The Blue Ridge Quartet (1946 – 1985) was a Southern gospel music group founded in 1946.
76-612: The Blue Ridge Quartet was organized by Frank Stamps's Stamps Quartet Music Company of Texas. They started in Raleigh, North Carolina, but ultimately settled in Spartanburg, South Carolina. When they began in Raleigh at the beginning of 1946 they operated out of radio station WRAL. Among the original members of the group in 1946 were Leonard "Red" Mathis, tenor; James Smith, lead; Wayne Roseberry, baritone; Shaw Eiland, bass; and William Cunningham, pianist. Eiland and Roseberry were former members of
152-582: A 1973 rally, attended by 100,000 people, in Durban , South Africa—the first large mixed-race event in apartheid South Africa—Graham openly declared that "apartheid is a sin". In Moscow, Russia , in 1992, one-quarter of the 155,000 people in Graham's audience went-forward at his call. During his crusades, he frequently used the altar call song, " Just As I Am ". In 1995, during the Global Mission event, he preached
228-661: A degree in anthropology . That same year, Robert Van Kampen , treasurer of the National Gideon Association, invited Graham to preach at Western Springs Baptist Church, and Graham accepted the opportunity on the spot. While there, his friend Torrey Johnson, pastor of the Midwest Bible Church in Chicago, told Graham that his radio program, Songs in the Night , was about to be canceled due to lack of funding. Consulting with
304-798: A guest on a 1969 Woody Allen television special, in which he joined the comedian in a witty exchange on theological matters. During the Cold War , Graham became the first evangelist of note to speak behind the Iron Curtain , addressing large crowds in countries throughout Eastern Europe and in the Soviet Union, calling for peace. During the apartheid era, Graham consistently refused to visit South Africa until its government allowed integrated seating for audiences. During his first crusade there in 1973, he openly denounced apartheid . Graham also corresponded with imprisoned South African leader Nelson Mandela during
380-526: A letter to Graham and informed him that allowing Daniel to speak at a crusade which occurred the night before the state's Democratic Primary "can well be interpreted as your endorsement of racial segregation and discrimination." Graham's advisor, Grady Wilson, replied to King that "even though we do not see eye to eye with him on every issue, we still love him in Christ." Though Graham's appearance with Daniel dashed King's hopes of holding joint crusades with Graham in
456-484: A library would be appropriate. Ruth Graham had said that she wanted to be buried in the mountains at the Billy Graham Training Center at The Cove near Asheville, North Carolina , where she had lived for many years; Ned supported his mother's choice. Novelist Patricia Cornwell , a family friend, also opposed burial at the library, calling it a tourist attraction. Franklin wanted his parents to be buried at
532-538: A member of the Ku Klux Klan that integration was necessary, primarily for religious reasons. "There is no scriptural basis for segregation," Graham argued. "The ground at the foot of the cross is level, and it touches my heart when I see whites standing shoulder to shoulder with blacks at the cross." The friendship between Graham and John Stott led to a further partnership in the Lausanne Movement , of which Graham
608-544: A minister. Graham was 15 when Prohibition ended in December 1933, and his father forced him and his sister Catherine to drink beer until they became sick. This created such an aversion that the two siblings avoided alcohol and drugs for the rest of their lives. Graham was turned down for membership in a local youth group for being "too worldly". Albert McMakin, who worked on the Graham farm, persuaded him to go see evangelist Mordecai Ham . According to his autobiography, Graham
684-755: A nickname which King asked only his closest friends to call him. Following King's assassination in 1968, Graham mourned that the US had lost "a social leader and a prophet". In private, Graham advised King and other members of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). Despite their friendship, tensions between Graham and King emerged in 1958, when the sponsoring committee of a crusade that took place in San Antonio , Texas, on July 25 arranged for Graham to be introduced by that state's segregationist governor, Price Daniel . On July 23, King sent
760-474: A parking lot. He attracted national media coverage, especially in the conservative Hearst chain of newspapers, although Hearst and Graham never met. The crusade event ran for eight weeks–five weeks longer than originally planned. Graham became a national figure, with heavy coverage from the wire services and national magazines. Pianist Rudy Atwood , who played for the tent meetings, wrote that they "rocketed Billy Graham into national prominence, and resulted in
