Coral Ridge Pastor Suffers Heart Attack

The senior pastor of Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church has suffered a serious heart attack:

D. James Kennedy, author, theologian, biblical scholar, pastor of the 10,000-member "Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church" in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and founder of the highly influential Coral Ridge Ministries, suffered a major heart attack last night and is in grave condition, ministry officials tell WND.

According to Mary Ann Bunker, Kennedy's long-time personal assistant, the 75-year-old religious leader had a "severe" cardiac arrest last evening.

"He was home at the time," she said, noting that "the last time he preached was on Christmas Eve. He was home in the kitchen. He fell, and his wife caught him, and gave him CPR until the ambulance arrived."

I wouldn't call Kennedy a "televangelist", though his church's services were carried on television every week. If there was ever evidence that there's still a market for traditional church service, it was Coral Ridge, which was about as traditional a service as you would ever want to see. The audience still dresses up for church and the music is pretty much straight out of the hold hymnals. The place was packed every week too, so at least in some areas, traditional services still work.

I wish him well.