Churches Are Not Businesses. Pastors Are Not CEOs.

I was saddened to learn that America's number one killer of men has struck again. This time it took the life of Southern California megachurch pastor Andrew Stoecklein. Pastor Andrew Stoecklein of Inland Hills Church (Chino, Ca) took his own life this weekend. My heart is broken for his wife and three children, as well as for his church family and community. Depression is real and pastors are not exempt or defective who experience it. No they are not. This notion that Pastors are Christ-filled superheroes which serve as pillars in the storms of life is magical thinking. Pastors are human beings just like any other person. The only thing that differentiates them is a desire to teach and a willingness to be stretched in forty directions at once. We (I can say that since I was once one) have our emotional issues just like any other person does. Adding to the problem is that, given the expectation that we're emotionally-stable people on a pedestal, many don't feel they can speak out about their feelings. So like the mental cancer it is, depression metastasizes within their soul, eats away at their mental well-being, and ultimately consumes them ...
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