
DATE: Monday, September 1, 1997             TAG: 9709010111

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B2   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: Correspondent Jane Harper researched and wrote this report. 

                                            LENGTH:   65 lines

WHATEVER HAPPENED TO. . . FORMER ``700 CLUB'' CO-HOST SHEILA WALSH

Sheila Walsh left her job in Virginia Beach as a popular co-host of ``The 700 Club'' in September 1992 after suffering an emotional and physical breakdown. Viewers responded with hundreds of cards, letters and phone calls wishing her well in the months that followed.

Shortly after leaving the Christian Broadcasting Network's ``The 700 Club,'' Walsh spent months in a psychiatric clinic, was treated for clinical depression and divorced her husband.

But Walsh, 41, quickly picked up the pieces. She enrolled at Fuller Theological Seminary, where she continues to work toward a master's degree in theology.

She remarried 2 1/2 years ago and gave birth to her first child, a son named Christian, now 8 months old. The family lives in Franklin, Tenn., a small town south of Nashville.

In a phone interview, Walsh said her depression is under control and she no longer needs treatment.

She still keeps a hectic schedule, traveling two weekends a month with five other women who make up the group ``Women of Faith.'' They speak at various towns and cities with a traveling conference known as ``The Joyful Journey.''

The conferences are held at venues that typically seat between 17,000 and 20,000 women. And they frequently sell out, sometimes as much as a year in advance. The group is booked through the end of 1999. They're scheduled to return to Hampton Roads, at the Hampton Coliseum, next year.

``We're getting ready to go to Anaheim to a place that sits 18,000 to 19,000. It's sold out, and they have a waiting list with 10,000 names on it,'' Walsh said.

The women, ranging from 41 to 70 years of age, share their personal stories with the audience during the conference.

One woman discusses the tragic loss of her two sons, one of whom was killed in Vietnam and the other in a car accident. Another woman talks about her feelings after her adopted daughter decided to seek out her birth parents. And another discusses her experience with racism in the South.

Walsh tells the audience about her bout with depression.

``What we're trying to do is bring some hope and encouragement to other women,'' she said.

The group is very close and frequently gets together even when they're not on the road, Walsh said. ``It's like my son has five extra grandmothers,'' she said.

Walsh's husband, Barry, who runs her office, and her son travel with her as well.

Walsh is working on her fifth book, titled ``Bring Back the Joy.''

She said that while she ``absolutely loved'' her time on ``The 700 Club,'' she doesn't plan to return to television. She and Pat Robertson remain close and keep in touch, she added.

``Pat is like a dad to me.''

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Harper. ILLUSTRATION: Sheila Walsh says that while she ``absolutely loved''

her time as co-host on ``The 700 Club,'' she doesn't plan to return

to television. She and Pat Robertson, right, remain close and keep

in touch, she says. ``Pat is like a dad to me.''

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