836-588: A political party. He gave his support to various political candidates over the years. In 2007, Graham explained his refusal to join Jerry Falwell 's Moral Majority in 1979, saying: "I'm for morality, but morality goes beyond sex to human freedom and social justice. We as clergy know so very little to speak with authority on the Panama Canal or superiority of armaments. Evangelists cannot be closely identified with any particular party or person. We have to stand in
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#1733085296060912-537: A poor country Baptist preacher somewhere out in the sticks... You have a voice that pulls. God can use that voice of yours. He can use it mightily." In 1937, Graham transferred to the Florida Bible Institute in Temple Terrace, Florida . While still a student, Graham preached his first sermon at Bostwick Baptist Church near Palatka, Florida . In his autobiography, Graham wrote of receiving his calling on
988-638: A revival. Graham said that his planned retirement was a result of his failing health; he had suffered from hydrocephalus from 1992 on. In August 2005, Graham appeared at the groundbreaking for his library in Charlotte, North Carolina . Then 86, he used a walker during the ceremony. On July 9, 2006, he spoke at the Metro Maryland Franklin Graham Festival , held in Baltimore , Maryland, at Oriole Park at Camden Yards . In April 2010, Graham
1064-615: A sermon at Estadio Hiram Bithorn in San Juan , Puerto Rico , that was transmitted by satellite to 185 countries and translated into 116 languages. By the time of his last crusade in 2005 in New York City, he had preached 417 live crusades, including 226 in the US and 195 abroad. Graham spoke at InterVarsity Christian Fellowship's Urbana Student Missions Conference at least nine times – in 1948, 1957, 1961, 1964, 1976, 1979, 1981, 1984, and 1987. At each Urbana conference, he challenged
1140-430: A variety of media and publishing outlets; according to his staff, more than 3.2 million people have responded to the invitation at Billy Graham Crusades to "accept Jesus Christ as their personal savior ". Graham's lifetime audience, including radio and television broadcasts, likely surpassed billions of people. As a result of his crusades, Graham preached the gospel to more people, live and in-person, than anyone in
1216-596: The Billy Graham Crusades in Cleveland, Ohio , and Nashville, Tennessee . His television appearances include the "Rex Humbard Hour", the "Gospel Singing Jubilee", the “Bill Gaither Homecoming Hour”, NBC ’s Today Show , The Nashville Network , “Prime Time Country”, and “The Statler Brothers Show”. Younce was a 14-time recipient of the Singing News Fan Award for “Favorite Southern Gospel Bass” singer. He
1292-494: The Modesto Manifesto : a code of ethics for life and work to protect against accusations of financial, sexual, and power abuse. The code includes rules for collecting offerings in churches, working only with churches supportive of cooperative evangelism, using official crowd estimates at outdoor events, and a commitment to never be alone with a woman other than his wife (which become known as the "Billy Graham rule"). Graham
1368-451: The Montgomery bus boycott in 1955, to join him in the pulpit at his 16-week revival in New York City, where 2.3 million gathered at Madison Square Garden , Yankee Stadium , and Times Square to hear them. Graham recalled in his autobiography that during this time, he and King developed a close friendship and that he was eventually one of the few people who referred to King as "Mike",
1444-788: The RAI Convention Center in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. At one revival in Seoul , South Korea, Graham attracted more than one million people to a single service. He appeared in China in 1988; for his wife, Ruth, this was a homecoming, since she had been born in China to missionary parents. He appeared in North Korea in 1992. On October 15, 1989, Graham received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame . He
1520-530: The World Trade Center attacks ), Graham was invited to lead a service at Washington National Cathedral ; the service was attended by President George W. Bush and past and present leaders. He also spoke at the memorial service following the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995. On June 24–26, 2005, Graham began what he said would be his last North American crusade: three days at Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in
1596-534: The gospel and invite individuals to come forward (a practice begun by Dwight L. Moody ); such people were called "inquirers" and were given the chance to speak one-on-one with a counselor to clarify questions and pray together. The inquirers were often given a copy of the Gospel of John or a Bible study booklet. In 1949, Graham scheduled a series of revival meetings in Los Angeles , for which he erected circus tents in
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#17330852960601672-507: The life of the mother . The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association states that "Life is sacred, and we must seek to protect all human life: the unborn, the child, the adult, and the aged." Graham leaned toward the Republicans during the presidency of Richard Nixon, whom he had met and befriended as vice president under Dwight D. Eisenhower . He did not completely ally himself with the later religious right , saying that Jesus did not have
