Tullian Tchividjian Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ====Challenge==== At one time drawing 7,000 worshipers, Kennedy's Coral Ridge "had been in decline" since the death of its famous first preacher in 2007; Tchividjian's presented vision, his relative youth (aged 36 at time of installation), and his association with the famous Graham family<ref>The following source speaks of his "famous name," which we believe is apparent in referring to his being a grandson of [[Billy Graham]]. See "Early life and education," above.</ref> and were seen by the [[church elder]]s as a way to "revive... the aging congregation."<ref name = MorganCT150822/> At the time of Tchividjian's installation, Coral Ridge was described as having a weekly attendance at 1,800,<ref name=DavisSFSS090130/> from a membership of 2,200 persons.<ref name = CNWrelease/> The combined weekly attendance of the merged congregations was anticipated to be on the order of 2,450 persons.<ref>This estimate is drawn from reports and the church news release at the time, specifically, from Coral Ridge being described as having a weekly attendance at 1,800 (see Davis, ''South Florida Sun-Sentinel,'' January 30, 2009), and New City's description as having 650 (see Devin & Rohman, ''ChristianNewsWire.com,'' March 16, 2009).</ref> However, the response of the church to the difference in pastoral styles, and "Tchividjian's rejection of culture war politics" led to "chaos" in the church, and Tchividjian's recall was sought by a group led by Kennedy's daughter, Jennifer, within 6 months of his installation.<ref name = MorganCT150822/> In its description of the conflict, Bobby Ross Jr. of ''Christianity Today'' describes its outcome as "Tchividjian [having] survived an attempt… by… church members to remove him.<ref name = RossTchividjianCY090924>{{cite journal |author=Ross, Bobby Jr |author2=Tchividjian, Tullian | date = September 24, 2009 | title=Tullian Tchividjian: Allow Your Critics to Teach You | journal = [[Christianity Today]] | format = interview | url = http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2009/septemberweb-only/138-41.0.html | access-date = December 7, 2016 | quote = [Quote:] The new pastor of Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church talks about the effort to remove him from the pulpit. }}</ref> Tchividjian was retained by a majority of the congregation in September 2009.{{citation needed|date=December 2016}}<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.crpc.org/publications/crpc_pastorvote_092009.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=2009-10-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716202539/http://www.crpc.org/publications/crpc_pastorvote_092009.pdf |archive-date=2011-07-16 }}</ref><!-- REMOVED AS UNSOURCED: ", stating officially that "attendance had doubled in the past year, that 300 new members had been added since Tchividjian was installed, and that 192 people are registered for the next new members class, making it the largest new-members class in the church's 50-year history". FULL DEAD CITATION HERE: {{cite web|title=Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church Gives Its Pastor Overwhelming Vote of Confidence (news release)|date=September 20, 2009|publisher=Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church | url = http://www.crpc.org/publications/crpc_pastorvote_092009.pdf | access-date=October 6, 2009}}--> and the individuals bringing the removal action were described as being banned from the church.<ref name = MorganCT150822/> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page