The wife of a megachurch pastor in California recently succumbed to the battles she was facing and committed suicide as a result.
In April, Paige Hilken was diagnosed with a medical condition that led to PTSD and other mental health problems. But in a tragic turn of events, she succumbed to her medical condition when she reportedly took her own life while undergoing treatment at a mental health institution in Arizona.
According to the Christian Post (CP), over $500,000 in donations had been received in the aftermath of Page Hilken's death last weekend. She and her husband, Christopher Hilken, a pastor who teaches at a megachurch in California, have five children under 6 years of age.
A GoFund Me account was set up to support Christopher with the economic difficulties of raising five children as a single father, including final costs for his wife's hospitalization and the loss of revenue from her businesses.
Last Sunday, in a sermon addressed to the church, Pastor Larry Osborne of the North Coast Church, informed the congregation that 28 year-old Paige took her life after experiencing mental health problems.
Her husband, Christopher is a teaching pastor at North Coast and the director of the church's young adult program, "The Jordan." He had reportedly taken a sabbatical from his responsibilities as a teaching pastor and as a leader of The Jordan in the months leading up to Paige's death to support his wife deal with "the sudden onslaught of mental and emotional pain that she was battling."
Paige reportedly also sought treatment at one of the finest facilities in the country for her condition.
"But sadly, it wasn't enough," said Osborne.
The North Coast Church pastor also urged members to contact any of the church's pastors from their eight worship venues if they needed help in the aftermath of Paige's death.
An unnamed employee from the Vista-based North Coast Church told CP that a message was issued via email to all of the church's members informing them of Paige's death.
However, according to the source, "there are still many details that remain a mystery about Paige's death."
What Christians need to understand
To address concerns about suicide deaths such as Paige's, Osborne informed the audience in his sermon that he thinks the scriptures lead to the notion that "Christians live in a fallen world and fallen things happen to them."
"Being a Christian doesn't make us immune from the brokenness of this world...," he said. "That's why Jesus had to die for our sins, and that's why each and every one of us, eventually is going to die."
Because mental illness is something that cannot be seen, Osborne said that most people avoid talking about it. However, when they see visible signs of damage, they are more likely to want to assist the person in distress.
He also admitted to having anxiety attacks when preaching on stage at North Coast Church. He remembered having pastors and other church workers "lay hands on him and pray for him" before preaching to alleviate his anxiety attacks.
Still, he said he continued to have anxiety attacks, regardless of who prayed for him or how hard he prayed, to the point that he started to doubt his own faith.
Osborne eventually admitted that he had to use a medication to relieve his panic attacks and break free from his "vicious cycle of overthinking."
"I'm here as one of your pastors today to tell you I couldn't pray my way out, I couldn't talk my way out, I couldn't get counseling to get a way out," he confessed. "Because something was broken, because I'm a sinner living in a sinful world, and I suffer brokenness not even because of my own sin, but because I'm a child of Adam and Eve like every one of us is."
