The Purpose Driven Church

== Summary ==
The book is targeted to pastors and church leaders and advises them to base their ministry on God's purposes, not their own ideas of ministry, hence the term "Purpose Driven".  Warren suggests that these purposes are [[worship]], [[koinonia|fellowship]], [[discipleship]], [[Christian ministry|ministry]], and [[mission (Christian)|mission]], and that they are derived from the [[Great Commandment]] (''Matthew 22:37–40'') and the [[Great Commission]] (''Matthew 28:19–20'').<ref>Randall Herbert Balmer, ''Encyclopedia of Evangelicalism: Revised and expanded edition'', Baylor University Press, US, 2004, p. 722 {{ISBN?}}</ref>

Warren writes that every church is driven by something. Tradition, finances, programs, personalities, events, seekers and even buildings can each be the controlling force in a church. But he believes that in order for a church to be healthy it must be built around the five [[New Testament]] purposes given to the church by [[Jesus]]. "The issue is church health, not [[church growth]]!" declares Warren. "If your church is healthy, growth will occur naturally. Healthy, consistent growth is the result of balancing the five [[biblical]] purposes of the church."

He proposes that church leaders ask of themselves, "What is our purpose?", "Why do we do what we do?", "What should we be doing?", and "How will you do that?" In this book Warren provides a guide to answer these questions on how to do church. He further suggests that following the principles he outlines in the book will enable a church to grow.<ref>George Thomas Kurian, James D. Smith III, ''The Encyclopedia of Christian Literature, Volume 2'', Scarecrow Press, US, 2010, p. 630 {{ISBN?}}</ref>

The author emphasizes an intentional people-building process. He says, “If you will concentrate on building people, God will build the church.”

The teaching of ''The Purpose Driven Church'' was derived from Warren's own experience in leading [[Saddleback Church]] from its founding in 1980 to over 10,000 in worship attendance in its first fifteen years, becoming one of the fastest growing churches in America during this time.<ref>{{Citation | url = http://saddleback.com/flash/story.asp | publisher = Saddleback | title = The Story | url-status = dead| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080511192624/http://www.saddleback.com/flash/story.asp | archive-date = 2008-05-11 }}</ref>