The Southern California church headed by popular evangelical Pastor Rick Warren says his 27-year-old son has committed suicide.

Warren’s Saddleback Valley Community Church in Lake Forest, Calif., says in a statement Saturday that Matthew Warren had struggled with mental illness and deep depression.

Warren is the author of “The Purpose Driven Life.” In 2008, his church sponsored a presidential forum with Barack Obama and Republican John McCain. Obama and Republican nominee Mitt Romney had been invited to a similar forum last fall, but Warren canceled it, saying the campaign had become too uncivil.

Saddleback’s website says that about 20,000 people attend weekend services at the church near Los Angeles.