Faith Leaders Join for Suicide Prevention Summit

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By Mary Richards, Church News

Chad Ford’s family has been deeply impacted by suicide. His father — a Vietnam veteran with a rare and fatal spinal degenerative disease — attempted to take his own life.

Because of Ford’s intervention, his father survived. But their relationship became filled with pain and hurt. Years later, his father was dying of pneumonia in the hospital and expressed that he was afraid to meet God. He asked Ford for a priesthood blessing. Ford did so and felt a flow of love for his father.

“Love heals. It healed him that day, and it healed me,” Ford said.

The author and professor of international and intercultural peacebuilding and member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints told the story to a room of faith leaders, clergy and others on Wednesday, October 16, who had gathered for a suicide prevention summit.

“What you are doing is holy work,” Ford said. “Whenever we are trying to reconcile others together, heal the breaches, lead people from exile, sitting with the brokenhearted, the poor or the captive, or anything we are doing to help people come back ... that is God’s work.”

The faith leader suicide prevention summit was presented by the Utah Suicide Prevention Coalition, Live On Utah and the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Utah chapter.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has been involved in the faith-based aspect of the coalition for seven or eight years, explained Travis Baer, a manager with the Church’s Family Services and subject matter expert on suicide.

Baer and others helped develop the suicide prevention and ministering resources in the Life Help section of Gospel Library. Topics include doctrine and principles, how to help, crisis help lines, and resources for loss survivors and attempt survivors.

While this meeting was held in Utah, the subject matter is important to any member or leader of the worldwide Church, he said.

Navigating grief was one of the topics discussed at the summit. Taryn Hiatt, a Utah advocate for suicide prevention, told the faith leaders that she recognized their efforts to help those experiencing grief — because this is a part of suicide prevention.

“Our religion can offer meaning and answers, it gives us a community, and many of us need that when we are mourning. But even within these structures of religion, we all have unique experiences,” she said, pointing out that grief doesn’t get better, “it gets different.”

Most people are not intentionally hurtful but they don’t know what to say. So they either say the wrong thing in a clumsy way or withdraw for fear of saying or doing the wrong thing.

She also talked about being compassionately present with the person who is suffering — helping them feel connected, protected and respected.

Hiatt said that while those in the room came from many different faith backgrounds, “Together we are one, together we are here trying to do something to help support those around us. I love that feeling of unity.”

Pastor Jamie White of the First Presbyterian Church of Salt Lake City spoke about hope. She shared Jeremiah 29:11: “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.”

The words were given to encourage the Israelites while they were in exile.

“I imagine there are many of us who need that message of hope for ourselves, or for our church, or for someone we love,” White said.

Then, in Ezra 3:10-13, when they returned and began to build a temple again, the sound of the shouts of joy could not be distinguished from the noise of the weeping.

The story includes hope and grief together, and faith leaders will find that in their congregations.

“We cling to our divine hope — asking God to empower and strengthen us as we do this work,” White said.

In the U.S., the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline can be reached at 1-800-273-TALK, or simply by calling 988. To see a list of crisis help lines in other countries, click here.