Coral Ridge Takes on New Name: 'Truth in Action'
Coral Ridge Ministries, founded by the late Christian broadcaster Dr. D. James Kennedy, now has a new name: Truth in Action Ministries.
The global media ministry which seeks to communicate the Gospel, the Lordship of Christ, and a biblically informed worldview changed its name as “a means to reach more people and have a bigger impact on the culture by not just educating people on social issues and biblical worldview, but motivating and activating them to make a difference for the Kingdom,” Hector Padron, Executive Vice President of Truth in Action Ministries in Florida, said in a statement released Wednesday.
The name change (effective in July) to Truth in Action Ministries, which has two nationally syndicated television programs and a combined audience of over half a million on television, radio, and the Internet, came a day after Campus Crusade for Christ, one of the world’s largest Christian ministries, also announced its new name – Cru.
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For the Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based Truth in Action Ministries, the name change is a process being implemented to “aid the outreach as it seeks to advance biblical truth and equip believers to make a difference in their local communities.”
As part of this “transition,” the ministry’s “The Coral Ridge Hour” television show is now “Truth that Transforms with Dr. D. James Kennedy,” and the radio program “Truths That Transform” is being changed to “Truth That Transforms” so that it aligns with the weekly television show, the organization said. The name of “Cross Examine,” a weekly television program launched in 2010 and co-hosted by Dr. Del Tackett, will not change.
Known as Coral Ridge Ministries for 37 years, the organization’s new name was determined “after more than a year of prayer, planning, consulting with outside organizations, and talking with ministry friends and supporters,” and was approved in 2010 by the Coral Ridge Ministries Board.
Executive Vice President Padron assured that the ministry “will continue to fulfill Dr. Kennedy’s vision of presenting biblical truth in love and without compromise through the media.”
Kennedy, who was inducted into the National Religious Broadcasters Hall of Fame two years before his death in 2007, is the also the founder of the Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church in Fort Lauderdale, from which the ministry emerged, along with Evangelism Explosion International, Knox Theological Seminary, and Westminster Academy.
The Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church and the broadcast ministry have been separate corporations since 1994, but “as long as D. James Kennedy was alive, they were combined in one person,” Dr. Jerry Newcombe, senior producer and host in the organization, told Sun Sentinel. However, the name change wasn’t caused by a split Coral Ridge Church witnessed in 2009 over leadership issues, he clarified. “But the events did move much of Kennedy’s social and political message away from the church and toward the broadcast wing.”
The new name more powerfully aligns and articulates Dr. Kennedy’s mission which includes transforming the culture for Christ, says the ministry’s website.
The “Truth That Transforms with Dr. D. James Kennedy” show will continue to present pulpit messages from Dr. Kennedy and insightful features on current moral and social concerns, according to the announcement. “Viewers will be treated to a fresh, more visually engaging opening to the program, which will continue to be hosted by Dr. Jerry Newcombe.”
Newcombe, who co-authored 14 books with Kennedy, said he was “thrilled to be part of bringing his biblical and remarkably relevant messages to viewers nationwide each week.” “America is desperately in need of moral guidance from God’s Word – and God’s awesome solution to the dilemma of our sin in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.”
