President-Elect Obama’s selection of Rick Warren to give the invocation at his inauguration has set off some fire aimed in Faith in Public Life’s direction, based in part on misinformation about FPL’s past work with Warren. So here’s a rundown of the facts in order to set the record straight.

Last April, FPL sponsored the Compassion Forum in Pennsylvania. Diverse faith leaders posed questions to Democratic presidential candidates Senators Clinton and Obama on issues that bridge ideological divides such as poverty, climate change, Darfur, and torture. Following that event, FPL and the faith leaders who participated in it hoped to organize another Forum with the presidential nominees of both parties. Thus, it was important to choose a host venue that would be attractive to both Senators McCain and Obama.

Warren’s Saddleback Church fit the bill. Obama had previously appeared at Saddleback, and both candidates had existing friendships with Warren. Moreover, Warren had a record of working with diverse groups on compassion issues such as global poverty, AIDS and climate change.

Just as faith leaders asked the candidates about compassion issues at the Compassion Forum, Warren was to ask the candidates about poverty, HIV/AIDS, climate and human rights at Saddleback, as the press release announcing the event indicated. Warren was also to convene a meeting on the day of the Forum with Christian, Jewish and Muslim leaders, including the ideologically diverse leaders who took part in the Compassion Forum, and they were slated to help Warren devise questions leading up to the event.

As originally planned, the event would feature multiple ideologically diverse questioners from a variety of faith backgrounds and focus on compassion issues. However, once the campaigns began negotiating the specifics, they asked Warren be the only questioner and the focus of the event shifted. When it became clear that the event would no longer focus on compassion issues, FPL and Warren went separate ways (and we have taken issue with statements he has made since). As we have stated before, this was Saddleback's event.

Originally billed the “Saddleback Civil Forum on Leadership and Compassion,” it was renamed the “Saddleback Civil Forum on the Presidency,” and Warren did not ask questions about poverty, HIV/AIDS, climate and human rights.

FPL strives every day to bridge divides. We won’t always achieve the results we aim for, but it’s important to keep trying.