Praying for Rick Warren

In "A prayer for Rick Warren", Gustavo Arellano wrote:

Warren has the chance to redeem Orange County as a place not of avarice but of altruism, and to show that evangelical Christianity can come free of politicking and show genuine concern for all. I'm praying for you, Rick, to consider my words and help lead us to a better future, damn the differences.

Arellano's Los Angeles Times opinion piece reaches that conclusion after documenting the evangelical Christian history of Orange County, Calif., and current role in American Christianity:

The county is second probably only to Colorado Springs as a nexus point of American Christianity.

It has four of the top 100 largest churches in the United States, according to Outreach magazine, including the largest non-English-language Christian church in the nation -- Anaheim's SaRang Community Church.

The world's largest televangelical network, Trinity Broadcasting Network, broadcasts its founders, Paul and Jan Crouch, from their antebellum-esque studios in Costa Mesa.

Drivers on the 5 Freeway in Garden Grove can make out the gleaming tower of the Crystal Cathedral, where the Rev. Robert Schuller tapes his "Hour of Power," the most-watched Christian television show on Earth. Dotted across the United States are churches belonging to the Calvary Chapel movement, based in Santa Ana.

Newport Beach billionaire Howard F. Ahmanson Jr. funds every flavor-of-the-month conservative Christian cause imaginable -- recent efforts include the Yes on Proposition 8 campaign and the schism in the Episcopal Church over the ordination of a gay bishop.

And the current big boy on the block is Warren, head of Saddleback Church and whose book, "The Purpose Driven Life," has sold millions of copies.

Warren's two minutes on an epochal national stage are in fact an opportunity for a step down a new and better path. His remarks today in Atlanta at historic Ebenezer Baptist Church, where Dr. Martin Luther King was once the pastor, may telegraph his plans for tomorrow's inaugural prayer.

Please read the entire piece here.