The Dark Side of the Purpose Driven Church

The author of this book, President of Southwest Radio Church Ministries, was the member of a church that went from a mission in 1975 to the number two Baptist Church in Oklahoma in 2004. In 2004 his church adopted, through a new pastor, the Purpose Driven Church format. What happened at Pastor Hutchings’ church has also happened to thousands of churches across the nation in changing from a traditional and fundamental doctrinal position to a contemporary and informal style of Purpose Driven Church service. Dr. Rick Warren works on the principle to attract the non-churched and non-Christians by a worship setting in which they would feel “comfortable”. This would mean removing Christian traditional emblems like the cross, contemporary music, and informing the “old pillars” they could go if they did not approve. Dr. Warren has stated that he has “trained” or retrained 600,000 pastors in how to establish Purpose Driven Churches, which in many cases means to take over already established churches. As documented in this book, Dr. Warren has said that the five basic fundamentals of the Christian faith are too narrow, that fundamentalists are the biggest enemies we have, and we need to bring the Protestants, Catholics, Muslims, and all religions together to stop wars, heal the sick, and feed the hungry. Dr. Warren has ignored the advice of men like Charles Spurgeon who warned, “The devil’s biggest lie is that we can win souls with entertainment”. One of the problems facing churches that have gone Purpose Driven is that when the “old pillars” left, the remaining younger attendance provides little or no financial support and the church ministry suffers or ends. A tract based on chapter 12 of this book, “Is Your Church Going Purpose Driven, How Can You Tell”, has been disseminated worldwide. Every church member, and especially pastors, should read about the other side of the Purpose Driven Church controversy presented in this book. Brother Hutchings says that the most frequent question they get from their nationwide listenership is, “Where can I find a good church.”