Rick Warren

The Boston Globe compares the 3 evangelical leaders that are the focus of the series: Although Warren is not an overtly political figure, his message is a conservative one on issues such as abortion, and his followers voted in lopsided numbers for President Bush. In this sense, Warren and similar evangelical ministers are a key aspect of the religious-conservative political ascendancy. While activist leaders such as James C. Dobson of Focus on the Family and Richard Land of the Southern Baptist Convention work more directly on political causes, Warren helps expand and prepare the spiritual ground that is the bedrock of the movement.

• Series on evangelical leaders
• Boston Globe Dobson spiritual empire wields political clout
  
• Boston Globe Richard Land, baptist lobbyist, walks a fine line
  
• Boston Globe Rick Warren rivets many without politics, he cultivates spiritual ground
  

Warren ''really isn't a political figure to any significant degree, but he's a cultural figure, a fresh and contemporary face to evangelism," said John Green, a University of Akron professor who specializes in the impact of religion on American politics. ''He represents the high point of a trend that's been developing for a while -- the adaptation of evangelical Protestantism to contemporary culture."

Warren's persona is that of an affable, laid-back surfer, but his delivery is as emphatically pointed as the strict Southern Baptist denomination to which he belongs. His is a ministry with a goatee and a wisecrack, but one that asks much of the faithful. And although his roots are deeply and unmistakably Californian, Warren is often dubbed ''America's pastor" by observers of the religious scene, many of whom rank him second only to the Rev. Billy Graham in the popular hierarchy of evangelical leaders.