BILLY GRAHAM-GRANDSON
Billy Graham grandson out as pastor in Florida after affair
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) β A Florida megachurch says a grandson of the Rev. Billy Graham has stepped down as its pastor after a “moral failure.”
Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church says the Rev. Tullian Tchividjian (chuh-VIHD’-juhn) resigned for actions that “disqualify him from continuing to serve as senior pastor.”
The Fort Lauderdale church offered no details, but in a statement to The Washington Post, Tchividjian acknowledged having an affair.
Tchividjian, the son of Billy Graham’s daughter Gigi, entered the ministry after years of youthful transgressions.
He became senior pastor of Coral Ridge in 2009 after the death of its founding pastor, the Rev. D. James Kennedy, an evangelical luminary. The much younger Tchividjian’s leadership soon divided the church, prompting some members to leave and start a new church.
After the announcement of his resignation, Tchividjian said on Twitter, “Welcome to the valley of the shadow of death…thank God grace reigns here.”
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200-c-22-(Steve Coleman, AP religion editor)-“grace reigns here”-AP Religion Editor Steve Coleman reports that marital problems have led to the resignation of Billy Graham’s grandson as pastor of Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church. (22 Jun 2015)
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