Saddleback Civil Forum

Susan Hillis

Dr. Hillis has been a believer for 39 years, married to a godly servant for 34, a mother for 25, a US government federal official for 19, and a university professor for 7 years. Currently she is a Senior HIV Scientist at the CDC, and she holds an adjunct appointment in the School or Public Health at Emory University. She has traveled to Russia and Ukraine 32 times over the past 12 years to work on prevention of HIV/AIDS and sexually transmitted diseases, and she has published more than 80 articles in scientific medical journals. She is one of the leading experts globally on the risk of HIV among orphans and street youth. Personally, she is the mother of 11 children, 8 of whom were adopted from Russia after the tragic death of her oldest son at the age of 9 while on a family bike ride. She and her family have seen God place more than 100 orphans in loving families through adoption. Currently her vision is for the church to care for the 163 million orphans in the world. It all begins with the local church caring for the local orphans.

Russell D. Moore

Russell D. Moore is the Senior Vice President for Academic Administration and Dean of the School of Theology at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky. The grandson of a Mississippi Baptist preacher, Dr. Moore is also a preaching pastor at Highview Baptist Church in Louisville, where he ministers weekly. Dr. Moore writes and speaks frequently on topics ranging from the Kingdom of God to the mission of adoption to a theology of country music. He is a senior editor of Touchstone: A Journal of Mere Christianity and also blogs regularly at Moore to the Point, russellmoore.com. Dr. Moore’s latest book is Adopted for Life: The Priority of Adoption for Christian Families and Churches, and he is working on the forthcoming, Tempted and Tried: Temptation and the Triumph of Christ. Prior to entering the ministry, he was an aide to U.S. Congressman Gene Taylor. He and his wife Maria have four sons: Benjamin, Timothy, Samuel, and Jonah.

Michael Riley

Dr. Michael Riley is the Chief Deputy Director of the Orange County Social Services Agency. The Social Services Agency is composed of four Divisions: 1) Adult Services and Assistance Programs; 2) Administrative Services; 3) Children and Family Services; and, 4) CalWORKs/Family Self-Sufficiency. Prior to his current position, Dr. Riley was the Director of Orange County Social Service’s Children and Family Services Division for over 10 years. During that time, he oversaw the County’s Child Protective Services, Foster and Group Home Placements, and Orangewood Children’s Home, the County’s emergency shelter, which provides temporary care for children that have been neglected and/or abused, until the children can be placed safely with approved relatives, extended family members, close friends, or licensed foster parents.

Dr. Riley worked with troubled children and families in crisis at Father Flanagan’s Boys’ Town in Omaha, Nebraska, prior to joining the Orange County Social Services Agency. As Director of Boys’ Town Southern California, Dr. Riley was responsible for establishing six programs in Los Angeles and Orange Counties. These programs ranged from emergency shelters and group homes to in-home counseling and support services.

Dr. Riley was awarded “Outstanding Teacher of the Year” by the Nebraska Council of Children with Behavior Disorders, and received his Doctorate in Psychology from the University of Nebraska. Dr. Riley is also a Vietnam Combat veteran, Long Range Reconnaissance Patrol (LRRP-Recondo), serving on active duty in the United States Army from 1966 to 1968.

Elizabeth Styffe

Elizabeth Styffe is the director of both the Orphan Care Initiative and HIV/AIDS Initiative at Saddleback Church, Lake Forest California. She has led efforts both locally and globally to mobilize the church to care, empowering every person to act on behalf of orphans and vulnerable children around the world. leads the team that is equipping and launching churches across the globe, to care for children, supporting and providing families for every child. In addition, she is the director of the Rwanda Orphan Care Initiative, a strategic PEACE plan partnership between The Government of Rwanda, the local churches of Rwanda and Saddleback Church to initiate and support indigenous church-initiated interventions which are family centered, sustainable and reproducible.

Receiving firsthand knowledge in multiple countries in Africa, Thailand, Cambodia, Russia and Ukraine, Elizabeth works from her previous experience and education as a Pediatric Nurse, Administrator and Clinical Specialist to inspire and equip local churches to care and act.

Styffe and her husband, Glenn, have been married for 27 years and have seven children ages 7-22. Three of her children were adopted from Rwanda.

Rick Warren

Pastor Rick Warren was born in San Jose, California. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from California Baptist University, a Master of Divinity from Southwestern Theological Seminary, and Doctor of Ministry from Fuller
Theological Seminary.

Pastor Warren founded Saddleback Church in Lake Forest in 1980 with one other family. Today, it is one of America’s most influential churches, with approximately 20,000 people attending the weekend services. Saddleback offers more than 200 community ministries and support groups for parents, families, children, couples, prisoners, addicts, people living with HIV/AIDS, depression, MS, Parkinson’s, autism, and many others.

He is the author of The Purpose Driven Life, the bestselling hardback in American history, with over 30 million copies sold worldwide. He built the Purpose Driven Network, a global alliance of pastors from 162 countries and hundreds of denominations who have been trained to be purpose driven churches. He also founded Pastors.com – an online interactive community that provides sermons, forums, and other practical resources for pastors – including archives of a bi-weekly newsletter that is sent to more than 100,000 pastors and ministry leaders.