Billy Graham, prior to his monumental Crusade in New York City in 1957, said that “no other city in America – perhaps in the world – presented as great a challenge to evangelism.” But, at the same time, the team recognized the tremendous opportunity to reaching that city with the Gospel. Take a look with us now as we shine the “Crusade City Spotlight” on the Big Apple.
The year was 1988. The heat was described in Decision magazine as “stifling” and “oppressive.” But, the warm temperatures and violent thunderstorms in the area couldn’t keep thousands from attending the Greater Buffalo-Niagara Billy Graham Crusade that August.
On Sept. 13, 1947, a historic event took place. It was the beginning of Billy Graham’s first city-wide campaign in Grand Rapids, Michigan, held under the banner of Youth for Christ as it would be three more years until the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association came into existence.
Billy Graham has strong ties and connections to Tampa, the site of the Republican National Convention, which starts this week. You could say that Billy Graham’s ministry began in Tampa.
Viewers around the world are tuned into the Olympics in London. In the United States, despite a five-hour delay and constant spoilers on news sites and Twitter, many of us are still staying up way past our bedtimes to watch the events transpire. As people around the world watch the happenings in London, it’s a great time to shine our “Crusade City Spotlight” on this world capital.
As our neighbors to the north celebrate Canada Day this weekend (July 1), we wanted to look back at some memorable highlights of Billy Graham’s ministry in Canada through the years.
The summer of 2012 marks the 55th anniversary of the monumental New York City Crusade in 1957. More than 56,000 made commitments to Jesus Christ! Of those new believers, 22,000 were under the age of 21. Story after story of lives forever changed, many of those stories from young people leaving behind a troubled past.
The year was 1957, the day was June 3. The New York City Crusade Committee met and voted to officially extend the monumental Crusade to July 20, where a closing ceremony would be held at Yankee Stadium.
In this new feature on the blog, we’ll take a city where multiple Billy Graham Crusades were held, and we’ll tell you a little more about those events. We may as well start with Billy Graham’s hometown and the home of The Billy Graham Library – Charlotte, N.C.
This past weekend, the evangelical community lost one of its most influential voices – Charles W. Colson. Here’s the statement released by Billy Graham in reaction to losing his friend:
