Coral Ridge Ministries Media/ D. James Kennedy

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MinistryWatch.com’s Take
May 2003
By Andy Preslar, Research Fellow



Summary
The mission of Coral Ridge Media Ministries, Inc. (CRM) is three-fold: (1) to preach the Gospel to the lost, (2) to nurture Christian growth through Bible instruction, and (3) to apply biblical instruction to all of life, including civic affairs. CRM works to accomplish these tasks through the television and radio teaching ministry of its founder and president, D. James Kennedy. CRM has also developed programs designed to effect social change by ministering with the Gospel to lawmakers and other workers on Capital Hill, and by encouraging Christians around the nation to bring their beliefs to bear upon public discussion and policy making.

History
CRM was founded in 1974 by D. James Kennedy, pastor of Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church (PCA), as an outreach program designed to “capitalize on the tremendous evangelistic potential of the electronic media” (www.crpc.org). Dr. Kennedy began ministering at Coral Ridge in 1959, when the church had 45 members. Since that time, the church has grown to a membership of nearly 10,000. Dr. Kennedy is the founder of several ministry programs in addition to CRM, including Evangelism Explosion International, one of the most popular and successful evangelistic organizations in the world. Dr. Kennedy has several earned degrees: a B.A. degree at the University of Tampa, a M. Div. at Columbia Theological Seminary, a Th.M. at Chicago Graduate School of Theology, and a Ph.D. from New York University. He is the author of over 50 books, including Evangelism Explosion, Why I Believe, and the controversial The Real Meaning of the Zodiac. Beginning in the mid-nineties, CRM, in keeping with Dr. Kennedy’s idea of the “Cultural Mandate” (see below), began to develop programs designed to inform Christians of religiously and ethically significant issues being debate in the public square, and to motivate them to voice their biblical convictions on these issues in organized and effective ways.

Programs
The Coral Ridge Hour, a weekly television program, featuring the teaching of Dr. Kennedy, began airing in 1978 on two stations. Today, the program airs on some 600 stations, four cable networks, and is available to 81 percent of U.S. television households. CRM also produces two radio programs, Truths That Transform and The Kennedy Commentary. The former is a daily half-hour preaching and teaching program (featuring Dr. Kennedy) which airs on 485 radio facilities in the U.S., the latter is a daily 90 second feature which offers listeners spiritual advice, encouragement, and social commentary. Each of these broadcast programs seek to address biblical, theological, and social issues in a topical, thoughtful, and timely manner. Largely as a result of these broadcast ministries, CRM receives some 1,500 requests a month for new believer resources, and thousands of requests yearly from believers seeking spiritual guidance.

In order to fulfill the third aspect of its mission (applying biblical principles to civic affairs) CRM has developed three additional programs. In 1994 CRM began to hold the annual Reclaiming America for Christ conferences in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. This conference draws Christian leaders from all over America who desire to see biblical truths brought to bear on public life. In 1995 the D. James Kennedy Center For Christian Statesmanship (CCS) was founded. This program operates out of offices on the Senate side of Capital Hill in Washington, D.C. The purpose of the CCS is to promote and encourage Christian Statesmanship through spiritual outreach (mobilizing Christians working on the Hill to share the Gospel), ministry training (Bible studies are routinely conducted on Capital Hill) and restoring the vision of America held by the Founding Fathers; namely, that of a country in which personal faith and public life are essentially linked together. The Center For Reclaiming America was founded in 1996. The purpose of the Center is to help “restore virtue to the American culture.” The Center’s activities are organized at a grass roots level, with members in all 50 states. These activities include signing petitions, organizing phone campaigns, holding regional seminars, and encouraging believers to become involved in shaping their communities (e.g. working on local school boards). The Center maintains a website with constantly updated news items, commentary, and information on Center events. CRM also disseminates information by mail, informing its readers of legislation, court battles, and international affairs pertaining to morality and religion in the public sphere.

Philosophy of Ministry
CRM believes and teaches that biblical Christianity is true, defensible, and relevant. The Bible is the basis for Dr. Kennedy’s teaching and preaching. Dr. Kennedy believes, furthermore, that the Bible (and the Christian worldview in general) is rationally defensible; that is, there are good reasons to believe that the Christian message is true. CRM does not advocate a blind leap of faith, but encourages people to believe what there is reason to believe, and shows them what those reasons are. Because Christianity can be rationally defended, it can be a source of light in the arena of public debate. The Cultural Mandate, as understood and taught by Dr. Kennedy and CRM, impels Christians, on the basis of their reasonable faith, to engage in the value wars of our time. We must not be silent. Jesus tells his followers that they are salt and light in this world, and commands them to let their light shine before men (Mt. 5:13-16). An important aspect of this is doing social good works. CRM does not teach that Christians can cure all the ills of the world. We are not trying to establish the kingdom. Rather, “the Cultural Mandate is God’s instrument to create a flourishing context for the reception of the Gospel in the world, not a means to usher in the millennial reign of Christ” (John Barber, America Restored [CRM publication; material quoted is posted at The Center For Reclaiming America’s website: www.reclaimamerica.org]). Thus CRM, while “reforming the culture,” seeks to witness to the Gospel first and foremost. The Cultural Mandate, which is the distinguishing aspect of CRM, is “not a way to save the world, but it plays a part in God’s plan to save it” (ibid.).