alone. The $3 billion a year company now has its name connected to
Saddleback Church led by Pastor Rick Warren. Oklahoma-based Hobby
Lobby has donated a 170-acre ranch in San Juan Capistrano, Calif., to
the megachurch.
“Rick Warren, his staff and the church’s congregation have
contributed to the Lord’s work on this property and we couldn’t be
more excited to donate this property to them,” said David Green,
Hobby Lobby founder and CEO.
The Rancho Capistrano, located 12 miles from Saddleback’s main
campus, has a history of generous giving. It was initially a gift in
1981 to Crystal Cathedral Ministries from Donna Crean and her late
husband, John, founders of Fleetwood Enterprises. Crystal Cathedral
Ministries was able to fulfill the couple’s dream by making the
property a place of spiritual restoration and hope.
Hobby Lobby purchased the property in 2010 from the financially
burdened Crystal Cathedral Ministries. An announcement was made on
May 11, 2010, that the crafting retailer would lease the Rancho
Capistrano property to Warren’s Saddleback Church so that the ranch’s
initial ministry vision would be carried on.
Since the lease agreement, the ranch has become the church’s ninth
physical campus and the acres have been divided into a regional
church, a pastoral training center and an overnight retreat center.
“We are grateful to Dr. Robert Schuller and the Crystal
Cathedral Ministries for their stewardship of this unique ministry
facility and to Hobby Lobby for allowing us to continue the
longstanding legacy of Donna and John Crean and their family to
change lives by providing hope and spiritual renewal,” said Warren.
Warren plans to make the announcement of the donation of the
Rancho Capistrano from Hobby Lobby to his 22,000 members on Saturday.
Although
the donation comes as a gift to further the kingdom of God, many are
disturbed that such a donation would not go to a more needy
congregation. A commenter on The
Orange County Register News
website says, “Can’t
they find a poor congregation that needs this? Warren and his
easygoing gospel certainly are rich enough already.”
But
Hobby Lobby has already taken care of that too.
The corporation partners with eight organizations to share the good
news of Jesus Christ. Among the eight are One Hope and Wycliffe, two
organizations dedicated to helping the “needy”—those unable to
get their hands on Scripture.
Hobby Lobby donated to One Hope a 185,000-square foot facility.
The former hospital has since been turned into the headquarters for
One Hope and has become the home to many other ministries and
churches within Broward County, Fla.
Rob Hoskins, president of One Hope, says Hobby Lobby’s facility
donation has not only provided the ministry with an infrastructure,
but has allowed them to exponentially grow, reaching millions of
children a year with God’s Word.
“I don’t think a lot of people understand that it’s not just the
initial building that’s the cost but some of the greater costs is the
ongoing upkeep of the building and the management of the building,”
Hoskins told Charisma News. “And if you don’t have resources
there’s no way a smaller ministry or a ministry that’s struggling
financially could ever keep up with the other costs that are
associated with a building like this.”
Hoskins
believes the crafting retailer has a philosophical view towards
philanthropy in line many ways with Jesus’.
“For
one thing I don’t think people understand the incredible generosity
of the Greens. They’re exhibiting unprecedented generosity because
they give out of their earnings—not just a percentage of their
profit, which is what most people do—so I think they’re really
unprecedented in that regard.”
