MIAMI (AP) - Descendants of two of the country's most influential evangelical leaders - Billy Graham and the late D. James Kennedy - are feuding over control of a Florida megachurch.

Under the leadership of Kennedy, the former pastor who died in 2007, Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church was a strong conservative voice on social issues like homosexuality and abortion.

Graham's grandson, Tullian Tchividjian (TUH'-lee-uhn chuh-VID'-juhn), took over earlier this year as pastor. While he has shown no sign of theological differences with Kennedy, Tchividjian has rejected politics as the most important way to change the country.

Six Kennedy loyalists, including his daughter Jennifer Kennedy Cassidy, circulated a petition among members calling for Tchividjian's ouster and have been banned from church property.

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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