1748-638: The "Cathedral Trio", became the official vocal group of Rex Humbard 's "Cathedral of Tomorrow" in Akron, Ohio. In November 1964, Younce joined forces with lead singer Glen Payne , Tenor Bobby Clark and Baritone/Piano Player Danny Koker to form the " Cathedral Quartet " out of the "Cathedral Trio". They toured the world for 36 years. Younce performed on the Gaither Homecoming Tour, at Radio City Music Hall and Carnegie Hall in New York City , and at
1824-508: The "Stamps" name. Former Lone Star Quartet lead and baritone Clarence Turbyfill joined to sing tenor. In 1949, Kenny Gates became the Blue Ridge Quartet's pianist. When Turbyfill left in 1950, Ed Sprouse became the group's tenor. When Payne left in 1953, Gates picked up the additional duty of singing the baritone part. This lineup of Sprouse, Fagg, Gates, and Strevel remained together for a number of years. Around 1956, Strevel left to join
1900-525: The 18th green of the Temple Terrace Golf and Country Club, which was adjacent to the institute's campus. Reverend Billy Graham Memorial Park was later established on the Hillsborough River , directly east of the 18th green and across from where Graham often paddled a canoe to a small island in the river, where he would practice preaching to the birds, alligators, and cypress stumps. In 1939, Graham
1976-663: The 1960 campaign, Graham met with a conference of Protestant ministers in Montreux , Switzerland, to discuss their mobilization of congregations to defeat Kennedy. According to the PBS Frontline program, God in America , Graham organized a meeting of hundreds of Protestant ministers in Washington, D.C., in September 1960 for this purpose; the meeting was led by Norman Vincent Peale . This
2052-546: The 1965 European Baptist Convention. Young also claimed that Graham had often invited King to his crusades in the Northern states. Former Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) leader and future United States Congressman John Lewis also credited Graham as a major inspiration for his activism. Lewis described Graham as a "saint" and someone who "taught us how to live and who taught us how to die". Graham's faith prompted his maturing view of race and segregation. He told
2128-549: The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association started "My Hope With Billy Graham", the largest outreach in its history. It encouraged church members to spread the gospel in small group meetings, after showing a video message by Graham. "The idea is for Christians to follow the example of the disciple Matthew in the New Testament and spread the gospel in their own homes." "The Cross" video is the main program in
2204-649: The Christian right ... His early years of fierce opposition to communism gave way to pleas for military disarmament and attention to AIDS, poverty and environmental threats." Graham was a lifelong registered member of the Democratic Party . In 1960, he opposed the candidacy of John F. Kennedy , fearing that Kennedy, as a Catholic, would be bound to follow the Pope. Graham worked "behind the scenes" to encourage influential Protestant ministers to speak out against Kennedy. During
2280-601: The Deep South, the two remained friends; the next year King told a Canadian television audience that Graham had taken a "very strong stance against segregation." Graham and King would also come to differ on the Vietnam War . After King's " Beyond Vietnam " speech denouncing US intervention in Vietnam, Graham castigated him and others for their criticism of US foreign policy. By the middle of 1960, King and Graham traveled together to
2356-552: The My Hope America series, and was also broadcast the week of Graham's 95th birthday. Graham's early crusades were segregated , but he began adjusting his approach in the 1950s. During a 1953 rally in Chattanooga, Tennessee, Graham tore down the ropes that organizers had erected to segregate the audience into racial sections. In his memoirs, he recounted that he told two ushers to leave the barriers down "or you can go on and have
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2432-609: The Stamps-Baxter Lone Star Quartet, also headquartered in Raleigh. After a short time, J. Elmo Fagg and Jack Taylor, both from the Lone Star Quartet, joined them. It wasn't long before Wayne Roseberry left and Everett Payne became the baritone singer. Burl Strevel joined the quartet in 1947 to sing bass, and they moved over to WDBB radio in Burlington, NC. In 1948 they moved to WSPA radio Spartanburg, SC and dropped
2508-566: The Sunshine Boys. After some turnover, the bass slot was filled by George Younce . Jim Hamill was hired for the baritone slot with Gates remaining at piano. After a year or so, Bill Crowe replaced Hamill and began a long tenure with the Blue Ridge Quartet. When George Younce left the group to join the Cathedral Quartet in 1964, Burl Strevel returned to sing bass. Shortly after, former Sunshine Boys member Fred Daniel replaced Ed Sprouse at
