Rev. Thirza Sayers: Biography
A story of faith and healing
Rev. Thirza Sayers is a PCUSA minister serving both Light 4 The Darkness and Hillside Presbyterian Church, House Springs, Missouri communities. She is working on her Doctorate in Ministry in Pastoral Care and Counseling at Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary. Her research examines what hope looks like for people with mental health variances, people in darkness.
More importantly, Thirza has journeyed through darkness. She has lived with treatment resistant major depressive disorder for thirty years. In 2013 following four traumas that struck within six months–including the suicide of her niece and namesake, Thirza Nichole Sayers–she additionally developed post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and severe social anxiety. She became disabled, catatonic and lost the majority of her memory including much of her vocabulary as a side effect of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT).
More importantly, Thirza has journeyed through darkness. She has lived with treatment resistant major depressive disorder for thirty years. In 2013 following four traumas that struck within six months–including the suicide of her niece and namesake, Thirza Nichole Sayers–she additionally developed post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and severe social anxiety. She became disabled, catatonic and lost the majority of her memory including much of her vocabulary as a side effect of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT).
Thirza began her journey out of darkness by persevering through a combination of daily prayer, yoga, gratitude and affirmations, weekly counseling, monthly psychiatry, volunteering with her pet-therapy-certified poodle, Mr. T Rex, and weekly meet-ups with one or two close friends. In 2017, she returned to work part-time and now works full-time, dividing her energies between a church, a mental health ministry, and now Doctoral studies, too.
Why does she do this? She knows what darkness is like and it is her passion to help others navigate their own deep darkness.
Fun Facts:
- She worked on a 1,000 head bison ranch while pastoring her first church.
- She has shared over 800 bouquets from her garden since 2020 with neighbors, strangers, friends and members of Light for the Darkness.
- In 2019, she rode 1200 miles on her bike.
- She and her first ministry partner, Mr. T Rex, visited with over 30,000 people in hospitals, groups, and events together.
