Matthew Warren: Youngest son of evangelical pastor and best-selling author Rick Warren commits suicide

Rick Warren's son Matthew has committed suicide at the age of 27 after a long battle with depression.

The evangelical pastor of Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, Califoia revealed his son's death to his church on Saturday. The Orange County Sheriff Coroner's office told the MailOnline that the estimated time of death was Friday at 10am.

'No words can express the anguished grief we feel right now. Our youngest son, Matthew, age 27, and a lifelong member of Saddleback, died today,' the pastor told his congregation in a statement, pleading for their prayers as the family moued his death.

Loss: Rick Warren's son Matthew committed suicide on Friday at the age of 27, after a long battle with depression

The distraught father revealed in a statement that Matthew had struggled with mental illness from a young age, experiencing 'dark holes of depression, and even suicidal thoughts.'

Despite countless doctors and medication, 'the torture of mental illness never subsided.'

Rick Warren is married to Kay, who is active in her husband's ministry, and they have two other adult children, Amy and Josh.

The pastor remembered his youngest child for his 'brilliant intellect and a gift for sensing who was most in pain or most uncomfortable in a room.'

He said that the tragic event occurred after Matthew had spent time with his parents.

'In a momentary wave of despair at his home, he took his life.'

The Coroner's office said that an autopsy would be conducted next week on either Monday or Tuesday.

The church said in a statement that they were 'deeply grieved for the loss of Pastor Rick and Kay Warren upon hearing of the death of their youngest son, Matthew.'

'Our church family has had the privilege of ministering together with the Warrens and their family, all of whom have been lifelong members of Saddleback, over the last 33 years.'

Warren, 59, is one of the leading voices in the evangelical movement in America.

His church, located in Orange County, is ranked the seventh largest congregation in the U.S. with an average weekly attendance of 20,000.

The Southe Baptist pastor authored the Purpose Driven Life, a devotional study book, that was published in 2002 and became a New York Times bestseller selling over 32 million copies as it exploded as a popular trend among conservative Christians.

He has taken an active role in promoting social justice and even hosted the Civil Forum on The Presidency, attended by both Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and then Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) during the 2008 presidential election.

Pastor Warren was also selected to deliver the invocation at President Obama's 2009 inauguration.