The Session of Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church in Fort Lauderdale, acting on a petition signed by a sufficient number of communicant members, scheduled a congregation meeting for Sunday, September 20, to consider a motion to recall their senior pastor, the Rev. Tullian Tchividjian.

The members of Coral Ridge will vote on whether or not to dissolve the relationship with Tchividjian, who was installed this past spring as the second senior minister in five decades of the Ft.Lauderdale church.

Because the petition contained around 400 signatures of members, which is beyond the minimum of 100 signatures needed, church elders were required under their Book of Church Order to call a congregation meeting for the purpose of conducting the business requested by the petitioners, namely, to vote on whether or not to dissolve the relationship between Tchividjian and Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church.

PCA Stated Clerk L. Roy Taylor has been invited to moderate the meeting. During the meeting, church members will debate and decide issues “in an orderly and fair manner,” according to Taylor.

“No ad hominem arguments should be allowed and speakers must address the issue at hand without impugning the character and motives of others. In other words, slander and speculation will not be permitted,” according to a letter from the Session (board of elders) announcing the meeting.

The elders also advised the congregation that the decision to remove a pastor “is more than a matter of personal preferences.”

“It goes way beyond what each individual may like or dislike. It requires the discernment of God’s will to identify His anointed and is not to be done without much prayerful consideration,” they added.

Coral Ridge Church, founded by the late D. James Kennedy in 1960, has just over 2,500 members.

The Aquila Report will post the results of the meeting as soon as they are released to the public on Sunday afternoon.