D. James Kennedy

Dennis James Kennedy (November 3, 1930 – September 5, 2007) was an American Presbyterian pastor, evangelist, Christian broadcaster, and author. He was the senior pastor of Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, from 1960 until his death in 2007.

In 1974, he began Coral Ridge Ministries, which produced his weekly religious television program, The Coral Ridge Hour, carried on various networks and syndicated on numerous other stations. In 2005, the National Religious Broadcasters association inducted Kennedy into its Hall of Fame.

Kennedy became a Christian in 1953 after hearing a radio preacher present the Gospel. In December 1955, Kennedy decided to enter the ministry and resumed his studies at the University of Tampa. He began preaching at the small Bethel Presbyterian Church in Clearwater, Florida, and then entered Columbia Theological Seminary in 1956. He received a Master of Divinity degree three years later and was ordained in 1959, becoming the pastor of Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church. In the 1970s, he earned a Master of Theology summa cum laude from the Chicago Graduate School of Theology, and in 1979 a doctorate in religious education from New York University.

Kennedy adhered to traditional Calvinist theology, with his theological works including Why I Believe, What If Jesus Had Never Been Born, Skeptics Answered, and Truths That Transform. In 1971, he founded the Westminster Academy in Fort Lauderdale and in 1989, he founded Knox Theological Seminary.