Kay Warren (author)

Kay Warren is an American author, international speaker, Bible teacher and mental health advocate. She is the co-founder of the sixth-largest evangelical megachurch in the United States, Saddleback Church. Her ministry is headquartered in Lake Forest, California.

Personal life

Warren was born in San Diego, California, to Reverend B. LaVern and Bobbie Lewis. She attended California Baptist College in Riverside, California, and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from California State University, Los Angeles in 1976.
Warren married Rick Warren on June 21, 1975, and has three children:

Saddleback Church 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. In 2017 the church attendance was 22,000 people.
In 2004, Warren founded both the HIV/AIDS and orphan 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, 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.