Apparently, this "battle" against "mental illness" is yet another ECUMENICAL agenda...
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/mental-606966-warren-illness.htmlIn a rare partnership, 2 top O.C. faith leaders lead outreach to mentally ill
Roman Catholic Bishop Kevin Vann and Saddleback Church Pastor Rick Warren crossed paths shortly after the death of Warren’s son, who struggled with mental illness. They've embarked on a rare partnership: Do battle together against mental illness.3/26/14
Roman Catholic Bishop Kevin Vann recalls his early days as a deacon in the 1980s. New at his parish, the first funeral he presided over was a suicide. Not long after, a man came to the rectory door claiming to hear voices. Vann didn’t know what to do, so he walked with the man for hours. A beloved priest suffered depression; Vann wasn’t sure how to help.
Last year, Saddleback Church Pastor Rick Warren endured the same anguished helplessness in a more personal way: He and his wife, Kay, buried their son Matthew. The 27-year-old, struggling with mental illness, ended his life on April 5.
Warren later wrote about the help and medical intervention his son had received – none of which was enough. The two men crossed paths shortly after Matthew Warren’s death. After private discussions, Vann, the leader of 1.2 million Catholics as head of the Diocese of Orange, and Warren, pastor of the 30,000-member evangelical church, embarked on a rare partnership: Do battle together against mental illness.
Their friendship has blossomed since, and on Friday their working relationship comes to fruition at
the nation’s first religiously backed conference to address mental health issues.
The Gathering on Mental Illness and the Church at Saddleback Church’s Lake Forest campus
will bring together national and county experts, who will hold roundtables and workshops. Warren and Vann are hosting the gathering with the National Alliance on Mental Illness – Orange County.
Some national experts call the partnership groundbreaking,
and say the event marks the nation’s first large-scale ecumenical outreach.
Warren and Vann say they not only want to help those suffering, they want to empower church leaders. The goal is to equip pastors and churches nationwide in ways that will bring professional help and relief for those tortured by mental illness.
National statistics show one in four people will be afflicted with mental illness. While clergy are a first line of defense, some people don’t ask for help because of the stigma associated with mental illness. Studies have found that clergy nationwide receive little training on mental health.
The National Institute of Mental Health reported that individuals with disorders listed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders requested assistance from clergy more often than from psychologists and psychiatrists combined.
**The same "clergy" who use these corrupted bible versions like the NIV? The same "clergy" who think their pews can confess their sins to them? 
“For a long time, Christian churches and individual communities have been working together, looking for ways to give a unified Christian witness to the difficult questions we all face,” Vann said. “In some ways it surprises me to think, that for some, the Gathering on Mental Health and the Church Conference seems novel or groundbreaking.
The truth is that the Catholic Church has a long history of working with other Christian churches and with people of other faiths on the local and the international level.”
Vann added that the conference “provides an opportunity for two large and important faith communities in Orange County to come together, evangelicals and Catholics, and really anyone who is interested, to meet and talk about and pray about a real issue for many families, mental health.”
A decade ago, Rick and Kay Warren launched the PEACE plan in a massive effort to mobilize 1 billion members of congregations to attack five “global giants” – extreme poverty, pandemic disease, deficient education, conflict injustice and spiritual emptiness.
As part of that, the Warrens launched the Global Summit on AIDS – their assault on the deadly disease with an approach that claimed churches worldwide as the most capable to address the disease.
“Every year we learn more about the brain so there is more possibility for hope,” Warren said. “When we started with HIV/AIDS, there was an enormous stigma. I thought AIDS was the last taboo. People with mental illness will hide their pain. We want to remove that stigma.”
While the Mental Health Services Act of California provides financial resources and new programs, traditional treatment services don’t overcome the problems of stigma and discrimination.
This requires the attention and participation of the entire community, including faith-based organizations, said Myrlene Chapman, a board member of the National Alliance.
