Saddleback Church — Anaheim Campus — Church Directory

Quick Facts

Pastor — the shepherd God holds accountable Andy Wood (lead) / Scott Rubin (campus)

Founded Verify

Denomination Southern Baptist (SBC) — disfellowshipped 2023

Service Times Sunday Worship — verify times on website

Men's Ministry No

Kids Ministry Yes

Website saddleback.com/locations/campus-page/anaheim-campus/

10-Point Theological Scorecard

Christology

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

Saddleback's confessional drift is over gender and BF&M 2000 not over the person of Christ; cautious yellow pending closer review.

Caution

Scripture

Inerrancy affirmed? Final authority?

Disfellowship was over BF&M 2000 Article VI departure rather than a denial of inerrancy; cautious yellow.

Caution

Men's Discipleship

Intentional formation for men?

Female teaching pastor in the broadcast pulpit undermines the men-as-pastor pattern men's discipleship ought to model.

WARNING!

Soteriology

Faith alone? How is salvation presented?

Not directly named in the SBC Credentials Committee finding; cautious yellow.

Caution

Gender / Biblical Design

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

Stacie Wood serves as 'teaching pastor' system-wide; Saddleback has also ordained three women as pastors (Mother's Day weekend 2021). Sermons broadcast from Lake Forest are received at all campuses, so the female-teaching-pastor pattern reaches every California satellite.

Stacie Wood functions as 'teaching pastor' across all Saddleback campuses including Anaheim. SBC Credentials Committee specifically cited 'a female teaching pastor functioning in the office of pastor' as the disfellowship trigger. BF&M 2000 Article VI reserves the office of pastor for men.

WARNING!

Leadership Structure

Male elders/pastors? Accountability?

Senior pastor Andy Wood and teaching pastor Stacie Wood are husband-and-wife; Stacie functions in the office of pastor, contrary to BF&M 2000.

WARNING!

Preaching Style

Expository or topical/therapeutic?

Stacie Wood preaches in the broadcast rotation; this campus receives those broadcasts.

WARNING!

Mission Clarity

Great Commission central?

Cooperative Program participation severed at convention level June 2023; cautious yellow.

Caution

Cultural Alignment

DEI/CRT language? Social justice crowding out gospel?

After 2023 disfellowship, Saddleback formally left the California Southern Baptist Convention in October 2023 rather than remediate the female-teaching-pastor structure; doubled down rather than corrected.

WARNING!

Accountability Structure

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

Disfellowshipped by the SBC Executive Committee February 21, 2023; appeal denied at the New Orleans annual meeting June 13, 2023; left the California Southern Baptist Convention October 2023.

WARNING!

Assessment

Saddleback Church Anaheim is one of fifteen Southern California satellite campuses of Saddleback Church (lead pastor Andy Wood, teaching pastor Stacie Wood). The Anaheim campus receives the same broadcast preaching rotation as the Lake Forest mother campus, including Stacie Wood's teaching. Saddleback was disfellowshipped from the Southern Baptist Convention February 21, 2023 over its female teaching pastor functioning in the office of pastor; the appeal was denied at the June 2023 New Orleans annual meeting; and the church left the California Southern Baptist Convention in October 2023. This record exists for drift documentation, not as a recommendation.

#sbc#drift#female-pastor#disfellowshipped-2023#credentials-committee-referral#ca#anaheim#needs-review#saddleback-satellite

MOOP Engagement Tracker

How this church was personally verified by the MOOP directory team:

✓ Researched church website

Sources & Evidence

Enrichment Notes

Address and campus pastor verified via saddleback.com/locations/campus-page/anaheim-campus/. Disfellowship history verified via Christianity Today and NPR coverage of the Feb 2023 EC action and June 2023 New Orleans appeal denial.

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] Live source saddleback.com/locations/campus-page/anaheim-campus/
[2] Live source christianitytoday.com/2023/02/saddleback-church-southern-…
[3] Live source npr.org/2023/06/14/1182141691/southern-baptist-convention…
[4] Live source en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saddleback_Church

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.