FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (ABP)—Presbyterian minister James Kennedy died Sept. 5, little more than a week after he retired from the pulpit that helped him launch both evangelistic and political ministries.
Kennedy, who was 76, had served nearly half a century as pastor of Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. But he also was one of the pioneers of television ministry, a seminary founder and the head of an activist empire devoted to what he believed was the restoration of the United States as a “Christian nation.”
According to Coral Ridge Ministries, the umbrella group for his ministry efforts, his death resulted from complications following a heart attack he suffered late last year. He had stepped down from his day-to-day role as head of the church and ministry while undergoing rehabilitation, but worshippers at the church learned Aug. 26 he would be unable to return to his duties.
Kennedy became pastor of Coral Ridge, then a tiny mission church, in 1959. The congregation later joined the conservative Presbyterian Church in America, formed mainly by Southerners who broke with the mainstream Presbyterian denomination over the ordination of women and other issues.
After training the church's members in personal evangelism, the church began to grow explosively. His method, called “Evangelism Explosion,” became popular across evangelicalism.
In time, Kennedy's work moved from evangelizing individuals to political activism. He served on the initial board of Falwell's Moral Majority and later founded the Center for Reclaiming America, to train Christian activists for effective issue advocacy.