Like many other religious leaders, the Rev. Stan Mitchell once believed in conversion therapy for gay Christians. Years ago, before his views on homosexuality evolved, Mitchell would send parishioners to so-called therapy, hoping to turn them straight with the threat of eternal damnation.

“I was a pastor in a megachurch, and I was party to destroying these people," Mitchell said during an interview on CBS News on Sunday morning.

"Do you have any idea of how many young people you had recommended go through conversion therapy?” asked CBS correspondent Erin Moriarty.

"I've tried to forget. I've tried to forget," Mitchell replied.

Mitchell, the founding pastor of Nashville’s GracePoint Church, a progressive interdenominational Christian congregation, spoke out against the highly controversial practice of anti-gay conversion therapy during an 12-minute segment on the practice on CBS News on Sunday morning. During the news segment, Mitchell says the therapy, which does lasting damage, is still used to attempt to convert children as young as 10.

Mitchell previously made headlines in 2015 when he announced that his church, which was previously evangelical, would support same-sex marriage and broaden its membership to include all sexual orientations and gender identities. Two years later, the church moved from its original location in conservative Williamson County to more liberal Nashville, where it remains today.

During the interview with CBS, Mitchell said he also started speaking out against conversion therapy in 2015. Since then, he’s lost two-third of his congregation.

"The only thing I regret is that I didn't do it sooner. People died while I was trying to find courage,” Mitchell told CBS. “In the last four years, I've done at least three or four funerals of people who took their life because of this issue.”

You can see more of Mitchell’s interview and other stories about the perils of conversion therapy by watching the entire CBS segment. The CBS segment focuses largely on the story of Adam Trimmer, a 29-year-old Virginia man who said he attempted suicide after being sent to conversion therapy as a teenager.

Brett Kelman is the health care reporter for The Tennessean. He can be reached at 615-259-8287 or at brett.kelman@tennessean.com. Follow him on Twitter at @brettkelman.