by Billy Graham
While construction was still under way, Wheaton determined that it was unable to raise sufficient funds for the project and could not carry through on its commitment to us after all. This presented us with a dilemma, partly because several members of the BGEA board were also members of the Wheaton College board. We found ourselves pulled in two directions, therefore, but in the end the BGEA board agreed to make it a joint effort, with most of the resources for construction and maintenance raised by us. The building is owned by Wheaton College, and a BGEA liaison committee consults with the center as it develops programs in the history and theology of evangelism and evangelistic strategy. I am grateful that the college has seen the center as a positive contribution to its aca-demic life, and that it has enabled the graduate school to have an expanded ministry.
Groundbreaking for the project took place in 1977; two years later, the cornerstone was laid. In September 1980, the five-story colonial-style building was completed. It was certainly larger than I had envisioned, but it allowed ample room for future program expansion.
The main speaker at the dedication was Ambassador Charles Malik, a Lebanese Christian who had been president of the United Nations General Assembly. In his address, he noted the almost total secularization of the great universities, many of which had been founded by Christians, and discussed the negative impact this secularization has had on Western civilization. He eloquently and forcefully challenged evangelicals to take seriously their calling to reclaim the intellectual initiative in our world.
“I must be frank with you,” he said. “The greatest danger be-setting American Evangelical Christianity is the danger of anti-intellectualism. . . . The result is that the arena of creative thinking is abdicated and vacated to the enemy. . . . At the heart [and mind] of the crisis in Western civilization lies the state of mind and the spirit in the universities.
“Christ being the light of the world, His light must be brought to bear on the problem of the formation of the mind. . . . Therefore, how can evangelism consider its task accomplished if it leaves the university unevangelized? This is the great task, the historic task, the most needed task, the task required loud and clear by the Holy Ghost Himself, to which the Billy Graham Center most humbly addresses itself.”
Today a major part of the Billy Graham Center houses the Wheaton College Graduate School. The building also includes a state-of-the-art archival facility, which houses not only BGEA records but also the archives of a number of other evangelical missions, agencies, and leaders from the past.
A specialized library on evangelism is also located there; with two hundred thousand items, it is one of the largest collections of its type in the world.
A recently redesigned museum on the ground floor is devoted to the history of American evangelism—including our own ministry. Of the tens of thousands of visitors it receives each year, many register a commitment to Jesus Christ as they are challenged by the Gospel message.
The heart of the center, however, is its series of programs aimed primarily at Christian leaders and heads of Christian organizations. These leaders help develop strategies for evangelism and missions through seminars, conferences, and specialized research projects.
JAMMIN’ IN THE DOME
It was Saturday evening, October 29, 1994. On the stage of Atlanta’s vast Georgia Dome, a high-energy rap musical group called dc-Talk was belting out a number at top volume, to the obvious delight of the 78,000 fans packing the stadium, almost all of whom were under the age of twenty-one. A high-tech light show flashed and pulsed from a sixty-foot-high truss overhead, part of nine trailerloads of equipment brought in especially for the production.
As I stepped onto the platform, I couldn’t help but recall the rock concert I had attended in Miami twenty-five years before. But this was a musical event with a difference. All the artists were Christians. “Jammin’ in the Dome,” as it was called, was a special youth-night outreach we had planned as part of our Atlanta Crusade. Did some from the older generation wonder if I, or they, had any business being there? I suspect so.
Admittedly, it wasn’t really my kind of music, nor was it what we have ordinarily featured in our meetings during most of our ministry. But times change. As long as the essential message of the Gospel is not obscured or compromised, we must use every legitimate method we can.
Just as Michael W. Smith and dc-Talk have captivated the audience in several of our special youth meetings in recent Crusades, so it was with the music in Atlanta. After the concert, the young musicians introduced me, gave me big bear hugs, then sat down behind me as I prepared to speak, and the crowd of young people grew quiet.
