Kay Warren (born Elizabeth Kay Lewis; February 9, 1954) is an American author, international speaker,

Bible The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) originally writt ...

teacher and mental health advocate. She is the co-founder of the sixth-largest

evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that emphasizes evangelism, or the preaching and spreading of th ...

megachurch A megachurch is a church with a very large membership that also offers a variety of educational and social activities. Most megachurches are Evangelical, although the term denotes a type of organization, not a denomination. A megachurch draws 2 ...

in the United States,

Saddleback Church Saddleback Church is an Evangelicalism, evangelical, non-denominational Christian Multi-site church, multi-site megachurch based in Lake Forest, California. It is the largest church in California, and one of the largest in the United States of Amer ...

. Her ministry is headquartered in

Lake Forest, California Lake Forest is a city in Orange County, California, United States. The population was 85,858 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Lake Forest incorporated as a city on December 20, 1991. Prior to incorporation, the community had be ...

Personal life

Warren was born in

San Diego, California San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

, to Reverend B. LaVern and Bobbie Lewis. She attended

California Baptist College California Baptist University (Cal Baptist or CBU) is a private Baptist Christian university in Riverside, California. Founded in 1950 as California Baptist College, it is affiliated with the California Southern Baptist Convention, an organiz ...

Riverside, California Riverside is a city in and the county seat of Riverside County, California, United States. It is named for its location beside the Santa Ana River. As of the 2020 census, the city has a population of 314,998. It is the most populous city in th ...

, and earned a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

degree from

California State University, Los Angeles California State University, Los Angeles (Cal State LA) is a public research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. It is part of the California State University system. Cal State LA offers 142 bachelor's degree programs, 122 m ...

in 1976. Warren married

Rick Warren Richard Duane Warren (born January 28, 1954) is an American evangelical Christian pastor and author. He is the founder of Saddleback Church, an evangelical Baptists, Baptist megachurch in Lake Forest, California. Since 2022, he serves as execut ...

on June 21, 1975, and has three children:

Ministry

President George and Laura Bush with Rick and Kay Warren

launched with seven people as a Bible study group in 1980. During that same year, the first service took place in a high school gymnasium on

Easter Sunday Easter, also called Pascha (Aramaic: פַּסְחָא , ''paskha''; Greek language, Greek: πάσχα, ''páskha'') or Resurrection Sunday, is a Christian festival and cultural holiday commemorating the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, de ...

. In 2017 the church attendance was 22,000 people. In 2004, Warren founded both the

HIV/AIDS The HIV, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that attacks the immune system. Without treatment, it can lead to a spectrum of conditions including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It is a Preventive healthcare, pr ...

and

orphan An orphan is a child whose parents have died, are unknown, or have permanently abandoned them. It can also refer to a child who has lost only one parent, as the Hebrew language, Hebrew translation, for example, is "fatherless". In some languages ...

care initiatives at Saddleback Church. Through global summits about HIV/AIDS and civil forums held at the church, Warren and her husband promoted

HIV prevention HIV prevention refers to practices that aim to prevent the spread of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). HIV prevention practices may be undertaken by individuals to protect their own health and the health of those in their community, or may ...

, treatment and care, as well as advocating for orphaned children. Warren became an advocate for people living with mental illness and suicide prevention when her son, Matthew, took his life in 2013. Warren founded the Hope for Mental Health Initiative at Saddleback Church in 2014 and serves as an executive committee board member for the

National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention The National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention (Action Alliance) is an American suicide prevention organization coordinating national efforts to advance the National Strategy for Suicide Prevention (NSSP). It is a public/private partnership ...

Selected bibliography

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References

External links

Kay Warren websiteSaddleback Church website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Warren, Kay 1954 births Living people 20th-century American women writers 20th-century American non-fiction writers 20th-century Baptists 21st-century American women writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century Baptists American evangelicals American evangelists American religious writers American self-help writers American women non-fiction writers Baptist writers California Baptist University alumni