Saddleback Megachurch Pastor Rick Warren to Retire, Announces Successor

Saddleback Church Pastor Rick Warren, author of "The Purpose Driven Life," speaks during the White House Roundtable on Faith-Based and Community Solutions to Combat HIV/AIDS in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in Washington, DC, on Dec. 12, 2007. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Pastor Rick Warren announced on June 2 that Pastor Andy Wood will take over leadership of Saddleback Church, a Lake Forest, California, congregation with more than 30,000 weekly attendees. Warren, 68, who founded the evangelical Baptist church with his wife Kay in 1980, announced plans to retire and search for a successor last year.

Wood, 40, who has led Echo.Church in San Jose with his wife Stacie for 14 years, was selected from more than 100 “potential, purpose-driven pastoral candidates, interviews and countless prayers,” Warren said in a video message on June 2.