Kay Warren cofounded Saddleback Church with her husband, Rick Warren, in Lake Forest, California, in 1980. After the death of her son, Matthew, who lived with serious mental illness for most of his life, she founded Saddleback's Hope for Mental Health Initiative as a way to support individuals and family members of loved ones with mental illness and suicidal ideation. The Initiative also trains others in the faith community how to launch or expand existing mental health ministries.

Kay is a board member of the National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention and is active in mental health/suicide prevention efforts in Orange County, California. She is the author of Sacred Privilege, Choose Joy, and Say Yes to God, and coauthor of Foundations, a popular systematic theology course used by churches worldwide. Her children are Amy and Josh, and Matthew (who is in heaven), and she has five grandchildren.