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Dr. D. James Kennedy Dies at 76
Orginally published on Wednesday, September 05, 2007 at 10:03 AM
by Todd Rhoades
The Rev. D. James Kennedy, a pioneering megachurch pastor who became one of the nation's most prominent Christian broadcasters and a key figure in the rise of the religious right, died Wednesday, a church spokesman said. He was 76. Church spokesman John Aman said Kennedy died at his home in Fort Lauderdale. He had announced his retirement last month and had recently suffered a heart attack. Kennedy took the Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church in Fort Lauderdale from a congregation of 45 in 1959 to a megachurch of nearly 10,000 members today...
He also founded the Center for Christian Statesmanship in Washington, organizing Capitol Hill Bible studies and other events that attracted top government officials and encouraged them “to embrace God’s providential purpose for this nation.”
In 1974, Kennedy started Coral Ridge Ministries, his radio and TV outreach arm, which now claims a weekly audience of 3.5 million. Kennedy’s TV show “The Coral Ridge Hour,” airs on more than 400 stations and four cable networks and is broadcast to more than 150 countries on the Armed Forces Network, his ministry says. Last year, the National Religious Broadcasters association inducted him into their Hall of Fame.
“He was one of the early visionaries who saw that you could use electronic media to extend the four walls of the church to reach a broader audience,” said Frank Wright, president and chief executive officer of the NRB.
Kennedy was a close colleague of the Rev. Pat Robertson, the Rev. Jerry Falwell and other religious broadcasters and was an early board member of the Moral Majority, which Falwell formed in 1979.
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Hi... I'm Todd Rhoades. I'm a Christ-follower, husband, father and I love to connect leaders with other leaders. Hopefully you'll find something here at MMI you like and will return often. If you want, you can find out more about me or follow my every step on Twitter.
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Posted by Rebecca Theim
Wednesday, September 05, 2007 at 1:51 PM
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Posted by Elizabeth Schmitz
Wednesday, September 05, 2007 at 6:30 PM
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Posted by
Thursday, September 06, 2007 at 12:48 AM
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Posted by
Monday, September 10, 2007 at 12:51 PM
Post Your Comments:Friends, family and others touched by the words and works of Dr. D. James Kennedy may offer their remembrances of him or condolences to his family in an online Guest Book created for him on Legacy.com.
Use of the Guest Book is free and does not require any type of registration. All comments are screened to ensure they are respectful and appropriate before they are posted to the Guest Book.
Anyone may access Dr. Kennedy’s Guest Book at: http://www.legacy.com/GB/GuestbookView.aspx?PersonId=93914022.
Legacy.com provides online obituaries and memorials for more than half of all people who die in the United States. It frequently features Guest Books for prominent people on the Home Page. Dr. Kennedy’s obituary and Guest Book are currently linked to from the Home Page.
from Schmitz Blitz: schmitzblitz.wordpress.com
Kennedy marks the second death of a major figure in the religious right this year (after the May death of Jerry Falwell)–I wonder if this is making his followers and other fundamentalist Christians take a long hard look at the state of their faith, seeing as they generally consider earthly tragedies and misfortunes to be punishments from God (recall Robertson’s remarks on Ariel Sharon’s stroke, and the countless comments made by others with regard to Katrina).
Get real Elizabeth
Who would consider death as Punishment.
Especially for one of the great men of Faith as Dr Kennedy
To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.
Dr Kennedy is now with our Lord and Savior
It is a great loss the Church as a whole but great gain for him
I would have to agree with “Boon”. I would love to be with The Lord as soon as He is done with me here. We can say without any doubt that God is done here with Dr. Kennedy in this particular ministry, and has welcomed him home to be with Him. Dr. Kennedy has found his rest indeed.
No matter what your political leanings may be, Dr. Kennedy always had the correct Biblical slant to his teachings. We should leave the sniping and back biting out of the conversation.
Even though I am a southern Baptist Pastor, I have long been impressed with how God has used the good Dr. in the broadcast ministry, as well as his church, and I am looking forward to see who God will raise up to fill those positions. Until that time, we will sorely miss his wit, his insight, his thoughtfulness, and his patriotism.
Thank you Dr. Kennedy and God bless you all.
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