Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church has canceled its 2009-2010 concert series, following the departure of its organist, choir director, concert series director and much of its choir.

The 37th annual concert series would have featured eight concerts, including the customary performances of Handel's Messiah, The Many Moods of Christmas and the Patriotic Concert. Leaders of the Fort Lauderdale church decided the series would be difficult after the Sept. 24 resignations of organist Samuel Metzger and choir leader John Wilson.

The cancellation was the latest fallout in a split at the prominent church between loyalists of Pastor Tullian Tchividjian, who took over in April, and opponents who preferred the more traditional style of the late Rev. D. James Kennedy. Several hundred members have begun their own congregation, meeting temporarily at Butterfly World in Coconut Creek.

``We're in different stages of mourning,'' said Carol Wilson, fired last week as concert series director. ``I birthed [the concert series], and I put it to rest yesterday.''

Tchividjian said on Thursday that the series will resume next year after an evaluation of audience tastes.

``It is being reviewed and revised with a different goal,'' he said by e-mail. ``The goal going forward would be to reach a much wider and broader South Florida audience than the current concert series has been able to do.''

Launched in 1972, the concerts brought thousands annually to Coral Ridge to hear the likes of Della Reese, Johnny Cash, the Vienna Choir Boys and the Oak Ridge Boys. During its heyday in the 1980s, the series filled the 2,200-seat church more than 30 times a year.

However, attendance had ebbed in recent years, and this season's schedule was cut to eight concerts, down from 14 last year. The concerts also were to have been performed mainly by the choir and other in-house talent.

Meanwhile, Metzger and John Wilson have been hired by the church dissidents, who have set up an office in Pompano Beach. They're also planning a second service on Sunday at Butterfly World.

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