Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church

Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church
Country	United States
Denomination	Presbyterian Church in America
Website	http://www.crpc.org
History
Founded	1960
Founder(s)	D. James Kennedy
Architecture
Style	Modern
Clergy
Senior pastor(s)	W. G. Tullian Tchividjian

Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church is a congregation of the Presbyterian Church in America located in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, U.S. It was founded in 1960 by D. James Kennedy (1930–2007), who served as the church's senior pastor until his death in 2007. The present church seating 2,800 persons was dedicated in February, 1974, by famed evangelist Billy Graham. It became affiliated with the Presbyterian Church in America denomination on May 16, 1978. The church espouses a traditional Calvinist theology and its motto is "On earth as it is in heaven".

Beginning in 1978 under pastor D. James Kennedy, the church's weekly services were televised as the Coral Ridge Hour, eventually reaching a nationwide audience of more than 3 million.^[1] The Westminster Academy and Knox Theological Seminary, also in Ft. Lauderdale, are educational ministries of the church. Christian radio station WAFG-FM in Ft. Lauderdale is also affiliated with the church. The current senior pastor is W. Tullian Tchividjian, a grandson of Billy Graham, who succeeded Kennedy as senior pastor of the church in April, 2009.

History

The church was founded by D. James Kennedy on May 22, 1960, who began with a congregation of 45 persons attending a typical Sunday service at a rented elementary school auditorium.^[2] Kennedy developed the "Evangelism Explosion" ("EE") method of evangelism in the 1960s, which emphasizes the training of church laypeople to share their faith by home visitation in the community.^[3] Coral Ridge became the fastest-growing Presbyterian church in the U.S. in the 1960s and had 1,366 members by 1968.^[3] Outgrowing its first church built in the early 1960s, construction of the church's present 2,800-seat sanctuary, surmounted by a 300-foot (91 m) tower and designed in a modern style, was undertaken in the early 1970s. On December 21, 1973, the first services were held in the church's new building. In February, 1974, the sanctuary was formally dedicated by Billy Graham.^[4] By the 1980s, the church's membership had grown to a few thousand persons.^[5] Evangelism Explosion was the subject of Kennedy's doctoral dissertation, who said he earned a Ph.D. "to dispel the idea there is an inconsistency between evangelism and education...evangelical ministers [need] to be thoroughly educated and equipped to meet on equal terms anyone with whom they come in contact".^[3][6] A 1970 film, Like a Mighty Army, starring actor Chris Robinson as Kennedy, portrayed the Evangelism Explosion story at the church.^[3]

By the 1980s, the church's television ministry had a weekly audience of 3.5 million viewers, as the Coral Ridge Hour aired on more than 400 stations and four cable networks, including the Trinity Broadcasting Network, The Inspiration Network (INSP) and the NRB Network, as well as broadcast to more than 150 countries on the Armed Forces Network.^[5]

As the result of a heart attack from which he never fully recovered, Kennedy last preached at Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church on December 24, 2006. His retirement was officially announced at the church on August 26, 2007, and he died in his home ten days later.^[7][8] In a statement following news of Kennedy's retirement, the church announced the development of the D. James Kennedy Legacy website in tribute to the life of the Christian evangelist.^[9]

Current ministry

The church's current senior pastor is William Graham Tullian Tchividjian, a native Floridian born in Jacksonville. Named after third century theologian Tertullian, he is a grandson of famed evangelist Billy Graham.^[4] Previously, he pastored New City Church, meeting at a high school in nearby Coconut Creek. He was invited on January 12, 2009, to become Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church's senior minister, as part of a merger of the two congregations.^[4] The Coral Ridge congregation approved Tchividjian's appointment and merger of the two churches by vote on March 15, 2009, with 920 of the 1,014 members present voting in favor.^[10][11] Tchividjian was installed as the church's current senior pastor on Easter Sunday, April 12, 2009. He studied philosophy at Columbia International University and earned a divinity degree at Reformed Theological Seminary. His writings include Do I Know God? Finding Certainty in Life's Most Important Relationship and Unfashionable: Making a Difference in the World by Being Different. At the beginning of 2009, the church had 2,200 members and weekly attendance average 1,800 persons.^[4] In 2009 hundreds of members formed a breakaway church which was named "The New Presbyterian Church".

Music

The church has both traditional and Contemporary Christian music worship services, which it calls "classic" and "blended" worship, respectively, on its website. Brandon Wells is worship leader of the blended worship.

From 1997 until his resignation on September 24, 2009, John L. Wilson was the director of music. Other former directors were Rev. Stephen Carroll, Brian Trevor, and Roger G. McMurrin. The church has a 100-voice adult Chancel Choir and the "Coral Ambassadors", composed of 50 high school-age youth, along with handbell choirs.

The large Fratelli Rufatti pipe organ built in 1974 has 6,642 pipes in 117 ranks. In 2004, the organ was expanded with the addition of 61 digital voices by the Walker Techical Company, resulting in the equivalent of 178 total ranks.^[12] Samuel Metzger, organist from 2003 until his resignation in September, 2009, has recorded seven CDs of music on the Rufatti instrument.^[13][14] The organ is also regularly featured on the Joy of Music television programs of Diane Bish, one of the church's former organists, and is often heard on the Sacred Classics radio show, along with recordings by the church's choir. Another former organist is Rebecca Kleintop Owens.

In addition to regular services, since 1972 the church has offered an annual concert series featuring guest artists as well as the church's musicians.

References

External links

• Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church website
• Coral Ridge Ministries website
• Coral Ridge Fratelli Rufatti Instrument Details

• The New Presbyterian Church