Pastor at Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church steps down after 48 years

South Florida Sun-Sentinel ^ | August 26, 2007 | James D. Davis

[PAR35]

Dr. D. James Kennedy, the pastor of Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church, has retired, his daughter announced from the pulpit of the Fort Lauderdale Church Sunday. He was pastor for 48 years.

The announcement capped off months of speculation spun by his absence from the pulpit since December after suffering a brief heart failure.

"I formally announce the retirement of Dr. D. James Kennedy as senior pastor of Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church," Jennifer Kennedy Cassidy announced to reactions of quiet gasps among the 1,700 listeners.

[PAR35]

I'm surprised that anyone was surprised. His health hadn't been the best even before he had the heart failure, and his recovery has not progressed very rapidly.

[Suzy Quzy]

I LOVE Dr, Kennedy!! He’s the FINEST Protestant minister out there...imho.

[Alex Murphy]

I LOVE Dr, Kennedy!! He’s the FINEST Protestant minister out there...imho.

That's high praise indeed, Suzy. Thank you for posting it. It is indeed a passing of an era.

[P8riot]

We have been trying to get Dr. Kennedy to speak at our Mid-winter Bible Conferences (we are PCA too) for the last 10 yrs, but he has always been too busy (understandably), maybe now we stand a chance.

[Dr. Thorne]

This is a real shame as Dr. Kennedy is one high-profile preacher who tells it like it is and lets the chips fall where they may. He is a gutsy, Godly man and will be missed.

[Greg F]

Are you a Floridian Alex? A guy in my Bible study is a member at Coral Ridge but I never made it to services there, just a little too far away to make it my church. Kennedy was about the only preacher that broadcast on TV that I really enjoyed watching.

[Joann37]

He seemed like a wonderful man of character, who preached the Word and was not afraid to get involved into issues of today. May God give him improved health. And I hope the church can find someone of equal stature to carry on the Kennedy’s mission.

[Joann37]

Correction (there were two errors in my initial post, above)

He seemed like a wonderful man of character, who preached the Word and was not afraid to get involved with issues of today. May God give him improved health. And I hope the church can find someone of equal stature to carry on Kennedy’s mission.

[PAR35]

I don’t envy their pulpit search committee. They have a difficult job ahead of them.

[PAR35]

I don’t think his health will allow it any time soon.

Have you all had Sinclair Ferguson yet? He’s great. Elliot Greene isn’t as well known, but he is a great Bible teacher. Richard Pratt or Skip Ryan would also be solid choices.

Wilson Benton, Frank Barker and Paul Settle are retired, but are still active, last I heard. I believe that Luder Whitlock has retired, as well, and I know he is still active.

[AZhardliner]

My take on this is the Dr. Kennedy will not preach again; the damage to his health is too great.

[xzins]

It is given unto man once to die....

The tragedy of biography is that all heroes die.

The glory of Christian biography is “he who lives and believes in Me shall never die.”

Grace!

I have always considered Dr. Kennedy a great preacher, an historic organizer, and a patriot of patriots.

[Tax-chick]

God bless Dr. Kennedy and his family, and best wishes to the church as they look for a new leader.

[Augustinian monk]

Here is one of our friends at DU weighing in on the matter. Enjoy.

“Stuckinthebush (1000+ posts) Mon Aug-27-07 08:23 AM
Response to Original message
4. Not part of the mainstream PCUSA I’d imagine
The Presbyterian Church USA are the “normal” Presbyterians one hears of - the liberal to moderate Presbyterian.

I’m assuming this guy was part of the splinter group PCA or Presbyterian Church of American. Those guys were the whacked out right wingers who split from the PCUSA years ago over female ordination among other progressive stances the PCUSA took. “

[PAR35]

Actually, Kennedy was late to the PCA party. He remained in the PCUS (now part of PCUSA) when the original split occured. He laid down two conditions for joining the PCA. First, it would have to commit to being a national, and not just a southern, denominiation. Second, there could be no hint of racism. When it became clear that both of these conditions had been met, he joined, as did many churches in south Florida.

Of course, it took until last year before the PCA was able to establish itself in its 50th state.

[P8riot]

We had Frank Barker one year, but none of the others you have mentioned. We sometimes look outside the PCA. Two years ago we had Mark Earley, of Charles Colson's Prison Fellowship International. Mark is a previous member of our church, former Atty General of VA (and gubernatorial candidate), and a personal friend. I'm not sure who we've got lined up for the next conference.

[PAR35]

If you want to get ecumenical, Al Mohler at the Baptist seminary in Louisville is reformed. I left him off my first list.

[Piers-the-Ploughman]

May Our Lord give him many healthy contented years in retirement; definitely one of the good guys.

[xJones]

And we can trust it will be said of him, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant”.

[fkabuckeyesrule]

God bless him. It’s nice to hear a conservative presbyterian. He seemed a bit obsessed with political issues. His shows seems to deal more with politics than actual Bible teachings. As an aside I might say it is nice to hear about a minister stepping down because of something other than sexual misconduct.