Barack Obama and John McCain have agreed to their first joint general election appearance, meeting at Saddleback Church on Aug. 16 for a two-hour forum that is being billed as a "non-debate," according to the church.

Founding pastor and moderator Rick Warren will exclusively pose questions during the Saddleback Civil Forum on Leadership and Compassion to the presumptive presidential nominees. Warren will speak with each candidate for one hour, reads a press release on the event.

Promising to avoid "'gotcha' questions that typically produce heat instead of light," Warren said he would focus on how the candidates' make their leadership decisions rather than having them staking out their political positions, the release states.

"The primaries proved that Americans care deeply about the faith, values, character and leadership convictions of candidates as much as they do about the issues," Warren said. "While I know both men as friends and they recognize I will be frank, but fair, they also know I will be raising questions in these four areas beyond what political reporters typically ask. This includes pressing issues that are bridging divides in our nation, such as poverty, HIV/AIDS, climate and human rights."

Warren said the candidates didn't want a debate format but rather the two-hour forum. The candidates are expected to appear together briefly before each takes questions from Warren for about an hour. Obama will answer questions for the first hour with McCain following, an order determined by coin toss.

Joshua DuBois, Obama's director of religious affairs, said the senator was "looking forward to going back to Saddleback with his good friend Pastor Rick Warren." Obama spoke at Saddleback in 2006.

The church said approximately 6,500 tickets will be allotted for seating in six different venues throughout the Saddleback campus in Orange County, Calif.