Reformed Churchmen

We are Confessional Calvinists and a Prayer Book Church-people. In 2012, we remembered the 350th anniversary of the 1662 Book of Common Prayer; also, we remembered the 450th anniversary of John Jewel's sober, scholarly, and Reformed "An Apology of the Church of England." In 2013, we remembered the publication of the "Heidelberg Catechism" and the influence of Reformed theologians in England, including Heinrich Bullinger's Decades. For 2014: Tyndale's NT translation. For 2015, John Roger, Rowland Taylor and Bishop John Hooper's martyrdom, burned at the stakes. Books of the month. December 2014: Alan Jacob's "Book of Common Prayer" at: http://www.amazon.com/Book-Common-Prayer-Biography-Religious/dp/0691154813/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1417814005&sr=8-1&keywords=jacobs+book+of+common+prayer. January 2015: A.F. Pollard's "Thomas Cranmer and the English Reformation: 1489-1556" at: http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Cranmer-English-Reformation-1489-1556/dp/1592448658/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1420055574&sr=8-1&keywords=A.F.+Pollard+Cranmer. February 2015: Jaspar Ridley's "Thomas Cranmer" at: http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Cranmer-Jasper-Ridley/dp/0198212879/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1422892154&sr=8-1&keywords=jasper+ridley+cranmer&pebp=1422892151110&peasin=198212879

Saturday, April 6, 2013

(ABC NEWS): Megachurch Pastor Rick Warren's Son Commits Homocide (=Suicide)

http://abcnews.go.com/US/pastor-rick-warrens-son-matthew-commits-suicide-lifelong/story?id=18897249#.UWCOJfKS-VI

 

Pastor Rick Warren's Son Matthew Commits Suicide After Lifelong Battle With Mental Illness

 
PHOTO: Rick Warren
Megachurch Pastor Rick Warren said today that his 27-year-old son had commited suicide after a lifelong battle with mental illness.

Warren, in an emotional email to the congregation of his Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, Calif., shared his son Matthew's struggles and asked for prayers.

"No words can express the anguished grief we feel right now," Warren wrote. "Our youngest son, Matthew, age 27, and a lifelong member of Saddleback, died today."

READ: Rick Warren: 'Coarsening of Our Culture' Concerns Me
 
PHOTO: Rick Warren
Michael Kovac/Getty Images for The Elton John AIDS Foundation
Pastor Rick Warren speaks at the Elton John... View Full Siz
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PHOTO: Rick Warren
Michael Kovac/Getty Images for The Elton John AIDS Foundation
 
Pastor Rick Warren speaks at the Elton John AIDS Foundation and UNAIDS breakfast, July 24, 2012, in Washington.
Warren, who gained international fame for his bestseller, "The Purpose Driven Life," remembered his son as "an incredibly kind, gentle, and compassionate man."

"But only those closest knew that he struggled from birth with mental illness, dark holes of depression, and even suicidal thoughts. In spite of America's best doctors, meds, counselors and prayers for healing, the torture of mental illness never subsided," Warren wrote in the letter to the Saddleback congregation.

After a "fun evening" as a family, Warren said his son took his life "in a momentary wave of despair at his home."

Warren said he marveled at his son's courage to keep on living in his darkest moments despite his pain.

"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. Why can't I just die and end this pain?'" Warren wrote. "But he kept going for another decade."

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