2584-811: The Tenth Baptist World Congress of the Baptist World Alliance . In 1963, Graham posted bail for King to be released from jail during the Birmingham (Alabama) campaign , according to Michael Long, and the King Center acknowledged that Graham had bailed King out of jail during the Albany Movement , although historian Steven Miller told CNN he could not find any proof of the incident. Graham held integrated crusades in Birmingham on Easter of 1964, in
2660-650: The University of Minnesota during InterVarsity's "Year of Evangelism" in 1950–51, a 4-day mission at Yale University in 1957, and a week-long series of meetings at the University of North Carolina's Carmichael Auditorium in September 1982. In 1955, he was invited by Cambridge University students to lead the mission at the university; the mission was arranged by the Cambridge Inter-Collegiate Christian Union , with London pastor-theologian John Stott serving as Graham's chief assistant. This invitation
2736-582: The aftermath of the bombing of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church , and toured Alabama again in the wake of the violence that accompanied the first Selma to Montgomery march in 1965. Following Graham's death, former SCLC official and future Atlanta politician Andrew Young (who spoke alongside Coretta Scott King at Graham's 1994 crusade in Atlanta), acknowledged his friendship with Graham and stated that Graham did in fact travel with King to
2812-679: The age of 15 in his hometown, George received his first taste of Southern Gospel music. As a teenager, Younce joined his first quartet, known as the Spiritualaires. When his voice changed, he switched to the bass part that he would sing for the rest of his life. Over the next decade he traveled with such groups as the Homeland Harmony Quartet , The Weatherfords , the Florida Boys , and the Blue Ridge Quartet . In September 1963,
2888-501: The borough of Queens, New York City. On the weekend of March 11–12, 2006, Graham held the "Festival of Hope" with his son, Franklin Graham . The festival was held in New Orleans , which was recovering from Hurricane Katrina . Graham prepared one last sermon, "My Hope America", which was released on DVD and played around America and possibly worldwide between November 7–10, 2013. November 7 was Graham's 95th birthday, and he hoped to cause
2964-619: The classic "Yesterday". In 1998, Younce recorded the first of three solo projects. Two were GMA nominees for Dove Awards in the Southern Gospel Album of the Year category. The third presents a collection of some of his favorite hymns. With the death of his long-time friend and Cathedrals partner Glen Payne in October 1999, and Younce's failing kidneys, the Cathedrals retired in December 1999. In
3040-483: The conversion of a number of show-business personalities". In 1953, Graham was offered a five-year, $ 1 million contract from NBC to appear on television opposite Arthur Godfrey , but he had prior commitments and turned-down the offer to continue his live touring revivals. Graham held crusades in London that lasted 12 weeks, and a New York City crusade at Madison Square Garden , in 1957, ran nightly for 16 weeks. At
3116-486: The fall of 2000, he appeared for the first time without the Cathedrals as a solo performer in Parkersburg, West Virginia on a show called "An Evening with George Younce and Ernie Haase ". Late in his career, he sang with The Old Friends Quartet , which included his son-in-law, former Cathedral tenor Ernie Haase and Southern Gospel legend Jake Hess and baritone Wesley Pritchard and pianist Garry Jones. Younce also provided
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3192-610: The family moved about 75 yards (69 m) from their white frame house to a newly built red brick house. He was raised by his parents in the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church . Graham attended the Sharon Grammar School. He started to read books from an early age and loved to read novels for boys, especially Tarzan . Like Tarzan, he would hang on the trees and gave the popular Tarzan yell . According to his father, that yelling led him to become
3268-422: The great task of world evangelization." The movement remains a significant fruit of Graham's legacy, with a presence in nearly every nation. Graham played multiple roles that reinforced each other. Grant Wacker identified eight major roles that he played: preacher, icon, Southerner, entrepreneur, architect (bridge builder), pilgrim, pastor, and his widely recognized status as America's Protestant patriarch, which
3344-467: The history of Christianity. Graham was on Gallup's list of most admired men and women a record-61 times. Grant Wacker wrote that, by the mid-1960s, he had become the "Great Legitimator", saying: "By then his presence conferred status on presidents, acceptability on wars, shame on racial prejudice, desirability on decency, dishonor on indecency, and prestige on civic events." William Franklin Graham Jr.
