Pastor Rick Warren penned bestseller The Purpose Driven Life in 2002 and it has sold over 32 million copies. It has been credited with saving lives, specifically, Ashley Smith’s when she convinced Atlanta Courthouse Killer Brian Nichols to turn himself in to authorities after she read passages from the book and prayed with him.
This past February, Pastor Warren appeared on Oprah to help viewers answer the question, “What on earth am I here for?” Sadly, his 27-year-old son Matthew committed suicide after a long battle with depression. He died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound at 10 a.m. on Thursday, April 5, 2013, according to Orange County, Calif. Sheriff Coroner’s office.
Allowing himself and his family time to grieve privately, evangelical pastor of Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, Calif. revealed his son’s death to his church on Saturday.
“No words can express the anguished grief we feel right now,” the evangelical pastor told his congregation at Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, Calif. in a statement.
Matthew was Pastor and Kay’s youngest son; have two other adult children, Amy and Joshua, and five grandchildren.
