List of Billy Graham's crusades

Billy Graham's crusades were evangelistic campaigns conducted by Billy Graham between 1947 and 2005. Billy Graham conducted 417 crusades in 185 countries and territories on six continents. The first Billy Graham evangelistic campaign, held September 13–21, 1947, in the Civic Auditorium in Grand Rapids, Michigan, was attended by 6,000 people. He would rent a large venue, such as a stadium, park, or street. As the sessions became larger, he arranged a group of up to 5,000 people to sing in a choir. He would preach the gospel and invite people to come forward to ask Jesus "to be their savior" and pray together. The inquirers were often given a copy of the Gospel of John or a Bible study booklet. In Durban, South Africa, in 1973, the crowd of some 100,000 was the first large mixed-race event in apartheid South Africa.[1] In Moscow, in 1992, one-quarter of the 155,000 people in Graham's audience went forward at his call.[2] During his crusades, he has frequently used the altar call song, "Just As I Am". Many musical artists would accompany Graham on his crusades to sing either hymns or reflective songs including Cliff Barrows, Cliff Richard, Shelia Walsh, George Beverley Shea and George Hamilton IV.

Graham at his crusade (1966)

Over 58 years, Billy Graham reached more than 210 million people (face to face and by satellite feeds) in over 185 countries and territories on six continents.[3] The longest Graham's evangelistic crusade took place in New York City in Madison Square Garden in 1957, which lasted 16 weeks.[4] The largest audience in the history of Graham's ministry assembled at Yoido Plaza in Seoul in South Korea in 1973 (1.1 million people).[5][6]

Graham's revival meetings were most commonly called "crusades", and were billed as such for decades, but Graham himself began calling them "missions" after the September 11 attacks due to a potentially offensive connotation of the word crusade among Muslims.[7]

Chronological list

Number Date City Country
1947
2 November 9–23[8] Charlotte United States
1948
24 January 13 – February 10[9][10] Washington, D.C. United States
75[11] September 21 – October 26 Charlotte United States
1959
118[12] New York (for Spanish Americans) United States
1961

See also

References

  1. Stanley, Brian (March 2, 2018). "Billy Graham (1918–2018): Prophet of World Christianity?". Centre for the Study of World Christianity. Retrieved April 13, 2020.
  2. Nancy Gibbs & Richard N. Ostling, "God's Billy Pulpit", Time, November 15, 1993. [accessdate November 7, 2011]
  3. Michael G. Long (2008). The legacy of Billy Graham: critical reflections on America's greatest evangelist. Westminster: John Knox Press. p. 3. ISBN 9780664236564.
  4. Uta Andrea Balbier (Spring 2009). "Billy Graham's Crusades in the 1950s: Neo-Evangelicalism Between Civil Religion, Media, and Consumerism". Bulletin of the GHI. German Historical Institute. 44.
  5. "Prophecy and Politics". Christianity Today. Retrieved November 21, 2011.
  6. "War and Peace in Korea". CCEL. Archived from the original on April 13, 2012. Retrieved November 21, 2011.
  7. "Billy Graham Is Back". cbsnews.com. Retrieved December 8, 2016. 'Following September 11th, there was increased consciousness of other faiths in the U.S. that would find the term crusade offensive', Graham spokeswoman Melany Ethridge told The Associated Press in 2002
  8. "Announcing the Billy Graham Revival". Charlotte's Own. November 9–23, 1947.
  9. "1952 Greater Washington Evangelistic Crusade - Film". wheaton.edu. Retrieved December 8, 2016.
  10. "The Archives Bulletin Board". wheaton.edu. Retrieved December 8, 2016.
  11. "The Coliseum Sermons From Billy Graham's 1958 Charlotte Evangelistic Meetings". Wheaton College. Billy Graham Center Archives. 1958. Retrieved December 7, 2011.
  12. Edward Mc Carthy (October 9, 1960). "Graham's Sermon Causes Gang Leaders To Plan To Attend Church". The Gadsden Times. Retrieved December 7, 2011.
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