Saddleback Church is an evangelical Christian megachurch located in Lake Forest, California, situated in southern Orange County, affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention. The church was founded in 1980 by Pastor Rick Warren.
Saddleback’s first public service was held on Palm Sunday, March 30, 1980 with 40 people in attendance at the Laguna Hills High School Theater. Just one week later, on Easter Sunday, 240 were in attendance. Warren’s church growth methods led to rapid growth and the church has used nearly eighty different facilities in its 30-year history, including the Laguna Hills HS Theater and Trabuco Hills High School Gymnasium.
Weekly church attendance averages over 20,000 people, currently making it the seventh-largest church in the United States (this ranking includes multi-site churches).
Saddleback Church currently has 9 regional campuses (not including the Lake Forest campus): San Clemente, Irvine South, Irvine North, Corona, Huntington Beach, San Juan Capistrano, Anaheim (The Grove), Laguna Woods, Los Angeles and 4 international campuses: South Manila, Philippines, Hong Kong, Buenos Aires, Argentina and Berlin, Germany. Several more campuses are planned in the next few years. In addition, Saddleback is “virtually” attended online by those around the country and the world who watch and listen to worship services on demand.
Notable staff include Rick Warren, Kay Warren and Rick Muchow. Saddleback is known for their signature ministries such as Celebrate Recovery, AIDS/HIV Ministry, Daniel Plan Ministry and PEACE Ministry.
Related post: Pastor Rick Warren Baptizes 45,000th Person in 36 Years
Lake Forest Campus
Saddleback Church’s main campus located in Lake Forest, California has multiple facilities to meet every church attendee’s needs.
The church’s main services are held in the Worship Center on the upper portion of the campus. For high school and middle school students, the Refinery is located on lower campus. Elementary and preschool age students have a Children’s Ministry building also on lower campus.
The Lake Forest campus also hosts a bookstore, amphitheater, fitness course, multi-use tents and portables, as well as two office buildings.
The Lake Forest campus hosts services at 4:00 and 6:00 pm on Saturdays and 9:00, 11:00, 1:00 and 6:00 on Sundays. Sunday nights has been canceled. ( please check on Saddleback Website for times)
Saddleback Church is located at the following places in the United States:
- Aliso Viejo, CA
- Anaheim, CA
- Corona, CA
- Irvine North, CA
- Irvine South, CA
- Laguna Woods, CA
- Lake Forest, CA
- Los Angeles, CA
- Newport Mesa, CA
- Rancho Capistrano, CA
- San Clemente, CA
- San Diego, CA
- South Bay, CA
The Purpose Driven Church (PDC) curriculum and Celebrate Recovery program were founded at Saddleback Church.