And Not a Gay Person Will Cry!!

Ailing Rev. Kennedy retires from Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church
He shepherded church into a global empire
By JAMES D. DAVIS

Religion Editor

August 27, 2007

Months of rumors ended with a Sunday morning revelation at Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church: The ailing Rev. D. James Kennedy is not returning to the helm of the congregation he founded 48 years ago.

The pastor, religious broadcaster, conservative activist and evangelical leader has been in and out of hospitals since Dec. 28, when he suffered a brief cardiac arrest. On Sunday, his family and church leaders made it official.

"Today I am formally announcing the retirement of my dad as the senior minister of the Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church," Jennifer Kennedy Cassidy, speaking for the family, told 1,700 listeners in the three-steepled white church in Fort Lauderdale.

The announcement, at a joint gathering of all three morning services, ends Kennedy's multilayered efforts to further his vision of Christianity and social values: education, prayer in schools, opposition to gay rights, and other conservative causes. His influence was felt far beyond church walls, to the halls of power in Washington, D.C., and numerous nations where ordinary people heard his broadcast messages and applied his evangelistic methods.

"I'm sad that an era is over, but I'm excited for the future," said Gladys Israels, of Pompano Beach, who has attended Coral Ridge since 1960. "[Kennedy] laid a solid foundation, and the future will be as great or greater than the past."

His wife, Anne Kennedy, made no public statement but walked down the aisle with her daughter at the end of the service, to extended applause. In the church foyer, the two hugged and shook hands with well-wishers in a line that stretched more than 100 feet. The Kennedys observed their 51st wedding anniversary on Saturday.

As the church adjusted to the news, accolades poured in from other conservative Christian leaders.

Kennedy, 76, is one of Christianity's "truly significant figures," according to a statement by James Dobson, chairman of Focus on the Family. "Believers around the world are indebted to you for your vision and leadership."

Frank Wright, a longtime friend of the church and president of the National Religious Broadcasters, praised Kennedy's "godly wisdom, his courageous heart and his consistent example. ... Dr. Kennedy is a man among men who will continue to cast a long shadow in the lives of those who know and love him."

Besides the church, Kennedy founded: Knox Seminary; Westminster Academy; Coral Ridge Ministries, a broadcast organization heard in about 200 nations; a chaplaincy to federal workers on Capitol Hill; and Evangelism Explosion, a program to train lay people to spread the gospel. He launched a series of rallies, called Reclaiming America for Christ, that helped train volunteers across the nation to work for conservative aims in their hometowns. He also has written more than 65 books.

Church leaders and members vowed to carry on his work, despite the closing in April of the Center for Reclaiming America, a social action arm of Coral Ridge Ministries.

The decision for her father to retire was made jointly by the church and the family, said Cassidy, of Delray Beach, in an interview after the service. Kennedy has 24-hour care from his wife and a home health aide, she said.

Kennedy's continuing problems include short-term memory loss and "loss of some cognitive skills," caused by a lack of oxygen to his brain for six to eight minutes after his cardiac arrest, said Cassidy, a registered nurse.

"He has good and bad days," she said. "Some days he's talkative; other days, he's quiet. It's hard for him to articulate his thoughts."

For three months, he was mostly in bed or a wheelchair until receiving two months of therapy at a rehabilitation center in Grand Rapids, Mich. He now walks unaided, Cassidy said.

In January, he received a pacemaker-defibrillator at Holy Cross Hospital in Fort Lauderdale, replacing a regular pacemaker implanted last year. He has physical therapy three times a week.

Complicating his recovery are a lifelong problem with asthma and headaches from "degenerative disc disease," Cassidy said. He had at least two neck vertebrae fused in the 1980s, she said.

In her speech to the congregation, she denied rumors that her father had a stroke or heart attack or contracted Alzheimer's disease.

"He is still his loving, gracious self," she said.

Speculation had circulated for months about Kennedy's condition. The Rev. Ronald Siegenthaler, the church's executive minister, said on Sunday that the details were closely guarded because of concern for the family's privacy. Kennedy's doctors also said at first that they expected a full recovery.

"But after six months, we recognized it was inevitable" that Kennedy wouldn't be resuming the pastorate, Siegenthaler said.

Until a new pastor is found, Coral Ridge will be run by the church elders. First will come a long analysis of the church's needs and its vision for the future. Then, a Pulpit Search Committee, made of a cross-section of the congregation, will research candidates.

The committee will recommend a minister, but the final acceptance will come by congregational vote. The process could take up to two years, and Siegenthaler said he hopes it will.

"The longer, the better," he said. "Any man that follows will be compared with Dr. Kennedy. The longer it takes for him to start at the church, the more eager people will be to follow his leadership."