FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- Coral Ridge ministries former pastor Dr. D. James Kennedy died Wednesday due to complications from cardiac arrest at his home in Fort Lauderdale.

Fort Lauderdale police spokesman Cathy Collins said the 76-year-old Kennedy was discovered by his nurse around 2:15 a.m. Kennedy had been convalescing at home since suffering a heart attack in December of last year.

It was announced last month that Kennedy would not be returning to the pulpit at Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church in Fort Lauderdale.

Kennedy founded the Coral Ridge Ministries in Fort Lauderdale 48 years ago. He also hosted "The Coral Ridge Hour," aired by 600 television stations and seen in 145 nations.

Kennedy, a pioneering megachurch pastor who became one of the nation's most prominent Christian broadcasters and a key figure in the rise of the religious right, took Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church from a congregation of 45 in 1959 to a megachurch of nearly 10,000 members today.

He organized Capitol Hill Bible studies and other events that attracted top government officials in Washington. He was also a close colleague of the Rev. Pat Robertson, the Rev. Jerry Falwell and other religious broadcasters and was an early board member of the Moral Majority, which Falwell formed in 1979.

In the 1960s, Kennedy created Evangelism Explosion International, which trains lay Christians to share their beliefs in every day life, according to the ministries.

He is survived by his wife of 51 years and a daughter.