The Rev. Rick Warren has persuaded Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama to take part in a forum at his Saddleback Church, in Lake Forest, Calif., on Aug. 16.

The New York Times reported that Warren invited each man personally and would interview each separately in a public forum on a variety of topics.

The event would focus on how each man would handle issues Warren has championed, including AIDS, poverty and the environment.

"I just got to thinking, you know what? These guys have never been together on the same stage; it would be a neat way to cap the primary season before they both go to the conventions and things go dark for a couple of weeks," Warren told the Times. "I’ve known both the guys for a long time, they’re both friends of mine, and I knew them before they ran for office, so I just called them up."

Warren, a powerful evangelical voice and the author of the best-selling book "A Purpose-Driven Life," raised the ire of some conservative Christians in 2006 when he invited Obama, who favors abortion rights, to speak at an AIDS conference at the church.

Conservative activist Phyllis Schlafly was among those who signed an open letter declaring, "If Sen. Obama cannot defend the most helpless citizens in our country, he has nothing to say to the AIDS crisis. You cannot fight one evil while justifying another."

Monday's news of the Warren event comes as another conservative Christian leader, James Dobson, backtracked on an earlier declaration that he would never endorse McCain.

In a Focus on the Family radio broadcast to air Monday, Dobson says, "While I am not endorsing Sen. John McCain, the possibility is there that I might."

Dobson and his guest, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary President Albert Mohler, spend most of the pretaped program criticizing Obama. Dobson says that while neither candidate is consistent with his views, McCain's positions are closer by a wide margin.