Rick Warren to Interview Bush at Saddleback

By By Audrey Barrick

Former president George W. Bush is scheduled to make an appearance at Saddleback Church in Southern California on Monday for an interview with Pastor Rick Warren.

The event, which will focus on leadership and service, is sold out but is being made available to view live online (www.saddlebackcivilforum.com).

"The forum will include a personal conversation between Pastor Rick and President Bush," David Chrzan, Warren's chief of staff, told The Orange County Register. "The goal is to create a forum where the community around Saddleback Church can hear from speakers who are great leaders and those who have positively impacted humanity."

Bush was recently on a book tour for his memoir Decision Points. In it, he discusses candidly how he came to make the decisions he did while in the White House.

The purpose of the book, Bush has said, is not to change perceptions but rather to provide data points for future historians and place the reader in the environment in which he had to make decisions.

His visit to Warren's megachurch on Monday comes in the middle of the renowned pastor's "Decade of Destiny" campaign. Since last month, Warren has been positioning the 30-year-old church for a decade of expansion, enhanced operations and blessings.

The congregation of some 22,000 weekly attendees is expected to launch small groups across the country and start five new Saddleback campuses next month as part of the campaign.

The upcoming civil forum at Saddleback is the seventh of its kind. Previous forums have focused on orphans and adoption, the persecuted church, global health and the presidency where then presumed Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama and presumed Republican presidential candidate John McCain were interviewed.

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