The Archive Collection

Gateway Arch Trophy

November 5, 2019


Billy Graham held Crusades in St. Louis, Missouri in 1953, 1973, and 1999. This year marks the 20th anniversary of his last Crusade in St. Louis, which filled the 40,000 seat TWA Dome over the course of the four-night event.

Before the Crusade, a reporter asked Graham what he expected when he faced God after death. He commented saying he wasn’t expecting a “big reception.” Billy Graham continued to say, “I am expecting just to get to heaven by God’s grace and his mercy, because I am a sinner. I have broken his laws. I’ve sinned against him. I deserve judgment. I am going (to heaven) because God is a God of grace and love and mercy. I pray the prayer: God be merciful to me, a sinner.”

This month’s archive feature is a trophy depicting the Gateway Arch in St. Louis on a marble base given to Billy Graham at the opening of the St. Louis Crusade in 1999 by Mayor Clarence Harmon. The trophy reads, “Clarence Harmon, Jr., Mayor 1997-2001, Presented to Rev. Billy Graham with deep admiration.”

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