The Task Ahead

Conversation with Rick Warren: A Heart for Unity and Mission

It’s not every day you get to sit down with one of the most influential pastors in modern church history – then to find that he’s as humble, funny, and heartfelt in person as you’d hope. That’s exactly what happened when Pastor Rick Warren joined our Director of the Queensland Baptist Movement, Jason Elsmore for a conversation at the Baptist World Congress in July.

From the very first moments, Rick’s warmth was felt. “I’m very unimpressive up close,” he joked, before quickly adding, “but I just wanna say hello to all my brothers and sisters – Baptists in Queensland. I love you!” His affection for Brisbane was clear. “It’s my favourite city in Australia, and one of my favourite cities in the whole world,” he shared.

What followed was a powerful reminder that, at its core, the global church is one family. “We’re all on the same team,” Rick said. “We learn from each other. You can learn from anybody if you know the right questions.”

That spirit of humility and collaboration runs deep in Rick’s vision for what he calls “Finishing the Task” – a global movement uniting Christians across denominations to complete the Great Commission by the year 2033. That year will mark the 2000th anniversary of Jesus’ resurrection, ascension, and the birth of the Church at Pentecost.

Rick explained that in 2033 it will be the 2000th birthday of the Christian Church, the 2000th celebration of the resurrection, the Great Commission, and Pentecost. While there’s no prophetic significance to the date, Rick emphasises “what a moment to celebrate!”

He went on to describe a powerful global collaboration – Baptists, Catholics, Pentecostals, Methodists, and more – all working as Great Commission allies. “We don’t need a new denomination,” Rick said. “What we need is collaboration and allies together.”

For Baptists around the world, that mission has taken shape through the Acts 2 Movement, which calls believers to live and serve like the early church: preaching, teaching, healing, praying and planting churches. “The church at its birth was the church at its best,” Rick reflected. “What if we just do what Jesus did for the next eight years.”

And, in true Rick Warren fashion, he wrapped profound truth in approachable language and even humour – likening new church plants to “rabbits” that multiply quickly! Beneath the laughter, his message was serious and stirring: to see every believer mobilized, every nation reached, and every person given the chance to hear the good news.

Before closing, Jason asked Pastor Rick to pray for the Baptist churches of Queensland:

“Lord, there are people here who love You – good, godly people, filled with Your Spirit. I pray You’ll raise up champions in every one of these churches who will be the spokesperson to say, our church has to think beyond our own church – beyond our town, our state – because You told us to go to the whole world. Help us to complete the Great Commission in this generation.”

Rick prayed for courage, wisdom, and unity – that the Acts 2 Movement and the 2033 Vision would bring churches together as allies in the mission of God. He finished by echoing the words of Matthew 25:23, saying, “We want to stand before You one day and hear You say, Well done, good and faithful one – come on in and let the party begin!”

It was the perfect benediction to a conversation that was equal parts joyful and challenging – a call for the church in Queensland, in Australia, and across the world to lift its eyes and link arms for the sake of the gospel.