Pastor leverages social media platform to mentor, inspire and provide hope
LAKE FOREST, Calif., Dec. 16, 2010 – In a Klout study compiled for Forbes released Dec. 15, Dr. Rick Warren (@RickWarren) was listed among the top 20 most influential on Twitter. He and the Dalai Lama are the only two religious leaders on the list with the rest representing entertainment, political and news “celebrities.”
Though he has only been a Twitter member for a little over a year, Warren has more than 200,000 followers of which over 50,000 have retweeted one or more of his messages. According to the study, Warren’s message reach per tweet is approximately 1 million people, including retweets.
“When Twitter first appeared in July of 2007, my staff told me that I should sign up, but I said no way,” said Warren. “The idea of telling people the minutia of my life seemed so narcissistic. But while conducting a funeral with Pastor John Piper, he told me he used Twitter to teach. So I decided to add it as one of the mentoring tools I use with my network of young church leaders. I guess other people wanted to listen in, too.”
Warren was unaware of the honor until a follower tweeted him with the news. “All glory belongs to God,” Warren said. “For 30 years we’ve always tried to use every means available to help as many as possible, and share the transforming message of the Gospel.”
In 1992, Saddleback was the first church to be on the Internet. Today, Warren uses Facebook, LinkedIn, podcasts, and thee free e-newsletters to communicate, in addition to several websites.
The Klout profile of Warren says, “He has built a very large and expanding network quickly through quality, trustworthy content, and he is regularly engaged by other influential people who often act on or amplify his messages.”
Warren mixes up his tweets with personal advice and challenges, Scripture verses, leadership mentoring, encouragement and off-beat humor.
“Twitter is one of many new channels of communication now available to both listen and speak to a broader, more diverse audience, who’d never attend a church service,” Warren continued. “I enjoy interaction with atheists all the time on Twitter. However, technology is never an end in itself and the message still trumps the medium. Hopefully, these new channels help begin conversations that will lead to deeper, face-to-face community, through our small groups and one-on-one friendships.”
The Saddleback Church has over 5,000 small groups that meet weekly in homes and workplaces in 138 cities.
The Klout study rated individuals based on their “klout,” or social media influence. That measurement does not just reflect how many followers one has, but also the extent of an individual’s outreach, accounting for replies, retweets, listings and interactions.
“We’re now using social media to prepare areas for new churches that we are planting,” said Warren, who has helped start hundreds of new churches. As part of Saddleback’s 41 Christmas services, the church is starting five new church campuses on Christmas Eve.
In 2003, Warren launched the PEACE Plan, a massive effort to mobilize millions of Christians to alleviate the five global giants of our day – spiritual emptiness, self-centered leadership, extreme poverty, pandemic disease and illiteracy/education. A collaborative effort integrating the three-legged stool of church, government and business, the PEACE Plan exists to Plant churches/promote reconciliation, Equip servant leaders, Assist the poor, Care for the sick and Educate the next generation.
In November 2010, Warren announced the historic accomplishment that Saddleback Church had sent more than 13,500 members to all 195 of the world’s countries and unveiled a 30-minute documentary film titled “To Every Nation,” which chronicles the story of a single church sending teams to every nation of the world through the PEACE Plan. In 2011, Saddleback will expand PEACE Plan training to any interested church.
Warren’s national and international influence increased significantly in 2002 with the release of “The Purpose Driven Life,” which has been translated into 97 languages. It became the world’s best-selling, non-fiction book for three consecutive years and the best-selling hardback in U.S. history – with more than 40 million sold.
Warren also founded the Saddleback Civil Forum series in 2008 to promote civil discourse and the common good, encouraging leaders in business, education, the arts, entertainment, government, health and the military to speak on subjects of interest and concern to the entire community. Since that time, he has hosted seven forums and garnered international attention, including the 2008 Saddleback Civil Forum on the Presidency, which was the first joint appearance by the presumptive presidential nominees, Sens. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) and John McCain (R-Ariz.), and the 2010 Saddleback Civil Forum on Leadership and Service with President George W. Bush.
To follow Warren’s Twitter, visit http://www.twitter.com/RickWarren For additional information about Warren, Saddleback Church and its ministries, visit http://www.saddleback.com.
