” Kurt Fredrickson, director of the ministry program at Fuller Theological Seminary told Jane Lampman of The Christian Science Monitor. “It’s about how we use our spiritual resources to make this world a better place.”
That poses a challenge to Republicans hoping to maintain their sway, and a potential opportunity for Democrats - particularly for a candidate like Obama who is comfortable talking about his faith and whose views on social justice and the environment may resonate with younger evangelicals. (Obama has already appeared once at Saddleback.)
Which is not to say that core issues like abortion have disappeared as stumbling blocks.
Although Warren did not officially endorse George W. Bush during the 2004 presidential election, he made his preference clear. Two weeks before the election, he sent an email to the several hundred thousand pastors on his mailing list, listing “non-negotiable” issues for Christians to consider when casting their votes, including abortion, stem-cell research, gay marriage, euthanasia and human cloning.
But Warren told Biema that he would not make the same list today, nor would he tread as heavily as a partisan.
“I have never been considered a part of the Religious Right, because I don’t believe politics is the most effective way to change the world,” he said.
“Although public service can be a noble profession, and I believe it is our responsibility to vote, I don’t have much faith in government solutions given the track records. It’s why I am a pastor, not a politician. None of my values have changed from four years ago, but my agenda has definitely expanded.”
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