3420-691: The issue. He settled it at Forest Home Christian Camp (now called Forest Home Ministries) southeast of the Big Bear Lake area in southern California . While attending Wheaton, Graham was invited to preach one Sunday in 1941 at the United Gospel Tabernacle church. After that, the congregation repeatedly asked Graham to preach at their church and later asked him to become the pastor of their church. After Graham prayed and sought advice from his friend Dr. Edman, Graham become their church's pastor. In June 1943, Graham graduated from Wheaton College with
3496-536: The latter's 27-year imprisonment. In 1984, he led a series of summer meetings—Mission England—in the United Kingdom, and he used outdoor football (soccer) fields for his venues. Graham was interested in fostering evangelism around the world. In 1983, 1986 and 2000 he sponsored, organized and paid for massive training conferences for Christian evangelists; this was, at the time, the largest representation of nations ever held. Over 157 nations were gathered in 2000 at
3572-668: The library site. When Ruth Graham died, it was announced that they would be buried at the library site. In 2011, when asked if he would have done things differently, he said he would have spent more time at home with his family, studied more, and preached less. Additionally, he said he would have participated in fewer conferences. He also said he had a habit of advising evangelists to save their time and avoid having too many commitments. After his close relationships with Lyndon B. Johnson and Richard Nixon , Graham tried to avoid explicit partisanship. Bailey says: "He declined to sign or endorse political statements, and he distanced himself from
3648-413: The members of his church in Western Springs, Graham decided to take over Johnson's program with financial support from his congregation. Launching the new radio program on January 2, 1944, still called Songs in the Night , Graham recruited the bass-baritone George Beverly Shea as his director of radio ministry. In 1948, in a Modesto, California hotel room, Graham and his evangelistic team established
3724-433: The middle to preach to all people, right and left. I haven't been faithful to my own advice in the past. I will be in the future." According to a 2006 Newsweek interview, "For Graham, politics is a secondary to the Gospel ... When Newsweek asked Graham whether ministers – whether they think of themselves as evangelists, pastors or a bit of both – should spend time engaged with politics, he replied: 'You know, I think in
3800-490: The most influential Christian leaders" of the 20th century. Beginning in the late 1940s and early 1950s, Graham became known for filling stadiums and other massive venues around the world where he preached live sermons; these were often broadcast via radio and television with some continuing to be seen into the 21st century. During his six decades on television, Graham hosted his annual "crusades" , evangelistic live-campaigns, from 1947 until his retirement in 2005. He also hosted
3876-482: The prayer committee. This took place in Lausanne , Switzerland (July 16–25, 1974), and the movement which ensued took its name from the host city. Its purpose was to strengthen the global church for world evangelization, and to engage ideological and sociological trends which bore on this. Graham invited Stott to be chief architect of the Lausanne Covenant , which issued from the Congress and which, according to Graham: "helped challenge and unite evangelical Christians in
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#17330852960603952-418: The president of Northwestern Bible College. The first Billy Graham Crusade was held on September 13–21, 1947, at the Civic Auditorium in Grand Rapids, Michigan , and was attended by 6,000 people. Graham was 28 years old then, and would rent a large venue (such as a stadium, park, or even a street); as the crowds became larger, he arranged for a group of up to 5,000 people to sing in a choir. He would preach
4028-404: The radio show Hour of Decision from 1950 to 1954. He openly repudiated racial segregation , at a time of intense racial strife in the United States , insisting on racial integration for all of his revivals and crusades, as early as 1953. He also later invited Martin Luther King Jr. to preach jointly at a revival in New York City in 1957. In addition to his religious aims, he helped shape
4104-683: The revival without me." During a sermon held at Vanderbilt University in Nashville on August 23, 1954, he warned a white audience, "Three-fifths of the world is not white. They are rising all over the world. We have been proud and thought we were better than any other race, any other people. Ladies and gentlemen, I want to tell you that we are going to stumble into hell because of our pride." In 1957, Graham's stance towards integration became more publicly shown when he allowed black ministers Thomas Kilgore and Gardner C. Taylor to serve as members of his New York Crusade's executive committee. He also invited Martin Luther King Jr. , whom he first met during
