Perry Noble, the former pastor of NewSpring Church in South Carolina, has announced that he is divorcing his wife of 17 years.
Noble, who issued a statement exclusively through Faithwire on Wednesday, said that he never imagined he would face such a circumstance and asked for prayers and privacy and he and his family navigate the tragic situation.
“This is one of the most difficult things I’ve ever communicated and I understand it will be even more difficult for many of you to read,” the statement read. “After being married for 17 years I have found myself in a place I never imagined I would be — as no one who has ever been married ever dreams in a million years that their marriage will one day end in divorce.”
Noble continued, “However, that is where I find myself at this point in time.”
You can read the full statement below:
As Faithwire previously reported, Noble has faced a number of personal challenges over the past year. He revealed in a Facebook video earlier this summer that he considered taking his own life after he lost his job at NewSpring Church in 2016 amid struggles with alcohol.
Noble also revealed at the time that he felt like a failure when he lost his job and separated from his wife and admitted to “drinking too much.” He said he was diagnosed with PTSD in rehab — a disorder that is likely tied to the molestation he faced as a 6-year-old child.
Alcohol, he said, was a temporary respite from his problems, though he now knows that he really “messed up” and recalled the deep pain he felt when it seemed that he was losing it all.
“Ultimately, I was fired. I wasn’t just fired, I was fired publicly. There was a lot of shame. Shame that I brought on myself. I’m not blaming anybody,” Noble said. “I lose my job, my wife leaves me, and I felt like those closest to me — whether true or not — abandoned me. I couldn’t get a return phone all, I just felt alone.”
It was amid his darkest moments in rehab that he started planning his suicide.
The Day I Decided Not To Kill Myself
Posted by Perry Noble on Sunday, July 9, 2017
“I had the spot picked out, I had the gun picked out, and I was going to literally take my own life,” he said.
But then something happened that changed everything: Before he was able to execute his plans, Perry said he felt God speak to him.
“It was the clearest I’ve ever heard His voice. He told me, ‘I’m not finished with you yet.'”
Noble has been open in the past about his struggles with depression, penning a 2014 blog post that described the desperation he faced years earlier in 2008.
“In 2008, I entered into the darkest time of my entire life that lasted for around three years,” Noble wrote at the time, admitting to later struggles as well. “It was brutal. I even gave suicide serious consideration.”
Now, a few months after Noble’s most recent video admission, he has revealed that his relationship with his wife will come to a close. Prayers up for both Noble and his family.