Calvary Chapel of Fort Lauderdale

Calvary Chapel of Fort Lauderdale is one of the largest Protestant evangelical churches in the United States. According to the Hartford Institute for Religion Research, it is the largest megachurch in Florida, with approximately 18,000 worshippers attending on average. [cite web |url=http://hirr.hartsem.edu/cgi-bin/mega/db.pl?db=default&uid=default&view_records=1&ID=*&sb=4&State=FL |title=Megachurch search results–Florida |publisher=Hartford Institute for Religion Research |accessdate=2007-08-28] Founded in 1985 by Bob Coy, it is affiliated with the Calvary Chapel movement. In 1999, the church relocated into a 75 acre tract of land formerly owned by Harris Corporation, which now has a 3,700 seat sanctuary, and one of the most innovative Children's and Youth Ministries in the country, which includes a skateboard ramp park.

Church activities

The church and congregants are also very involved in serving their fellow man. Of note is their 4Kids Ministry, which actively trains congregants to equip them to help alleve the epidemic of orphan kids in Broward County. It is estimated that through these efforts, they have housed and adopted several hundred kids to provide for them a safe environment. "CCFL" also allocates millions of dollars a year to help the poor and needy, both locally and around the world.

CCFL also has its own private school: Calvary Christian Academy. This school has several hundred students from preK-12 grade. The schools main mission is to go out and make disciples of all nations. CCA seeks to partner with parents to create a safe and effective learning environment for each and every student K-12. The school prefers to let kids have social lives inside and outside of the learning environment. The school encourages parent to become active in their children's lives. They offer many opportunities for parents to get involved with their academics too. The school offers many after school activities such as: sports, drama, art, and other extra curricular activities. The school recently put on a play called J.B., which told the Bible story of the life of Job.

The church also offers three satellite church locations: one in Plantation, FL (14 miles away to the southwest), one in Hollywood, (and the other in Boca Raton (15 miles away to the northeast). Combined, these three locations minister to over 2,000 on a weekly basis.

To meet the needs of a large, diverse congregation, CCFL has approximately 700 people on staff, including 23 assistant pastors. One of the assistant pastors is Stephan Tchividjian, who is the oldest grandson of Billy Graham.

In May 2006, CCFL made nationwide news when it announced that they had raised over $100 million in pledges from their congregation to build much-needed facilities on the property; this is considered to be the most ever pledged by a church in America. [ [http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/broward/sfl-calvary01may01,0,2122778.story Topic Galleries - South Florida Sun-Sentinel.com ] ]

Also of note was the landmark case they won involving religious rights in 2003 when they sued the Broward County government for one dollar for not letting them display a sign that said "Jesus is the reason for the Season" at a holiday festival display held a local park. CCFL's argument was that local businesses and organizations were allowed to put up displays, but Calvary was being discriminated because of the religious nature of the content. The government's argument was their concern that the religious displays could potentially be a divise issue, considering that the event was held in a government-owned park. [cite news |url=http://www.firstamendmentcenter.org/news.aspx?id=12256 |title=Florida church can display Jesus sign in county park |date=22 November 2003 |publisher=Associated Press |accessdate=2007-08-28]

Among the guest speakers that have preached at CCFL include: Billy Graham, Franklin Graham, Chuck Smith, Benjamin Netanyahu, Greg Laurie, Joni Eareckson Tada, Luis Palau, Charles Stanley, Kirk Cameron, Jon Courson, Ravi Zacharias, Tony Evans, and Max Lucado.

ee also

*WREH Reach FM, a radio station operated by Calvary Chapel of Fort Lauderdale

References

External links

*http://www.calvaryftl.org Calvary Chapel Ft Lauderdale's official website