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CORAL RIDGE

VISION

A Gospel-centered church that equips culture-shaping Christians.

MISSION

To proclaim the Gospel to each generation and empower them to live in light of the foundational truth that Jesus is Lord of all.

As a member congregation of the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA), Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church is a confessional church, fully committed to living out in today’s context the rich theology, piety, and practice of the historic Christian faith recovered at the Protestant Reformation, and best summarized in the Westminster Confession of Faith.

OUR BELIEFS

THE BIBLE

We believe that the Bible is the written word of God, inspired by the Holy Spirit and without error in the original manuscripts. The Bible is the revelation of God’s truth and is infallible and authoritative in all matters of faith and practice.

THE TRINITY

We believe in the Holy Trinity. There is one God, infinite and unchanging, who exists eternally in three persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

MAN AND SIN

We believe that all people are sinners by nature, are guilty in God’s sight, and are totally unable to save themselves from God’s displeasure. His free grace alone provides a way of salvation.

ELECTION

We believe that this salvation is the work of God alone. He sovereignly chooses whom He will save. We believe that His choice is based solely on His grace, not on any merit found in his people, their foreseen faith, or their religious activity.

JESUS CHRIST

We believe that Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God, who through His perfect obedience and sacrificial death as the representative and substitute of his people, atoned for the sins of all who would trust in Him alone for salvation.

JUSTIFICATION

We believe that the only way to acceptance with God is by God’s grace alone, through faith alone, in Jesus Christ alone.

God's Covenant Promises

We believe that God is gracious and faithful to His people not simply as individuals but as families in successive generations according to His covenant promises.

The Church

We believe that the church is the covenant community of God and the sphere within which the grace of God is available to all, through the preaching and teaching of the Bible, and the administration of the sacraments of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper. Outside the church there is no ordinary possibility of salvation.

The Holy Spirit

We believe that the Holy Spirit indwells God’s people and enables them to trust Christ and follow Him. Faith is the gracious gift of God.

Perseverance of the Saints

We believe that having come to saving faith in Christ, believers can never be lost, but persevere to the end, being kept by the power of God through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. This perseverance is both the responsibility of every believer, and the infallible promise of God to all his people.

The Return of Christ

We believe that Jesus will return at the last day, bodily and visibly, to judge all mankind and to receive His people to Himself.

Living the Christian Life

We believe that all aspects of our lives are to be lived to the glory of God under the Lordship of Jesus Christ as we wait for the day of his glorious appearing.

OUR VALUES

Gospel Centrality - “The Gospel affects everything”

At Coral Ridge, through the power of the Spirit, we endeavor to be people who understand the Gospel as being the lifeblood of the Christian individually and the church collectively. More than merely the entrance into a restored relationship with God, the Gospel is the lens through which all of life is understood, informing who we are and what we do. The Gospel is the catalyst for an engaged and active laity, a recognized priesthood of all believers, and the multiplication and mentoring of future ministers for the Gospel. Romans 1:15-16

A Hopeful Outlook – “God is making all things new”

At Coral Ridge, through the power of the Spirit, we endeavor to be people who live life with an expectant hope in the understanding that God in Christ is making all things new. This renewal of all things by God includes people, relationships, communities, and culture and is the driver for a life motivated to labor optimistically in the knowledge that one’s efforts are part of God’s sovereign plan to restore the created order to its original glory. Revelation 21:5; 1 Peter 1:3

Generational Faithfulness – “Our story in God’s story”

At Coral Ridge, through the power of the Spirit, we endeavor to be people who eagerly minister in the present and expectantly look toward the future with an awareness of God’s sovereign and faithful guiding of Coral Ridge for more than five decades as a part of God’s grander narrative of redemption for all time. We endeavor to be people who celebrate being part of a work of God, much bigger than ourselves, in this local community and beyond. Deuteronomy 6:10-12; Psalm 145:4

Compassionate Hospitality – “We love because Christ loved us”

At Coral Ridge, through the power of the Spirit, we endeavor to be people who extend the indiscriminate love, welcome, and cherishing embrace of Jesus, the Great Physician, to all who enter the doors of this church. We endeavor to do this not thinking we are “physicians” ourselves but recognizing we minister to the broken and hurting with the mutual need of and reliance upon the life-giving attention of Jesus. 1 Peter 4:8-10

South Florida – “Seeking the common good for our communities”

At Coral Ridge, through the power of the Spirit, we endeavor to be people who sincerely love and value the Greater Fort Lauderdale community in which we have been placed, seeking the peace and the prosperity of the city to such a degree that civic flourishing comes as a direct result of the church’s efforts to bless its neighbors. This is best accomplished through the collaborative efforts of all churches in South Florida. Jeremiah 29:7

Next Generation – “Investing in the future of our church”

At Coral Ridge, through the power of the Spirit, we endeavor to be people who shepherd the church with great emphasis placed on discipling and equipping those who are growing up in the faith in our midst. From children to the young adult, we endeavor to minister in a way that effectively teaches this next generation the love of Christ and empowers them to carry it into the future. Deuteronomy 11:20-22

Congregational Worship – “Encountering the glory of God together”

At Coral Ridge, through the power of the Spirit, we endeavor to be people who understand and treasure the weekly assembling of the church community for the purpose of together worshipping our God. We endeavor to be people who place a high value on in-person, corporate worship understanding that the church is the very body of Christ, to be included as members of that body is a cherished gift from God, and that the gathering of believers in worship is a unique means of grace where we encounter the glory of God. Hebrews 10:25; Ephesians 1:22-23, 4:16

Image of God in All People – “Celebrating that everyone is created in the image of God”

At Coral Ridge, through the power of the Spirit, we endeavor to be people who celebrate that we are one body with many parts (gifts, age, race, gender, culture, social status) and through these different expressions of God’s image we all labor together to do the work of the church. 1 Corinthians 12:12-13

SENIOR PASTOR

ROB PACIENZA

Rob Pacienza moved to Fort Lauderdale during middle school from southeastern Pennsylvania. At the age of 15, while on a mission trip with Coral Ridge, Rob heard the Gospel for the first time and it changed his life. Later that year, Rob joined the church and began attending Westminster Academy where he would meet his future wife, Jen.

Rob’s first job was at Coral Ridge pulling cable for the cameras on Sunday mornings. God used the ministries of Coral Ridge and Westminster to shape his life, his calling, his family, and his future. Both Rob and Jen were blessed with incredible pastors, teachers and mentors. God’s calling became evident in high school when D. James Kennedy asked Rob, “Have you ever considered the ministry?” This moment marked the beginning of a lifelong journey.

Rob attended Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama. He graduated with a BA in Religion. In his freshman year, he was hired by the Campus Pastor to oversee Samford Sunday, a campus ministry that commissioned students to preach in local churches across the state of Alabama. His summers were spent interning with the Student Ministry at Coral Ridge.

After graduation, Rob and Jen were married and called back to South Florida where they would eventually return to Coral Ridge in 2009. It was their desire to return to the place that was so influential on their calling to ministry. Rob graduated from Knox Theological Seminary with his Master of Divinity. He served as the Executive Pastor of Coral Ridge until 2016 when he was called by the congregation to become Coral Ridge’s Senior Pastor. Click here to watch a video presentation from Pastor Rob’s Installation Service.

The Pacienzas have seen firsthand the incredible things God has done through Coral Ridge and desire to shepherd the church into a new season of faithful and fruitful ministry. Rob and Jen, along with their children Preston and Lydia, pray that Coral Ridge will continue to be a place of hope and rest for the people who live in South Florida – a beacon of light in the midst of darkness.