RICHMOND, Va. (ABP) -- Rick and Kay Warren, co-founders of one of the Southern Baptist Convention's largest and most prominent churches, will be featured at a Baptist General Association of Virginia conference in February.

The Warrens, of Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, Calif., will speak at the meeting Feb. 2 and share "best practices" with other church leaders looking to strengthen and expand their ministries. The two-day event, slated for St. Paul's Baptist Church in Richmond, is called 21-C.

Although Warren is one of the SBC's best-known leaders, the denomination's fundamentalist-controlled official leadership frequently shuns the more moderate Virginia convention.

Rick Warren, a Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary graduate who wrote the best-selling book The Purpose-Driven Life, will train attendees how to implement the PEACE Plan in local churches. The Warrens developed the plan to help small groups address global spiritual and social problems.

"PEACE" is an acronym for the first words in each of the plan's tenets. They urge Christians to send resources to foreign places to: plant churches, equip servant leaders, assist the poor, care for the sick and educate the next generation.

Other leaders from Saddleback will also lead sessions at 21-C, including the church's worship pastor and the director of its HIV/AIDS Initiative.

The Warrens recently hosted the 2006 Global Summit on AIDS and the Church, which rallied policy makers, medical doctors, activists and religious leaders to address the global HIV/AIDS pandemic. The AIDS event also emphasized the tenets of PEACE to help eradicate the disease.

Church case studies during the event will highlight Spring Hill Baptist in Ruckersville, Va.; Blacksburg Baptist Church; Powhatan Community Church; Mount Pleasant Baptist Church in Herndon, Va.; Shining Star Community Church in Falls Church, Va.; and The Light Global Mission in Vienna, Va.

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