Jarrid Wilson: Megachurch pastor who ran suicide outreach group kills himself

Death shows clergy not ‘above the pain and struggles of everyday people’, says church leader

Jarrid Wilson, 30, founded a Christian mental health outreach group called Anthem of Hope (AP)

A US megachurch pastor known for his mental health outreach work has killed himself, church officials have said.

Jarrid Wilson, 30, had founded the advocacy group Anthem of Hope with his wife to help people struggling with depression and suicidal thoughts.

The associate pastor at the Harvest Christian Fellowship in southern California took his own life on Monday, said Greg Laurie, senior pastor of the 15,000-member church.

“At a time like this, there are just no words,” Mr Laurie wrote on his blog on Tuesday. “The Bible says, ‘There is a time to mourn.’ This is certainly that time.”

Wilson is survived by his wife Juli and their two young sons.

Ms Wilson said her “loving, giving, kind-hearted” husband’s death had “completely ripped the heart out of my chest”.

“You loved me and our boys relentlessly and I am forever grateful that I had you,” she wrote on Instagram.

The couple founded their outreach group in 2016 and sought to end the stigma of mental illness and connect people to resources including a 24-hour crisis line.

Wilson had spoken openly about his struggle with depression and hours before his death had tweeted that “loving Jesus doesn’t always cure suicidal thoughts”.

He died a day before World Suicide Prevention Day, which he had also posted about on Twitter.

Mr Laurie said Wilson’s death was a reminder that spiritual leaders also struggle.

“Sometimes people may think that as pastors or spiritual leaders we are somehow above the pain and struggles of everyday people,” he wrote. “We are the ones who are supposed to have all the answers. But we do not.”

He urged anyone in need to seek help.

Wilson had been a pastor at the Harvest Christian Fellowship for 18 months. The church was founded in Riverside in 1973 and now has campuses in southern California and Hawaii that host large-scale evangelistic events.

For confidential support in the UK, call Samaritans on 116 123. In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 1-800-273-8255.