FT. LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Tullian Tchividjian, 36, has accepted the call to serve as senior pastor at Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. In doing so, New CityChurch, which Tchividjian has served for 5 ½ years, will merge with Coral Ridge. Tchividjian will be the second pastor in Coral Ridge’s history, following its founder Rev. D. James Kennedy who died in September of 2007 at the age of 76.

Following the worship service on March 15, 2009, the members of Coral Ridge, with a 91% vote, to call Tchividjian to serve as pastor.

“I am honored and deeply humbled by the support and prayers we have received from all over the world as well as this vote and the unanimous vote of over 30 elders from both churches last week. I look forward to our future together,” said Tchividjian. He added, “I consider it a great and high honor to follow such a giant in the faith. As different as some may think Dr. Kennedy and I are, our theological commitments are the same and our hearts beat with the same driving passion. Indeed, what he came to do in the 1950s– reach the people of south Florida with the gospel and transform the world–is exactly what I have been seeking to do ever since I moved back home to start New City in 2003.”

For Tchividjian, it’s “a moment filled with irony and God’s unmistakable hand.” Growing up in South Florida and attending Coral Ridge with his family, Tchividjian was just under two years old when his grandfather Billy Graham preached the dedication sermon for the church sanctuary in 1974. He also attended and dropped out of the church’s school, WestminsterAcademy, at age 16, leaving school and home for the pleasure saturated streets of South Florida. After God saved him at age 21, Tchividjian graduated from college and seminary with honors. After a short two-year stint at a large Presbyterian church in Tennessee, Tchividjian moved back home to launch New City Presbyterian Church, only 12 miles away. Over the years, however, he has maintained a good relationship with Coral Ridge, hosting a weekly show on the church’s radio station, WAFG-FM 90.3, and speaking at both the church from time to time and his former alma mater, WestminsterAcademy.

And what does his grandfather think about the news? “He’s always been a huge supporter of whatever I’ve done, but this was especially exciting to him given the relationship he had with Dr. Kennedy over the years and his firm belief that Coral Ridge remains a beacon of light for the gospel in South Florida and beyond. He couldn’t be more excited.”

The merged churches will operate under Coral Ridge’s existing name and in its current church facility at 5555 N. Federal Hwy, Ft.Lauderdale. “We’re planning for Easter Sunday to be the first Sunday that the one new church is worshipping together,” says Tchividjian

The merger will also result in a change of denomination. New CityChurch, which was a part of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church (EPC), will now become part of Presbyterian Church inAmerica (PCA).

Tchividjian has degrees in philosophy from ColumbiaInternationalUniversity in South Carolina, and in divinity at Reformed Theological Seminary in Orlando.

He has written two books published by Multnomah Books in Colorado Springs, a division of Random House: Do I Know God? Finding Certainty in Life’s Most Important Relationship, and Unfashionable: Making a Difference in the World by Being Different, due out April 21.