Right after the sr pastor retired, the fawning media coverage and 10 banquets for him were over, the NEW sr pastor, raised up and groomed by the former pastor, took all the former pastor’s sermons off the radio and started almost immediately to erase his footprint on the church. He finally got his own hand picked elder board and was able to do all the things he wanted to do but never once mentioned while he was the junior guy.

And this was EXACTLY what the former elders were trying to avoid with their thoughtful process of succession for continuity.

The problems are institutionalized. The problems are with celebrity and power of authority to mega churches.

I know we have to think about the younger generation, but why isn’t Coral Ridge flexible enough to meet the needs of the different generations that are represented there? As I see these trends occurring within Christendom, it breaks my heart that the “golden” generation appears to have been marginalized at Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church.

What stuns me more than anything else is that if you go to the church’s recently redesigned website (http://www.crpc.org/), there is absolutely nothing about the history of Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church and no mention of D. James Kennedy. On Tullian’s blog, Kal says this information will be added soon…

But I completely agree with Dee’s and Deb’s comments about a new administration/pastor changing things in a church.

Most of the people who will complain are the people who have been there for decades and gave the money to build the buildings and run all of the existing progams.

A new pastor should respect the history of that congregation. In fact, that should be part of the interview process. If the new pastor has plans to come in and change the music and a bunch of other traditions, he should let the congregation know when he is interviewing.

If the new pastor comes to those convictions after arriving, he should proceed slowly. 50% plus 1 may get you what you want. But it will also get you a war that may tear the church apart.

One cannot allow a handful of loud people to stop progress, but wisdom and patience will usually get you around those items.

Change can be quite difficult for those who have supported Coral Ridge for DECADES. Apparently, TT didn’t take that into consideration because it seems they simply don’t count…

According to the Miami Herald article we referenced, here are the real reasons many of the members had a problem with TT’s leadership skills (or lack thereof):

“Among the accusations of the dissidents are than Tchividjian has replaced some longtime Coral Ridge staff members with his own people. The dissidents have also accused Tchividjian of watering down Coral Ridge’s worship style, de-emphasizing the Evangelism Explosion method developed by Kennedy, selling land at the church’s west campus ‘to make up for budget shortfalls,’ and appointing an executive commission with equal power to the standard church government.”

Both of us have MBAs. One of the first lessons I learned in business school is the following. Don’t automatically think that the organization that you go to work for is stupid and needs you to change it.First, find out what is right about the organization.If it has been successful, find out why. Then, slowly seek to make changes to enhance its effectiveness.

I do not go to a church that has vestments or a formal evangelism program.However, CRPC had some traditions and not all traditions need to be jettisoned immediately. In fact, those that do, often find conflict follows. I believe TT could have had everything he wanted had he been willing to move slowly, taking into account the feelings of those who helped establish and build the church.

Apparently the PCA agrees.I am sure their ruling has nothing at all to do with shedding the vestments. It may have actually considered the people who were hurting. Didn’t Jesus make that his priority?

Blessings