What do ministers do when they get depressed? Do they just work because “the show must go on”? Some ministers may, but C. Welton Gaddy did not. In this intensely personal book, described by Wayne E. Oates as “frank, considerate, and attention keeping,” the author tells the story of how he “stopped the show,” entered a well-organized, modern psychiatric unit, and received psychiatric care. He also tells of his discovery in the hospital of a more honest community than he had ever known in the church. Gaddy describes his experiences as a pastoral minister who went from good to bad health (including a deep depression) and back to even better health. In a sometimes painfully confessional but always soundly theological narrative, the author takes a realistic look at those aspects of ministry that can be destructive.
C. Welton Gaddy leads the national nonpartisan grassroots and educational organizations, The Interfaith Alliance and The Interfaith Alliance Foundation. He is the host of State of Belief, a weekly radio show by The Interfaith Alliance that is carried on AirAmerica. Gaddy also serves as the Pastor for Preaching and Worship at Northminster (Baptist) Church in Monroe, Louisiana.