Contact: Dr. Frank Wright, 954-334-4343, F.Wright@djkm.org

ARDEN, N.C., Sept. 7, 2017 /Christian Newswire/ -- Evangelism Explosion International today announced the transfer of its Capitol Hill-based evangelism and Christian Statesmanship outreach, the D. James Kennedy Center for Christian Statesmanship (CCS), to its sister ministry, Coral Ridge Ministries Media (CRMM), the parent organization of D. James Kennedy Ministries.

The organizational realignment, jointly approved by the Boards of Evangelism Explosion and CRMM—organizations founded by the late D. James Kennedy, Ph.D.—takes place after a detailed review into how best to preserve, expand and amplify the Center for Christian Statesmanship's historic mission of training future generations of Christian statesmen.

"We've always had the welfare of the Center for Christian Statesmanship at heart," said Dr. John B. Sorensen, President of EE. "Because the mission of CCS is so critically important to the welfare of our nation," he added, "we undertook an extensive examination of what leadership structure, what organizational structure, would best serve CCS's future ministry prospects on Capitol Hill. The boards of both EE and CRMM concurred that those prospects would be best served back under CRMM."

Established in 1995 by CRMM, the Center for Christian Statesmanship is a Capitol Hill-based Christian outreach engaged in training and equipping present and future political leaders in evangelism and statesmanship. It came under the organizational umbrella of EE in 2007.

Dr. Frank Wright, Chief Executive Officer of CRMM, who served as the founding Executive Director of the Center for Christian Statesmanship, endorsed the move and praised EE's stewardship of CCS since 2007:

"Each of the many ministries founded by Dr. D. James Kennedy have a profound sense of being part of a family of outreaches that were an expression of Dr. Kennedy's love for Christ and his love for America. Nowhere was that family understanding better expressed than when Evangelism Explosion, at a point of great need, assumed a leadership responsibility for the D. James Kennedy Center for Christian Statesmanship. For the last ten years, under its visionary president Dr. John Sorensen, EE has faithfully and diligently upheld Dr. Kennedy's vision of being a powerful witness for Christ and equipping present and future statesmen."

New CCS Outreach to Dramatically Expand Mission

The organizational transition comes at a time when the Center for Christian Statesmanship embarks on an ambitious new phase of ministry engagement. The forthcoming launch of the D. James Kennedy Center for Christian Leadership (CCL), a new CCS outreach, will dramatically expand the historic mission of CCS to train the next generation of Christian statesmen. The new Center for Christian Leadership, Dr. Wright explained, seeks to train 300 leaders per year for each of the next 10 years.

"The Center for Christian Leadership will address the deficit of preparation for Biblical cultural engagement—especially for leadership service in government and the public policy arena," Wright said. "Its training programs will prepare and equip men and women who have a wholehearted commitment to serve Christ by engaging the influential institutions of culture with a well-grounded Biblical world and life view."

Looking to a new era of cultural engagement, the Center for Christian Leadership is led by its president Dr. Linda W. Smith, with the Honorable John Hostettler continuing as Senior Executive Director. Dr. Sorensen will have a continuing relationship with the Center for Christian Statesmanship, serving as a CCL faculty member and as Chairman of the CCS Board of Advisors.

"I am thrilled at God's providence in providing this new (old) home for CCS," said Dr. Sorensen. "I believe that under the wise and seasoned leadership of Dr. Wright and the CRMM Board, the impact of CCS in equipping leaders to share Jesus and bring the mind of Christ to American culture will only expand and grow. And for that I thank God."