Rick Warren: Preaching Runs in the Family
Like many African Americans, I was stunned that President-elect asked Pastor Rick Warren to deliver the Invocation at his inauguration. But when I thought about it, that move was classic Obama: Obama the bridge, the healer. And I thought that the good Pastor delivered a stirring message on that frigid cold January morning. (I would later learn that he was wearing Billy Graham’s hat; Warren is often compared to Graham, who was my father’s favorite preacher, without a doubt. Graham had worn the same hat to the inaugurations of several Presidents, starting with Richard Nixon, I think. Graham’s gift of the hat was a symbolic passing of the ministerial baton to his veritable successor.) When we got the funding for the series, the Pew Foundation asked us to devote one program to religious figures. I liked that idea, being somewhat spiritual myself. And one of the people who came to mind was Pastor Rick.
Rick Warren happens to be the author of one of the best-selling hardcover nonfiction books ever published in the United States. I have even begun to read it, a chapter per day, as he has asked his other 30 million readers to do. I was eager to learn about his ancestry, to learn if he was part of a long tradition of leadership. We asked him to be in the series. His office told us that he was too busy. I was concerned that perhaps he had turned us down because ideological differences About a month after this, however, we got a call out of the blue saying that he would be delighted to be in the series! So off to Orange County we went this past Saturday, to the 31,000 member Saddleback Church.
Rick’s family tree is so detailed that we actually had to stop in the middle of the reveal so that he could go over to the Saturday service to introduce a guest speaker—and then return so that we could reveal the other half of his family tree! And it turns out that not only is he just one of several preachers on his various family lines, but his family has origins in this country almost as old as the American colonies themselves. Not only that, but two of Rick’s great grandfathers fought on opposite sides of the Civil War, and had diametrically opposed views about slavery. Pastor Rick was an engaged, open and reflective guest. The five hours we spent together filming (his staff had allotted us two!) were among the most rewarding that I have ever experienced. I just wish I had asked him to show me Billy Graham’s hat. Rick told me that he had been worried that the hat would be too small or too big. It fit perfectly.
Watch the full Finding Your Roots episode: Rick Warren, Angela Buchdahl, and Yasir Qadhi.
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Comments
April 17, 2012 at 6:34 pm
I’ve been enjoying this show for sometime, and I was watching this show with my mother the other night when I heard you discuss Bird Griffin. I immediately recognized that name as it was a distinctive name in my own genealogy research. His wife was my fourth-great-grandmother’s sister. It was a big surprise and a great pleasure to hear more of my distant family being discussed on here. I love the show and I look forward to each and every episode that is shown.
April 18, 2012 at 11:52 pm
The Bible clearly states as facts that the flesh and genealogies are not only worthless but actually promote foolish controversies:
1Ti 1:4 nor to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies. These promote controversies rather than God’s work–which is by faith.
Tts 3:9 But avoid foolish controversies and genealogies and arguments and quarrels about the law, because these are unprofitable and useless.
And Jesus made it clear:
Jhn 6:63 The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life.
Wonder if anyone understands the importance in the differences between flesh and spirit?
April 19, 2012 at 5:19 pm
Preaching runs in my family on the Moseley side and the women who married in to it. Some had fathers that were deacons or bishops in the churches in MA.
Too bad what they preached didn’t come down to present. When I found myself at the bottom of the upper hairpin curves on the trail after I had climbed back up to that spot on the South Kaibab, I told God I wouldn’t get myself into that situation again, and less that 18 months later, I had accepted Hi Son, Jesus as my Lord and Savior.
I am thankful that He heard the cry of my heart and sent His Holy Spirit to bring someone to invite me to Calvary Chapel in Camp Verde, AZ.
July 23, 2012 at 9:42 pm
My mother, grandmother and I have been researching the Griffin family for many years. It’s nice to know that we have such a wonderful person to add to our family tree. Welcome to the family, Pastor Rick!