Calif. pastor Rick Warren gets more than $2M in donations, double his request from week ago

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Calif. pastor takes in $2.4M after donations plea

LAKE FOREST, Calif. — Evangelical pastor Rick Warren says his call for donations to fill a $900,000 deficit at his Southern California megachurch has brought in $2.4 million.

Warren announced the sum to cheers at a Saturday service, and said the total includes only money brought in person to Saddleback Church by New Year’s Eve.

Warren called the donations “amazing” and says the church will start the new decade with a surplus.

Warren made an appeal to members on the church’s Web site Wednesday, asking for donations to overcome a collections shortage.

Warren delivered the invocation at the inauguration of President Barack Obama and is the author of numerous books, including the best-selling “The Purpose Driven Life.” He founded Saddleback Church in 1980 in Lake Forest, about 65 miles southeast of Los Angeles.

Information from: The Orange County Register, www.ocregister.com

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP’s earlier story is below.

LAKE FOREST, Calif. (AP) — Evangelical pastor Rick Warren calls the response to his appeal for donations to his Orange County megachurch “history-making.”

In a New Year’s posting on the Saddleback Church Web site Friday, Warren said parishioners called in and dropped off contributions in droves. Warren didn’t specify how much money was raised. He said he’ll talk about the response in a Sunday sermon called “The Miracle.”

On Wednesday Warren asked parisioners to help fill a $900,000 deficit by the first of the year.

Warren is the author of numerous books, including the best-selling “The Purpose Driven Life.”

He founded Saddleback Church in 1980 in Lake Forest, about 65 miles southeast of Los Angeles.