Charismatic Church Network Leader Bishop David Huskins Dies in Apparent Suicide

Bishop David Huskins, an Atlanta-area pastor who led a network of charismatic churches, was found dead at his home in the Meadow Lakes community on Monday, according to Polk County Police. Sources told Charisma News that his death was a self-inflicted gunshot wound, but that could not be independently confirmed.

Police said they found Huskins inside his home late Monday afternoon and that he was pronounced dead on the scene. Polk County Police Chief Kenny Dodd said detectives found no foul play was involved, but declined to say more about the cause of death. A report on WGAA-AM radio in Atlanta cited the police find. On Wednesday, Joy105.com, a Christian radio station in Atlanta, reported that the cause was a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Emails and posts from several pastors and charismatic leaders who knew Huskins said the same, though this report could not verify it. Polk County police referred questions to Dodd, who was not immediately available for comment on Wednesday.

Huskins founded the Cedar Lake Christian Center in Cedartown, near Atlanta, and served as its senior pastor. He was also presiding bishop of the International Communion of Charismatic Churches. He hosted a weekly radio program and made many appearances on Christian television. He had a close association with Bishop Mark Chironna, senior pastor of Church on the Living Edge, a church in the Orlando, Florida, area. A representative for Chironna said he was not available for comment on Wednesday but acknowledged that Huskins had spoken at the church in Longwood in the past.

In an email to his congregation and friends in early July, Huskins said he needed time away to deal with health problems. He wrote that he had open-heart surgery nearly 20 years earlier to repair a hole in his heart, and that he had a mild heart attack in November. He described recent episodes of congestive heart failure, a minor stroke, and a period of intensive recovery that required him to rest in bed. He said he had long talked about a sabbatical and a succession plan, and that he had returned to the demands of ministry before making those changes. He also wrote that he had let ministry at times become a substitute for God, and that he had been working to delegate responsibilities and spend more time with people outside the pulpit. He said the medications and illness left him at times unable to articulate his thoughts clearly, and that his doctors described these effects as temporary.

A statement on Huskins’s Facebook page said the church was saddened to announce that he had “joined the great cloud of witnesses this afternoon” and asked people to pray for his sons, his family and the church as they grieved “one of the greatest servants we have ever known.” Sheryl Brady, a friend in ministry, posted on Twitter that the loss had deeply affected her and asked for prayer for his sons, family, church and friends, calling him “a man with a true COVENANT HEART.” The church’s call for prayer for a grieving family reflects the comfort the Lord offers the brokenhearted (Psalm 34:18).

Source: Read the original report