4180-431: The tenor position. When Fagg retired in 1968, he was replaced by Laverne Tripp. Beginning in the 1970s there were several years of unprecedented chart success and group popularity. Don Seabolt replaced Fred Daniel in 1972 and Jim Wood also filled the lead slot later in the decade. The Blue Ridge Quartet shared a number one song on the Singing News chart with the Oak Ridge Boys from February through November 1971. The song
4256-416: The thousands of attendees to make a commitment to follow Jesus Christ for the rest of their lives. He often quoted a six-word phrase that was reportedly written in the Bible of William Whiting Borden , the son of a wealthy silver magnate: "No reserves, no retreat, no regrets". Borden had died in Egypt on his way to the mission field. Graham also held evangelistic meetings on a number of college campuses: at
4332-436: The two remained in touch, meeting for the last time at a National Day of Prayer meeting in February 1963. In his autobiography, Graham claimed to have felt an "inner foreboding" in the week before Kennedy's assassination , and to have tried to contact him to say, "Don't go to Texas!" Graham opposed the large majority of abortions, but supported it as a legal option in a very narrow range of circumstances: rape, incest , and
4408-400: The voice for some of the characters in several of the Bill Gaither produced "Gaither's Pond" children's videos. Although he had to stop officially touring, he did make occasional "special appearances" with son-in-law Ernie's new quartet Ernie Haase and Signature Sound , and with his friend Bill Gaither and the Homecoming Tour. Younce suffered from heart trouble as well as kidney failure, and
4484-404: The worldview of a huge number of people who came from different backgrounds, leading them to find a relationship between the Bible and contemporary secular viewpoints. According to his website, Graham spoke to live audiences consisting of at least 210 million people, in more than 185 countries and territories, through various meetings, including BMS World Mission and Global Mission event. Graham
4560-400: Was "I Know." Other number one songs for the group include “That Day Is Almost Here” (December 1971-February 1972) and “After Calvary” (October–November 1972). Burl Strevel died of a heart attack on November 12, 1981. After that point, Bill Crowe owned and managed the group until they disbanded in January 1985. George Younce George Wilson Younce (February 22, 1930 – April 11, 2005)
4636-403: Was 16 when he was converted during a series of revival meetings that Ham led in Charlotte in 1934. After graduating from Sharon High School in May 1936, Graham attended Bob Jones College . After one semester, he found that the coursework and rules were too legalistic. He was almost expelled, but Bob Jones Sr. warned him not to throw his life away: "At best, all you could amount to would be
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#17330852960604712-411: Was 29 when he became president of Northwestern Bible College in Minneapolis in 1948. He was the youngest president of a college or university in the country, and held the position for four years before he resigned in 1952. Graham initially intended to become a chaplain in the Armed Forces , but he contracted mumps shortly after applying for a commission. After a period of recuperation in Florida, he
4788-471: Was 91 and experiencing substantial vision, hearing, and balance loss when he made a rare public appearance at the re-dedication of the renovated Billy Graham Library . There was controversy within his family over Graham's proposed burial place. He announced in June 2007 that he and his wife would be buried alongside each other at the Billy Graham Library in his hometown of Charlotte. Graham's younger son Ned argued with older son Franklin about whether burial at
4864-460: Was Gospel Music’s "Living Legend" of the year in 1988, was inducted into the "Southern Gospel Music Hall of Fame" located in Dollywood in 1998, also inducted in the Gospel Music Hall of Fame in 1999. He was awarded the 2004 SGN Scoops Diamond “Lifetime Achievement Award”. He recorded well over 100 projects including the award-winning “Symphony of Praise” with the London Philharmonic Orchestra . Younce also wrote several Southern Gospel songs including
4940-410: Was a Southern gospel bass vocalist, known for performing with Southern gospel quartets , especially The Cathedral Quartet . Born in Patterson, North Carolina , Younce ( / j ɑː n s / YAHNS ) was the youngest of four siblings. His father was his biggest influence when young Younce decided he wanted to be a singer. In 1936, the Younce family moved to Lenoir, North Carolina . At
5016-429: Was a founder. It built on Graham's 1966 World Congress on Evangelism in Berlin . In collaboration with Christianity Today , Graham convened what Time magazine described as "a formidable forum, possibly the widest–ranging meeting of Christians ever held" with 2,700 participants from 150 nations gathering for the International Congress on World Evangelization . Women were represented by Millie Dienert , who chaired
