Saddleback Church celebrates with huge party, including a Ferris wheel

Saddleback Church celebrates 40 years with huge party, including a Ferris wheel, at its Lake Forest campus

Erika I. Ritchie

PUBLISHED: February 9, 2020 at 5:03 p.m. | UPDATED: February 9, 2020 at 10:23 p.m.

Saddleback Church pastor Rick Warren, center right, hugs a member as he walks the campus during the church’s 40th birthday party in Lake Forest on Sunday, February 9, 2020. Saddleback Church congregations from across Southern California were invited to the Lake Forest church to celebrate. (Photo by Paul Rodriguez, Contributing Photographer)

Saddleback Church on Sunday, Feb. 9, threw a huge bash at the church’s main campus in Lake Forest.

The event, which fell on the birthday of Kay Warren, wife of Pastor Rick Warren, celebrated the church’s 40 years in the community and those who had helped it grow.

Church officials expected between 25,000 to 30,000 parishioners from its 14 campuses across Southern California to come out. Special guests from Saddleback’s four international campuses were also invited.

Festivities included a Ferris wheel, a zip line and an opportunity to learn about the church’s history during a film screening.

Rick and Kay Warren selected the Saddleback Valley in 1980 to start their church with a plan of staying in one spot for 40 years. Rick Warren’s first Bible study was held on Jan. 26, 1980 and the first church service was held with 205 people in a classroom at Laguna Hills High School that Easter.

Warren, who has 8 million social media followers, has written eight books including “The Purpose Driven Life,” which has sold nearly 40 million copies in English, according to Publisher’s Weekly. In 2005, Time magazine named Warren one of the “100 Most Influential People in the World.”

In August 2018, Saddleback Church reached a milestone when it held its 50,000th baptism. It has launched three community PEACE Centers with food pantries and has a farm that produces 15,000 pounds of produce for church food pantries, serving 20,000 families a year.

For church officials and the Warrens, Sunday’s celebration was about celebrating the people who helped the church grow over the past 40 years and to inspire future generations.

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