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Coral Ridge’s new pastor
One of the Presbyterian Church in America’s biggest and best-known congregations has called a new pastor to fill the big shoes of its late founder, and he comes from a well-known family. In an overwhelming vote Sunday, the congregation at Coral Ridge Presbyterian in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., called 36-year-old Tullian Tchividjian, the grandson of Billy Graham, to pastor the 50-year-old church founded by D. James Kennedy and known for its political activism.
But with a new man in the pulpit, could that activism change? “I think that politics is one strategic area of cultural engagement,” Tchividjian (pronounced cha-vi-jin) told the Associated Press. “But I also think that the sphere of art and the sphere of education and the sphere of media and technology are also strategic.”
Tchividjian, the son of Stephan Tchividjian and Graham’s eldest daughter Gigi, attended Coral Ridge—where his grandfather delivered the dedication ceremony–and its school as a youth, but he dropped out at age 16 and headed for South Beach and five years of partying. After bottoming out, he recommitted his life to Christ, went to seminary, and founded New City Presbyterian, a nearby Evangelical Presbyterian Church that will merge with Coral Ridge on Easter Sunday.
ADDENDUM: Here’s an August 2007 interview with Tchividjian by Between Two World’s Justin Taylor.
back to top33 Comments to “Coral Ridge’s new pastor”
Art, education, media and technology?
Yep, for two long we’ve ceded this territory. When one team is a no show it’s too easy a victory. Let’s not lose those realms thru indifference. That after all is the lesson I thought Christians learned from Francis Schaeffer.
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I can see Billy Graham in him! Franklin, too, took off some years for partying, and it didn’t hurt him. Good luck to this young man.
I agree with Sawgunner. Cede no more territory.
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I hope he gives up on the Christian Nation nonsense that DJ Kennedy so fervently promoted.
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4 – Even if he doesn’t, there are plenty of preachers promoting it – and all it takes is one.
Biblical nations are God’s idea – not man’s.
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Does this young man have any other credentials besides being Billy Graham’s grandson?
I see, he founded a church which is probably doing well.
Dynasties bother me, even if they are good ones.
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Billy Graham named his daughter Gigi????
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He had another one named Bunny–I think these were nicknames.
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Arcadia, it’s a nickname for Virginia.
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Virginia (Gigi) – Ruth (Bunny) she no longer goes by Bunny but calls herself Ruth.
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May God bless this church as they seek His will. May Jesus remain the head of that church family as they all work together with the new pastor.
Whether our country remains a Christian nation (with a secular government) as it was founded to be (beginning with the early Puritan founders and extending to the drafters of the Founding documents), is a legitimate concern for any good pastor. But in the end, it is still Jesus’ church (world-wide) and not the American nation (whether you see it as “Christian” or not) that will go to heaven as the bride of Christ.
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Thankfully, D. James Kennedy’s dream (nightmare) of a religious theocracy in America was not realized in his lifetime. Hopefully the new minister won’t go down that same path.
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Anlir
Did you ever hear Dr. Kennedy say he “dreamed of a religious theocracy” in the USA? If so when?
How many times did you listen from beginning to end to Dr. Kennedy’s messages?
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D. James Kennedy’s idea of a “Christian Nation” complete with false history to back it up, was a de facto theocracy. The word “dominionist” is often thrown around to liberally and not properly applied to various figures so accused. However Kennedy was an avowed dominionist.
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Joel,
I might agree with you on the secular government part (I wouldn’t say “Christian Nation” but a nation with a lot of self defined Christians existing in it). However the main error that DJ Kennedy made was there WAS a disconnect between the tradition of the Puritians and that of 1776-1800. For one if you look at the early colonial charters they contain explicit covenants to the Triune God (and grant NO religious freedom). The DOI and US Constitution as secular documents have NO covenant to the biblical God and DO grant religious liberty rights (the First Amendment to the Constitution and “conscience” is the most unalienable of “liberty rights”).
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I don’t see how he could have claimed such when he was most notable for wanting to “take back America” and justified it with scripture verses about taking “dominion” over all things, which to Kennedy, included politics.
Though I would note, there is a big debate among orthodox evangelical Christians as how to properly interpret the Bible in this regard as other verses instruct things like Jesus’ Kingdom is not of this Earth.
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Jon – 13 and 16
YOU WRITE: #13 “However Kennedy was an avowed dominionist.”
Victoria #15: “James Kennedy always denied being a “dominionist” although web sites such as Wikipedia and others bray otherwise.”
You can weave this, but it won’t stand up, Dr. Kennedy always denied what YOU CLAIM he “avowed” – hmmmmmm
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Here is what Kennedy wrote:
“God’s answer to the question of human purpose and meaning centers around two great mandates He has given us in His Word. A mandate, of course, is a directive or command that points us in a specific direction. The first of God’s two mandates – the Cultural Mandate – is found at the very beginning of the Old Testament, in Genesis 1:26-28: ‘Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.’
“… We are to exercise godly dominion and influence over our neighborhoods, our schools, our government, our literature and arts, our sports arenas, our entertainment media, our news media, our scientific endeavors – in short, over every aspect and intrusion of human society.” [Bold mine.]
http://tinyurl.com/create.php
And here is an article that refutes the idea that Kennedy’s “dominion” or “cultural mandate” properly understands biblical orthodoxy:
http://tinyurl.com/5hvjyt
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My apologies. My link to the original DJ Kennedy quote didn’t go thru. Here it is:
http://tinyurl.com/cvr4yv
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Jon
Other than the many blogs who have copy pasted themselves silly from one to another – EXACTLY where and when did Dr. Kennedy make this statement – either it would be in one of HIS BOOKS, or it would be in one of HIS MESSAGES, or an INTERVIEW from a reliable source. Until you can give me a reliable source, which isn’t a blog or a liberal website I’m not going to consider this credible. IF however you do find a credible source, take the time to understand the meaning, it certainly was not to DOMINATE the entire country or the neighborhoods in which we live. I think you know this, however maybe not.
