Rick Warren: 'There are no accidental children'

Saddleback Church pastor Rick Warren, commenting on the importance of helping women who find themselves in a crisis and dealing with unplanned pregnancies, said there is no such thing as an "accidental" child.

"There are accidental parents, but there are no accidental children," Warren said. "There are illegitimate parents, but there are no illegitimate children.

"Your parents may not have planned you, but God did."

Warren was speaking at a banquet benefiting Care Net, a faith-centred pregnancy centre.

The banquet, a part of the group's annual "Celebrate Life" event, drew around 1,000 people on Tuesday in Waco, Texas, WacoTrib.com reported.

Warren, who has often spoken out against abortion, said that politics was not going to set America back on the right path.

"A healing in America isn't going to happen at a political level," the Saddleback Church pastor continued. "It's going to happen at the grassroots level, in churches, in communities, in groups like Care Net, where you focus on helping one person at a time."

In his speech, Warren reminded listeners of the story of Moses encountering the burning bush in the desert, when he was called to serve God and His people. Connecting the biblical story found in Exodus to parenthood, the pastor remarked that it was up to Christians to stand up for those who cannot "speak for themselves", mainly the thousands of babies aborted every year.

"Think of the innocent little babies that have yet to see the light of day," Warren continued. "Just because you can't do something great does not excuse you to do nothing. You may not have $1 million, but you have something."

Warren's bestseller book, The Purpose Driven Life, is one of the most successful Christian books ever written, but he reminded the audience that the first line in the book is "It's not about you". He also shared how, despite his financial success, he has lived in the same house for the last 22 years and has kept the same lifestyle he had before he became one of America's most well-known pastors.

In last Sunday's sermon at Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, California, Warren again talked about the importance of preserving life as well as other Christian institutions, such as marriage.

"You don't need to apologise for voting for a Christian worldview which stands up for the sanctity of life, the sanctity of sex and the sanctity of marriage. You don't need to apologise for that because everybody votes what they believe," Warren said during the service.