By NEAL WAGNER / Managing Editor

ALABASTER – A local author, blogger and suicide attempt survivor will be sharing his message of overcoming hardships and basing his life on faith during a pair of church services in Alabaster on Sept. 2, and will lead a free suicide prevention workshop the same night.

Steve Austin, who authored the Amazon best-seller “From Pastor to a Psych Ward” and is preparing to release his book “Catching your Breath,” will speak at Alabaster First United Methodist Church’s Restore campus at 8:30 a.m. and 10 a.m. on Sunday, Sept. 2, and will offer a free community suicide prevention workshop at 5 p.m. for locals 12 and older. A certified sign language interpreter will be present for the 10 a.m. service and the 5 p.m. workshop.

Restore is located at 128 Market Center Drive off Alabama 119 next to Alabaster First United Methodist.

The event will be “an honest and hopeful look at suicide recovery and prevention,” Austin said.

“The numbers are up, all over the country. Despair is a literal killer. Suicide is robbing our family members, friends, and even those we sit next to in the pew each Sunday,” Austin wrote of the event on his website. “Why are people dying and what can the church do to help?”

Austin will be speaking on the topic from experience, as he attempted suicide while serving as a youth pastor at an area church in 2012.

Since the suicide attempt, Austin said his faith, counseling and his role in what was then a small blog aimed at his church youth group allowed him to “come full circle” from the near-tragedy. Today, Austin travels around the nation to spread the word about ways to overcome depression and hopelessness, and has authored several books on the matter.

To learn more about Austin’s story, books and speaking events, visit Iamsteveaustin.net.