


"I LOVE YOU ALL. GOD BLESS, CHRIST FELLOWSHIP."
When people think of Christ Fellowship, many are reminded of Pastor Rick because of the indelible impact he had during his 23-year tenure as Lead Pastor. He taught God’s Word truthfully, passionately, and with conviction, leading thousands of people to Christ. Many members of our congregation first heard the gospel through Pastor Rick’s teachings.
Dr. Blackwood was a devoted father and a loving husband—a giant of the faith we will never forget.
Pastor Rick's Life


1956
Born on November 2, 1956, Ricky Blackwood first heard about God as a teenager on his front porch when two evangelists came knocking on his door. They led him to receive the Lord as his Savior, and his life was forever changed. From that moment on, he developed a passion for evangelism. His calling for ministry came shortly after that.
1977
During his time in college, he met a young woman, who he deemed, “the most beautiful girl he had ever seen." Rick thought she was too good for him, but the Lord brought them together. Rick called their love story “a God thing.”
Rick and Rhonda were happily married for almost 46 years. She was his constant encourager, his supportive partner and in his own words, “The sunshine of my life.”


1978
Together they had two daughters, Natalie & Rebekah. He was the proud PapPap of Autumn, Audrey, Arianna and Bailey. He loved spending time with his grandchildren, taking them on trips to the mall, to horseback riding lessons, and on dates to the American Girl Doll Store.
1981
He graduated from Baptist Bible College, Springfield, Missouri and had two Master’s degrees and three Doctoral degrees from Grace Theological Seminary, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and Trinity International University.


1996
In 1996, Pastor Rick Blackwood moved to Miami and joined First Baptist Church of Perrine as the Lead Pastor. This wasn’t an easy move, and when all things seemed to be against him staying, he thought about Miami, its people, and how much this city needed the Lord. So he held on to his Bible and decided to preach the gospel against all odds.
2005
In May of 2005, after Perrine had become the Village of Palmetto Bay, Pastor Rick led the church to change its name to Christ Fellowship, with Christ at the forefront of their name and at the heart of the mission. On a restaurant napkin, a new strategy for reaching the city of Miami was born. He imagined it would be like a sprinkler system, with one main campus watering multiple locations across the county. He wanted to grow the church by pouring into all areas of Miami.
Week after week, Pastor Rick would make it his goal to preach God’s word in a way that would reach everyone listening. He focused on message preparation, and he dedicated more than 25 hours for each weekend sermon.


2008
Author of The Power of Multi-Sensory Preaching & Teaching, and teacher of many seminars like “Leading from the Pulpit,” Pastor Rick’s passion was to pass along preaching skills to other pastors that would empower them to lead church growth and revitalization from their own pulpits.
Through the years, and through the multi-site model that Pastor Rick adopted, CF was able to multiply from a church of about 800 attendees to thousands of attendees at six local campuses made up of over 70 nationalities. In addition, they added multiple services in English and Spanish, with over 9,000 people watching online every week. He also led the expansion into South America and the Caribbean with 12 global campuses and a sister church in Ukraine.
2011
One night at 3am, Pastor Rick had an unexpected brush with death. After waking up with horrible chest pains, he realized he was having a heart attack. His wife quickly called paramedics, who were able to save his life by the grace of God. A testament to his faith, Pastor Rick didn’t feel fear in the moment, but excitement at the thought of finally meeting his Creator.


2016
As Christ Fellowship continued to grow, a minor pain sent Pastor Rick to the doctor. This small worry suddenly became an overwhelming problem as the doctor diagnosed him with stage 3 colon cancer. After battling through six months of hard chemotherapy, God’s grace lavished upon Pastor Rick once again and he was declared cancer-free. Even through his cancer treatment, Pastor Rick continued to preach at CF and lead the church.
2017
In the fall of 2017, Christ Fellowship held a service called “Code Blue Revival” at the Watsco Center. Open to the entire city, Pastor Rick cast a powerful vision to the church: Millions of people in Miami are spiritually dead, and it’s the church’s responsibility to preach the life-saving gospel far and wide.


2019
After serving as Christ Fellowship’s Lead Pastor for 23 years, Pastor Rick decided it was time to pass the baton. Through careful research and prayerful consideration, Pastor Rick felt led by God to choose Pastor Omar Giritli as his successor, calling him, “My Timothy—my son in the ministry.”
Although Pastor Rick was officially retired, he continued to teach at Christ Fellowship alongside the new Lead Pastor, as well as teach college courses at various seminaries. Pastor Rick never hesitated to celebrate Pastor Omar and all that God was doing through him at CF.