Pastor Isaac Hunter, former senior pastor of Summit Church in Orlando, Fla., has been found dead in an apparent suicide.
Hunter's father is Pastor Joel Hunter of Northland Church. The church announced the 36-year-old's death in an email sent to church members.
The email stated: "We found out today that Isaac took his life."
A statement by Northland Pastor Vernon Rainwater on the church's website asks for prayers for the Hunter family.
Vernon wrote:
Dear Northland family,
By now you may have heard that Pastor Joel and Becky's son Isaac Hunter died today. All of us are grieving for the Hunter family, and we will deeply miss Isaac. Words cannot express the sorrow we're feeling.
We love this family and are so grateful for the impact they have had on each of our lives. I have loved Isaac since he was a child, and I know this ... Isaac loved Jesus. And we are assured of his continuing relationship with Christ now in heaven (Romans 8:38-39).
I know we all want to reach out to the Hunter family, but the way we can love them best at this time is to pray for them and respect their privacy. Right now, would you please pray for them? We will have opportunities in the future to fully express our love and sympathies. Memorial service information will be posted on Northland's website as soon as it's available.
I love you all,
Pastor Vernon
P.S. There are baskets at the Welcome Desks at each of our sites where you may leave a card or note for the Hunter family. You may also send a note to sympathy@northlandchurch.net.
Hunter had confessed to having an affair with a staff member last year before resigning from his position. Following his confession, his wife Rhonda, whom he had been married to for 13 years, had filed a temporary restraining order against him. They have three children together.
According to court documents, a suicide note was found on Hunter's computer last year which stated: "I would very much like to be remembered as a person who loved his children, his parents, his brothers, and his best friends-well, while I could. I fear I will love them better in my absence. As I have become what I never wished to be, a burden on those I love the most."
