A historic, first-time gathering of leaders from both the evangelical and Catholic communities met on Friday to discuss the importance of churches working together to address critical mental health issues.
An overflow crowd of more than 3,300 people at Saddleback Church and an online audience for the live webcast witnessed the all-day unifying event, co-hosted by Rick and Kay Warren of Saddleback Church, the Most Rev. Kevin Vann, bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange, and the National Alliance on Mental Illness-Orange County.
“To be able to call together the larger faith community is bittersweet, as we had hoped to share this moment with our son, talking about concern for people with mental illness,” Kay Warren told reporters. “We do this in honor and memory of our son and others lost to mental illness, realizing there is hope for others dealing with this condition.”
Purpose Driven Life author Rick Warren noted that during his more than 34 years as a pastor, he has struggled alongside people dealing with compulsions and fears. “I’m not an authority on mental illness, but I am an authority on living with mental illness,” Warren said. He added that he wanted to “pull back the curtain” on his family’s own struggles and tell people that it’s perfectly fine to say, “I’m not okay, you’re not okay, but that’s okay because God’s okay.”
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source: TheChristianPost.com