5092-412: Was an American evangelist , ordained Southern Baptist minister, and civil rights advocate, whose broadcasts and world tours featuring live sermons became well known in the mid- to late 20th century. Throughout his career, spanning over six decades, Graham rose to prominence as an evangelical Christian figure in the United States and abroad. According to a biographer, Graham was considered "among
5168-402: Was born on November 7, 1918, in the downstairs bedroom of a farmhouse near Charlotte, North Carolina . Of Scots-Irish descent , he was the eldest of four children born to Morrow (née Coffey) and dairy farmer William Franklin Graham Sr. Graham was raised on the family dairy farm with his two younger sisters Catherine Morrow and Jean and younger brother Melvin Thomas. When he was nine years old,
5244-833: Was close to US presidents Dwight D. Eisenhower , Lyndon B. Johnson (one of his closest friends), and Richard Nixon . He was also lifelong friends with Robert Schuller , another televangelist and the founding pastor of the Crystal Cathedral , whom Graham talked into starting his own television ministry. Graham's evangelism was appreciated by mainline Protestant denominations, as he encouraged mainline Protestants, who were converted to his evangelical message, to remain within or return to their mainline churches. Despite early suspicions and apprehension on his part towards Catholicism —common among contemporaneous evangelical Protestants—Graham eventually developed amicable ties with many American Catholic Church figures, later encouraging unity between Catholics and Protestants. Graham operated
5320-414: Was greeted with much disapproval in the correspondence columns of The Times . In 1950, Graham founded the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (BGEA) with its headquarters in Minneapolis . The association relocated to Charlotte, North Carolina , in 2003, and maintains a number of international offices, such as in Hong Kong, Tokyo, and Buenos Aires . BGEA ministries have included: In April 2013,
5396-412: Was hired as the first full-time evangelist of the new Youth for Christ (YFC), co-founded by Torrey Johnson and the Canadian evangelist Charles Templeton . Graham traveled throughout both the United States and Europe as a YFCI evangelist. Templeton applied to Princeton Theological Seminary for an advanced theological degree and urged Graham to do so as well, but he declined as he was already serving as
5472-574: Was on a par with Martin Luther King and Pope John Paul II . He served as a trustee of the International Mission Board in the late 1950s and trustee of the SBC's Radio and Television Commission in the late 1960s. Graham deliberately reached into the secular world as a bridge builder. For example, as an entrepreneur he built his own pavilion for the 1964 New York World's Fair . He appeared as
5548-690: Was on dialysis during the last years of his life. He died on April 11, 2005, aged 75 at the Akron City Hospital in Ohio. He and his wife, Clara, would have celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary on April 27. On August 10, 2009, George's second daughter Dana died aged 47 and then on December 31, 2017, George's youngest daughter Tara died aged 42 from cancer. On May 12, 2020 George's wife Clara died aged 83 from heart failure. (Partial List) Billy Graham William Franklin Graham Jr. ( / ˈ ɡ r eɪ ə m / ; November 7, 1918 – February 21, 2018)
5624-768: Was ordained by a group of Southern Baptist clergy at Peniel Baptist Church in Palatka, Florida . In 1940, he graduated with a Bachelor of Theology degree. Graham then enrolled in Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois . During his time there, he decided to accept the Bible as the infallible word of God. Henrietta Mears of the First Presbyterian Church of Hollywood in California was instrumental in helping Graham wrestle with
5700-542: Was shortly before Kennedy's speech in Houston , Texas, on the separation of church and state; the speech was considered to be successful in meeting the concerns of many voters. After his election, Kennedy invited Graham to play golf in Palm Beach, Florida , after which Graham acknowledged Kennedy's election as an opportunity for Catholics and Protestants to come closer together. After they had discussed Jesus Christ at that meeting,
5776-602: Was the only person functioning as a minister who received a star in that capacity. On September 22, 1991, Graham held his largest event in North America on the Great Lawn of Manhattan's Central Park . City officials estimated that more than 250,000 were in attendance. In 1998, Graham spoke to a crowd of scientists and philosophers at the Technology, Entertainment, Design Conference. On September 14, 2001 (only three days after
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