
But Matthew Warren took his life Saturday after “a momentary wave of despair at his home. Warren, the author of the multimillion-selling book “The Purpose Driven Life,” said in an email to church staff that he and his wife had enjoyed a fun Friday evening with their son. Despite the best health care available, this was an illness that was never fully controlled and the emotional pain resulted in his decision to take his life.”

“Unfortunately, he also suffered from mental illness resulting in deep depression and suicidal thoughts. “Matthew was an incredibly kind, gentle and compassionate young man whose sweet spirit was encouragement and comfort to many,” the church’s statement said. Warren’s Saddleback Valley Community Church near Los Angeles said in a statement that Matthew Warren had struggled with mental illness and deep depression. The Southern California church headed by popular evangelical Pastor Rick Warren said his 27-year-old son committed suicide on Saturday. He gained attention that year with his invocation at Obama’s inauguration, as well as with comments he made in the aftermath of California’s Proposition 8, which overturned gay marriage.LAKE FOREST, Calif. Warren was named the top newsmaker of the year for 2009 by the Religion Newswriters Association. Obama and Republican nominee Mitt Romney were invited to a similar forum last fall, but Warren canceled it several days beforehand, saying the campaign had become too uncivil. In 2008, the church sponsored a presidential forum with Barack Obama and John McCain. The church says it now offers more than 200 community ministries and support groups for parents, families, children, couples, prisoners, addicts, and people living with HIV, depression and other illnesses. As Saddleback grew over the years, it spread out from its Lake Forest headquarters, 65 miles southeast of Los Angeles, adding several other campuses and ministries around Southern California. Matthew Warren was the youngest of their three children. He and his wife, Kay, began by holding Bible studies for people who weren’t regular churchgoers. The elder Warren founded Saddleback Church in 1980, according to his biography on the church website, and over the years watched it grow to 20,000 members. He’d then make a bee-line to that person to engage and encourage them.” Another pastor will preach in Warren’s place on Sunday as part of a previously planned sermon series, church spokeswoman Kristin Cole said. “He had a brilliant intellect and a gift for sensing who was most in pain or most uncomfortable in a room. “You who watched Matthew grow up knew he was an incredibly kind, gentle, and compassionate man,” Warren wrote. Despite that, he said, his son lived for another decade, during which he often reached out to help others. Why can’t I just die and end this pain?'” Warren recalled. “I’ll never forget how, many years ago, after another approach had failed to give relief, Matthew said ‘Dad, I know I’m going to heaven. 1 2 3 He is the founder of Saddleback Church, an evangelical Baptist megachurch in Lake Forest, California. But their son then returned home to take his life in “a momentary wave of despair.” Over the years, Matthew Warren had been treated by America’s best doctors, had received counseling and medication and been the recipient of numerous prayers from others, his father said. Richard Duane Warren (born January 28, 1954) is an American Baptist evangelical Christian pastor and author. Rick Warren, the author of the multimillion-selling book “The Purpose Driven Life,” said in an email to church staff that he and his wife had enjoyed a fun Friday evening with their son. Allison O’Neal, a supervising deputy coroner for Orange County, declined to release the cause and manner of death pending an autopsy of the young man. “Despite the best health care available, this was an illness that was never fully controlled and the emotional pain resulted in his decision to take his life,” the church said. Matthew Warren struggled with mental illness, deep depression and suicidal thoughts throughout his life, Saddleback Valley Community Church said in a statement, after his body was found Friday night. The church said on Saturday that Matthew Warren took his own life at his Mission Viejo home.

(AP) - Popular evangelical Pastor Rick Warren asked members of his Southern California church for prayers as he and his family coped with the apparent suicide of his 27-year-old son.
