Ministry News

Congregational Coup

Details: Tuesday, 11 August 2009 12:16

So much for a honeymoon period. At Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., things are starting to get ugly only five months after the installation of a new pastor.

Last weekend senior pastor Tullian Tchividjian sent out a letter informing the congregation of 2,200 that six members—including the daughter of renowned founding pastor D. James Kennedy—have been banned from the megachurch property and all church functions. The letter marks the latest response in an ongoing feud between Tchividjian, who is the grandson of famed evangelist Billy Graham, and a small group of members attempting to oust the new pastor.

The dissidents claim Tchividjian purposefully displaced longtime Coral Ridge staff members with staff from his former church, New City Church in Margate, Fla., which merged with the megachurch upon Tchividjian's hiring. In a couple of letters and petitions sent out in recent weeks, the group also accused their new pastor of downplaying Kennedy's evangelistic models and conservative political bent, selling church property to compensate for "budget shortfalls," making services more "seeker-friendly" and tweaking the church authority structure.

In a town hall meeting on July 31, however, Tchividjian and several Coral Ridge staff members refuted each of those claims and reinforced the leadership's intent to further the church's original vision initiated by Kennedy. Tchividjian denied any budget shortfall, stated that only 15 of the 70-plus staff members were from his previous church and added that he was in fact making contemporary services more traditional.

In his recent letter, Tchividjian informed the church that its leadership would be forming a judicial commission to provide the six dissidents a formal hearing where they can "give an account for the controversy their actions have created. … No church government can tolerate such an insurrection from those who will not listen to admonition, refuse all counsel, and will stop at nothing until they have overthrown legitimate authority and replaced it with their own."

Those words didn't surprise at least one of the six. "Quite honestly, we expected this," said longtime Coral Ridge member Jim Filosa, who, along with his wife, has also been ordered to stop sending accusatory letters to the congregation. "Tullian won't leave without a fight, and neither will we. … If he had come in humbly and done changes gradually, I think he would have been more accepted. Instead, it's been an attitude more like, 'Here I am—if you don't like me, there's the door.'" [sun-sentinel.com, 8/11/09]

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Comments

123

0 #21 sweets 2009-08-12 22:58

The story here is by a local Ft. Lauderdale newspaper. You can go to the CRPC For All site to hear the members discuss the ISSUES that they are concerned about. Keep praying for them as they work this out. I have many wonderful friends that go to that church that are committed Christians that want to see God's will done.

This blog, as it is titled, is for everyone at Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church who desires more information regarding and/or to discuss the recent merger with New City. This is a place to detail and debate the many changes, provide facts, and ask questions. It is not an official CRPC site, but all members who love CRPC are invited to participate. QUESTIONS - FACTS - TRUTH
http://www.crpcforall.blogspot.com/

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+3 #20 Eric J. Hanson 2009-08-12 06:36

Here is another example, to go with the vast number of earlier ones, of why the Bible makes it clear that the term Senior Pastor is reserved for Jesus. (I Peter 5. "Arche poimen") The correctly set up New Testament church is always governed, guarded, and taught by a plurality of elders, having been set in by apostolic men after a reasonable process. The exaltation of individual personalities is a terrible error, left over from pre-Reformation days. It is a practice that needs to be reformed out. No one man hsould EVER be in such a position, that his death, moral fall, or loss of abilities can leave a large church vulnerable to "power struggle" problems.

I have labored for 27 years within a church family set up with a group of men (submitted to one another) shepherding the church together under Great Shepherd, Jesus Christ.

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+1 #19 K Cross 2009-08-12 03:39

I am glad that this issue was made public. Too often Christians think that pastoral transitions should always go smooth and sweet. This is far from the case. We need to hear about these matters. Believers need to learn how to manage and resolve conflict, not sweep it under the rug. We could be a great example to the world of how to handle these very traumatic and difficult situations. I say, "SHOUT IT FROM THE ROOFTOPS!" and let's learn from our brothers and sisters in Christ.

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+1 #18 Pastor Dan Gabriel 2009-08-12 03:11

To those who believe an article such as this should not appear on this site, you may want to reconsider that opinion. This site is called "Ministry Today". It should cover as many aspects of ministry today as possible, both negative and positive, so that the reader may be educated and enlightened. An article on a high profile situation such as this can only be an asset to the Body of Christ in order to strengthen our discernment. As far as this being carnal, wasn't the situation in Acts 15 about the fight and split in ministry between Paul and Barnabas a "carnal" event? Yet the Holy Ghost saw fit to keep that situation in the Bible for our good.

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+3 #17 Pastor Randall Knuth 2009-08-12 02:38

This is exactly how the devil works in destroying the witness of the church in American society today. Satan has tried time and again to destroy the church and unfortunately does so from within. I do not know the issues. Whatever they maybe, let us all join together in prayer for this congregation and its leadership on all sides of the issues. May the Holy Spirit infiltrate the humanness of Coral Ridge, enable individuals to put aside personal agendas, repent of wrong doings, and enable all be to sit down and together work out differences in the spirit of true Christian love.

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+1 #16 Sharon Pleasants 2009-08-12 01:51

This article is extremely inappropriate for a Christian Ministry magazine. This is not "Ministry News". It is ministry gossip, which is sinful and totally uncalled for in this venue. If you are not part of the problem or part of the solution, then you are gossiping. Shame on Ministry Today editors. This article would be more appropriate in the National Inquirer.

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+2 #15 sweets 2009-08-11 20:44

I have friends on both sides of the fence and it grieves me to see the hurt they are going through. I think that Tullian, the Coral Ridge people and the City Church folks need to stay off the blogs about it. They are making this a public affair by doing so and dragging all Christians into the fray.
I think Tullian is a young man that is passionate about God. But I have say that I think that he and the leadership went overboard in their reaction to these people. Many of them tried to contact Tullian and he ignored their communications until it blew up. Now we have this. The blogs are full of Coral Ridge members that are divided and angry with each other. I can't see that Tullian made the situation any better with this latest action. Will take a long time to heal from this. I doubt that Dr. Kennedy would have wanted all this blow up to happen after his death.
Keep praying for this church and it's members. We all need to carry this burden in our prayers.

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+1 #14 Vernon 2009-08-11 19:39

I always enjoy your articles, but i think this article is not worthy of the calibre we are used to. Away with such carnality and lets get somethings that edify and strenghten the body :-?

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+1 #13 Rev. Raymond Walters 2009-08-11 14:52

Though all of the previous posters have made valid comments, I can see both sides of this disagreement having been assigned to churches where I felt it necessary to make adjustments for the betterment of the congregation/ church administration.
I must however mention that God is not the author of chaos. Order must prevail, and rules of the church must be followed, even when it is expedient for some to try and side-step those rules.
Some folk want to be in charge, even though that is not their gift/ talent. Helping people to understand their gifts would alleviate problems like this 50%, the other 50% requiring church members to sudue their passions, read/ study scripture, and apply those same scriptures to their daily lives.
I will keep these folk in prayer! God bless!

The Reverend Raymond Walters

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