- The suicide of a California pastor

is bringing nationalattention to all the pressure

on men and women inministry and joining me now

to talk about this tragic situation

and the realities facingpastors is Fernando Garzon,

a Clinical Psychologist and Professor

with Regent University.

Thanks a lot for joining us.

- Glad to be here.

- What are your thoughts as you hear

about this pastor's suicide?

It occurs to me I don't feel like

I have heard about this before.

Maybe it's social media,

but it doesn't seem like it's something

we hear about very often.

- Well suicide always is a shocking thing

and when we look up topeople like our pastors,

it's even more shocking because we tend

to put them on a pedestal.

Indeed, that's one of thethings that's challenging

for pastors is that many times,

people put them on a pedestal

and they won't allow themto really be themselves,

which makes it more challengingfor people in that position.

- I would think so, absolutely.

We wanna respect them andyet, how do you view them as,

they're a human being, too.

Let me ask you.

We've seen a lot of reaction on Facebook

and other social media andwe've also got some comments

from the Lifeway CEO, Thom Rainer,

who wrote about what he sees

as are the five mainreasons for depression.

He talks about spiritual warfare,

the surprising realityof pastoral leadership,

a sense of inadequacy, critics,and bullies, and loneliness.

Do some of those resonate with you,

especially in terms ofthe stresses that you see?

- Yes, yes, pastors have a real challenge

in a sense that pastors giveso much to so many people

and many times the standardsof behavior and conduct

for pastors is so much higherthat they feel isolated.

Who does a pastor goto when a pastor wants

to talk about different situations?

Who does a pastor share his heart with?

It is really the loneliness,

the isolation that canhappen in the ministry

is something important forall churches to be aware of,

and all people to be aware of.

- Right and how do you think churches

can come along sidepastors and just be aware

of potential warning signs or a sense

that the pastor's not doing well?

- Okay, well, there'sseveral ways the church,

I believe, can be helpful.

One is to allow the pastorto have a set of people

that the pastor canreally unload his heart to

and share his burdens with.

The isolation in the ministryis one of the key things

that would lead todepression just in general.

The pastoral position makesit even more difficult.

That's one thing that they can do.

Another is just let the pastorknow that you care for him,

that you love them, thatyou appreciate them too,

'cause pastors need,they are always giving,

and they need thatencouragement and that support.

- Yeah, I know the hours evenand just always being on call.

It's almost like a firefighter.

- Yes, all the time working,

a lot of, again, giving,

and where does the pastor go to fill up?

Where does the pastor go to receive?

So churches need to find ways,

giving pastors vacations,supporting their families,

time with family, alone time.

Pastors are always receivingcalls in the middle

of the night and different times.

So they need a space just to be themselves

and to refresh and restore.

- Yeah, well good words,good thoughts in the midst

of a really hard situation.

- Yes, our hearts go out to the family.

- Absolutely.

Dr. Garzon, thanks for your time.

- You're welcome.