The Scripture below doesn’t say that Adam and Eve were to run the world or to dominate other humans, there was no one else but them after they were created until they both sinned, at which time they were taken from the garden.
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Victoria:
For more than 900 other Christians from across the US, the draw at Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church last month was a national conference aimed at “reclaiming America for Christ.” The monument stood as a potent symbol of their hopes for changing the course of the nation.
“We have God-sized problems in our country, and only God can solve them,” Richard Land, a prominent leader of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), told the group.
Their mission is not simply to save souls. The goal is to mobilize evangelical Christians for political action to return society to what they call “the biblical worldview of the Founding Fathers.” Some speak of “restoring a Christian nation.” Others shy from that phrase, but agree that the Bible calls them not only to evangelize, but also to transform the culture.
In material given to conference attendees, the Rev. D. James Kennedy, Coral Ridge pastor wrote: “As the vice-regents of God, we are to bring His truth and His will to bear on every sphere of our world and our society. We are to exercise godly dominion and influence over our neighborhoods, our schools, our government … our entertainment media, our news media, our scientific endeavors – in short, over every aspect and institution of human society.”
http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0316/p16s01-lire.htm
Now if that’s not a clear statement of dominionism from the pen of Dr Kennedy I don’t know what else it could be. I know it must make you feel warm and fuzzy to be be a “vice-regent” and all that, but you aren’t getting dominion over me.
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Arcadia
With this comment:
“As the vice-regents of God, we are to bring His truth and His will to bear on every sphere of our world and our society. We are to exercise godly dominion and influence over our neighborhoods, our schools, our government … our entertainment media, our news media, our scientific endeavors – in short, over every aspect and institution of human society.”
You believe that Dr. Kennedy believed Christians should dominate their communties like their pet dogs and cats? I believe you and others have taken the word “dominion” and made it something other than what was intended, TOTALY ignoring the word “INFLUENCE” which followed. Dr. Kennedy knew as every other Believer that Christians cannot DOMINATE the world, however we certainly can try and influence those around us.
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I don’t think Kennedy advocated Christians dominating their communities like dogs and cats. I think he envisioned them dominating their communities like theocrats, getting elected and passing legislation to criminalize various sinful behaviors (which are not currently criminal).
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I think much more serious is the critique by Drs. John MacArthur and Gregg Frazer. They concede Christians have every right to vote their values in a democratic-republic. However, when it comes to PRIORITIES — esp. if evangelicals/fundamentalists are right about salvation and eternal damnation — politics and the other things of this world should PALE in comparison to conversion efforts.
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#11, Anlir wrote; “Thankfully, D. James Kennedy’s dream (nightmare) of a religious theocracy in America was not realized…”
Anlir obviously has D. James Kennedy confused with Barack Obama, who addressed a church in South Carolina on October 7, 2007, and said: “Sometimes this is a difficult road being in politics… Sometimes you can seek power just for power’s sake instead of because you want to do service to God. I just want all of you to pray that I can be an instrument of God… I am confident that we can create a Kingdom right here on Earth.”
If a Republican said that, he would be branded as a “theocrat!”
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Victoria, it does not matter that D. James Kennedy himself denied being a “dominionist” or a “theocrat.” His final judge and ultimate jury is Jon Rowe and what Jon Rowe says about the faith or the theology of other people he never knew (especially people who have passed away) simply cannot be challenged, even by those people themselves.
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Joel, we have lots of people who want to re-write history, they spend their whole lives doing it, further more they demand that everyone believe their scissor cutting, no matter how pseudo legal or inaccurate it is, makes no difference. They are the scissors, which cut the past and paste it together as history.
This reminds me of children who have a puzzle, they enjoy it, but then they can’t place the rest of the pieces so they hunt for mom’s scissors, and cut the pieces to fit the puzzle, when they finish, what they have isn’t a picture of anything, just a mess. Some people learn, some continue to cut the pieces of the past to match their wishes, that’s what many a soul has done with the Word of GOD – they have confused themselves.
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Joel & Victoria:
If Barack Obama says he’s pro-life, does that mean he’s pro-life?
If James Kennedy says he’s not a dominionist, does that mean he’s not a dominionist?
There’s a lot of sense in evaluating people based on their actions and the sort of policies they advocate, rather than letting them define themselves however they want.
Kennedy may not have fit into the “classic” dominionist mold. But, he certainly seems to have held a lot of views that are in line with dominion theology.
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Buddyglass
Did you ever listen to Dr. Kennedy’s messages from beginning to end, either on TV, in person or on video, did you read what he wrote on a regular basis, NOT what the blogs and posters have written? – and how often?
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We have already offered a quotation from DJ Kennedy claiming to be a dominionist. Or at least he used the term “godly dominion.” Where is the quotation where he denies being a “dominionist”?
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No I haven’t. I’ve read various quotes from him, in context, that fall pretty close to dominion theology. “Reclaiming America for Christ”, etc. It may depend on how broadly or narrowly we define “dominion theology”.
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Dr. Kennedy made a remark which does not prove him to be a dominionist – however many have filled the blogsphere with endless statements saying that Dr. Kennedy is a dominionist – taking his statement out of context, and misusing Genesis 1 – no surprise.
This is no different than the homosexual community standing on their soap box, writing endless blogs and posts saying Evangelical churches and Believers ‘hate gays’ screeching and typing as fast as they can.
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