In a special Know It All marking the death last week of US evangelist Billy Graham at the age of 99, DAVID ADAMS takes a look at some facts and figures surrounding his life and ministry…
In a special Know It All marking the death last week of US evangelist Billy Graham at the age of 99, here’s a look at some facts and figures surrounding his life and ministry…
PICTURE: Billy Graham Evangelistic Association
• William “Billy” Franklin Graham, Jr, was born on 7th November, 1918, in Charlotte, North Carolina, to dairy farmers William Franklin Graham, Sr, and Morrow Coffey Graham.
• He made a personal commitment to Christ in 1934 at the age of just 15 when attending a revival meeting led by traveling evangelist Mordecai Fowler Ham. He first preached formally in 1937 in a church in Florida and was ordained as a Southern Baptist Minister in 1939.
• He married Ruth McCue Bell in 1943 (she died in 2007 at the age of 87). They had five children – Virginia “Gigi”, Anne, Ruth, William “Franklin” and Nelson “Ned”, 19 grandchildren and numerous great-grandchildren.
• Billy Graham’s first crusade was held in September, 1947 at Grand Rapids, Michigan, and his last in New York in June, 2005. Graham is said to have preached to more than 210 million people in 185 countries and territories. As many as 35 million Americans – one in six – heard him preach in person.
• Among the largest rallies or ‘crusades’ he held – lasting for days or even weeks – were in London, UK (1954 – estimated crowd of 2,047,333), Glasgow, Scotland (1955 – 2,647,365), Sydney, Australia (1959 – 980,000), Seoul, and South Korea (1973 – 3,210,000). The largest one day rally was in Yoido Plaza in Seoul with an estimated crowd of a million people.
• Among his many accolades were the Templeton Foundation Prize for Progress in Religion (1982), the Congressional Gold Medal (1996) and being the first non-musician to be inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame (1999). He was also the first clergyman to be given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
• Graham also appeared on the US Gallup Poll ‘Most Admired Man’ list 61 times, more than any other man since the poll of Americans began in 1948.
• Graham published 34 books over the span of 60 years, touching on subjects ranging from salvation to Armageddon. They include Peace with God (1953), Angels: God’s Secret Agents (1975), Facing Death and the Life After (1987) and The Reason for Hope: Salvation (2013).
• Graham met with 13 different US Presidents, starting with Harry Truman and ending with Donald Trump.
• Graham is the first religious figure to “lie in honour” in the US Capitol. He is also only the fourth American citizen to be so-honoured – the others were civil rights pioneer Rosa Parks in 2005 and two Capitol policeman killed in the line of duty in 1998.
~ For more on Billy Graham, see the Billy Graham memorial website.
