Saddleback Church — Church Directory

Quick Facts

Pastor — the shepherd God holds accountable Andy Wood

Founded Not published

Denomination SBC

Service Times Verify on website — largest church in CA

Men's Ministry Yes

Kids Ministry Yes

Website saddleback.com

Pastor Credentials Not published

10-Point Theological Scorecard

Christology

Is Jesus the only way? (John 14:6)

Broadly evangelical; creeds not emphasized.

Caution

Scripture

Inerrancy affirmed? Final authority?

Purpose-Driven framework; Chicago-Statement inerrancy not highlighted.

Caution

Men's Discipleship

Intentional formation for men?

Not verified.

Caution

Soteriology

Faith alone? How is salvation presented?

Decisional evangelicalism via Warren's Purpose-Driven model.

Caution

Gender / Biblical Design

Biblical manhood and womanhood by God's design — patriarchal, complementarian, egalitarian, or affirming gender ideology?

Expelled from SBC February 2023 (affirmed June 2023) over female pastors. Stacie Wood is a regular preaching pastor; previously ordained several women staffers 2021.

Stacie Wood serves as regular preaching pastor; Saddleback ordained multiple female pastors in 2021 and publicly doubled down post-expulsion.

WARNING!

Leadership Structure

Male elders/pastors? Accountability?

Andy Wood installed Sept 2022 as Rick Warren's successor; husband-wife Andy-and-Stacie co-leading teaching ministry.

WARNING!

Preaching Style

Expository or topical/therapeutic?

Topical/felt-needs seeker-sensitive preaching — the defining Purpose-Driven model.

WARNING!

Mission Clarity

Great Commission central?

Purpose-Driven Life / global PEACE plan framework.

Caution

Cultural Alignment

DEI/CRT language? Social justice crowding out gospel?

Post-expulsion Saddleback 'doubles down' on female pastors publicly — affirming-trajectory signal on gender/leadership, though not affirming on LGBTQ.

WARNING!

Accountability Structure

Denominational home, elder plurality, or external network — is the pastor answerable to anyone?

Disfellowshipped from SBC 2023 — now has no confessional accountability body. Directory's 'SBC' label is outdated.

Disqualifier

Assessment

Saddleback Church was founded by Rick Warren and is now led by Andy Wood (with Stacie Wood as Teaching Pastor). The church's ordination of women pastors led to its removal from the SBC in 2023. This is a significant development — Saddleback left the SBC over the women pastor issue. Evaluate the implications of Stacie Wood serving as Teaching Pastor alongside Andy Wood. Massive multi-site church with strong community programs.

#california#national#sbc#women-pastors

Sources & Evidence

These are the URLs consulted to arrive at this church's scoring. Score-note claims are synthesized from homepage content, denominational directories, and public statements of faith at the time of review. Church websites change frequently; we're progressively adding Internet Archive snapshots to prevent link rot.

[1] Archived snapshot web.archive.org/web/20260322055508/https://religionnews.c…
↳ Snapshot of religionnews.com/2023/02/24/how-did-saddleback-get-kicked… (live link)
[2] Archived snapshot web.archive.org/web/20251204123744/https://www.christiani…
↳ Snapshot of christianitytoday.com/2023/02/saddleback-church-southern-… (live link)

Transparency note: MOOP ratings are researcher judgments about publicly available theological and ecclesial evidence. They are not infallible. If a church's public posture has changed since our review, or if we've mis-read evidence, tell us — we publish corrections.