BETTY ROLLIN: Kenneth Nally was 24 years old and living with his family in Southern California when he put a gun to his head and shot himself to death. Kenneth was a devout member of the Grace Community Church in suburban Los Angeles, and when he began to suffer from what turned out to be clinical depression, he sought help from one of the church counselors.
Kenneth's parents to this day blame the church for their son's suicide. They say the counselor, who had no training in psychology and provided only Bible-based advice, seemed not to comprehend the seriousness of Kenneth's condition.WALTER NALLY: He asked them if he was to commit suicide, would he go to heaven? And the answer was, "Oh yes, you would go on home to the Lord." I don't think there is a psychologist in this country that would ever, ever say such a monstrous thing to a young man.
ROLLIN: The Nallys sued the church for clergy malpractice, and after nine years of litigation they lost the case.
Mr. NALLY: The judges ruled that the church had no duty to my son. Psychiatrists and psychologists would have a duty and would be answerable to it. We have this special niche for preaching men -- that they could do the most outlandish things in the world and not be held responsible for it.ROLLIN: Grace Community Church is still thriving with the same pastor in charge, Reverend John MacArthur, still holding only to the strict biblical interpretation of human problems.
Reverend JOHN MACARTHUR (Pastor, Grace Community Church): We live in a fallen world, and sin is pervasive in this world and sin is the reason anything goes wrong.
ROLLIN (To Rev. MacAuthur): Where do you think you went wrong with Ken Nally?
Rev. MACARTHUR: I don't think we went wrong at all. We have absolutely no regrets. My regret is that Ken Nally took his life.ROLLIN (To Rev. MacAuthur): Do you think the counseling he received was appropriate and good?
Rev. MACARTHUR: Yes, I think it was exactly the kind of counseling we always do. We've done it with thousands upon thousands of people.
ROLLIN (To Rev. MacAuthur): But what if a person is mentally ill?
Rev. MACARTHUR: We simply approach the issues spiritually. We don't refer them to psychologists or psychiatrists or whatever. We don't attempt to deal with them in those terms. The only real transforming, life-changing guidance is that which God provides through his word to his people. Anything else is going to be the wisdom of man, not the wisdom of God.
Rev. ZANDT VENZOR: There's a regular clinical assessment that goes on. You know, I'm looking for, what are the signs that might tell me this person would be depressed or anxious? And at the same time I'm doing a spiritual assessment as well.
DIANE TATE: I wanted to answer some questions for myself about why I was feeling the way I was feeling, and to me that connects to my faith.
Dr. DWIGHT CARLSON (Psychiatrist): The secular counselor, likewise, can go wrong if they don't appreciate the important facet the spiritual part has in all of our lives. They can miss that whole facet of the counselee's life. And sometimes that is a very important one.
ROLLIN: Pastoral counseling and psychiatric treatment have the same goal: to help people. More and more practitioners in both fields feel strongly that people are more likely to be helped if both spiritual and psychological issues are addressed.