I opened my Bible to the familiar words of John 3:16: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
After reading that passage, I lifted my head and exclaimed, “Tonight Jesus Christ is alive!”
No sooner had I begun than the crowd interrupted me with a roaring cheer. When they quieted down, I continued to talk to them—not as a preacher but as an older man sharing what he had learned with a group of young people who wanted to listen. I told them the old and yet ever-new story of God’s love for us in Jesus Christ.
At the Invitation, more than 5,000 came forward to make their commitment to Christ.
They represented a new generation, with a new outlook on life, and a new approach. As we had done so often in the past, once again we had explored new ways of bridging the gap, reaching out to a changing world with the unchanging message of Jesus Christ.
36
From Arkansas to Washington
President Bill Clinton
When Christianity Today commemorated the fiftieth anniversary of my ministry with a special issue, dated November 13, 1995, Pres-ident Bill Clinton sent the following letter for publication.
“The first time I saw Billy Graham was in Arkansas when I was about 11. He came right into the middle of our state’s racial trouble to lead a Crusade and to spread a message of God’s love and grace. When the citizen’s council tried to get him to agree to segregate his meetings, he said, ‘If I have to do that, I’m not coming.’
“I asked a Sunday school teacher in my church to drive me 50 miles to Little Rock so I could hear Dr. Graham preach because he was trying to live by what he said. For a good while thereafter, I tried to send a little bit of my allowance to his Crusades because of the impression he made on me then.
“I was elated when Billy came to Little Rock for another Cru-sade a few years ago when I was Governor. We had the chance to spend a good deal of time together, and I have treasured his friendship as well as his prayers and counsel ever since.
“I am grateful for the way his ministry and friendship have touched my life and, even more, for the unparalleled impact his Christian witness has had throughout the world.
“I am honored to be able to share this tribute with you and your readers on this special occasion.”
His words touched me and reminded me also that none of us who preach can ever know who may be in the audience—even a future president.
I first met Bill Clinton while he was governor of Arkansas. I had been invited to speak at the 1985 National Governors’ Confer-ence in Boise, Idaho, and he sought me out to ask if we could spend some time together. We went out on the lawn and talked for a couple of hours. His quick mind and his warm personality impressed me immediately. We met again during our September 1989 Crusade in Little Rock.
Shortly before the Crusade, Mary Anne Stephens (who at the time was the wife of one of the wealthiest men in Arkansas, Jack Stephens) flew over in their corporate jet to pick me up and fly me to the Crusade. The plane was late arriving in North Carolina.
“We were waiting for Hillary,” Mary Anne said with an apology, “but she never showed up; that’s why we’re so late.”
The plane was filled with socialites; and Hillary, I soon learned, was the wife of the governor. She had been left behind because
of an unforeseen engagement, but when we landed in Little Rock, she was there to greet me.
A day or two later, she asked me if we could have lunch and talk.
“I would be delighted to,” I replied, “but I don’t have private luncheons with beautiful ladies.”
“We could sit in the middle of the dining room at the Capital Hotel where everybody would be able to see us,” she said, “and still have a private conversation.”
Which we did. We talked first about Park Ridge, Illinois, where she came from. She had attended a Methodist church there, and I had preached in the church several times. Herbert J. Taylor of Club Aluminum, who had been chairman of both of our Chicago-area Crusades (as well as active in other Christian causes), went to that church also.
I didn’t know much about Mrs. Clinton before that meeting, except that she was a lawyer. She impressed me as a genuine intellectual as we talked. She moved knowledgeably from one subject to another—from some government project or political issue to a family or personal matter and back again. I left our luncheon greatly impressed by her.
Governor Clinton was honorary chair of that Little Rock Crusade. He and Hillary gave a luncheon for us, with a few of the Crusade’s strongest supporters and leaders of the state invited too, including former governor Orval Faubus.
During that time Clinton asked me a favor. “My pastor is dying of cancer,” he said. “He lives several miles from here. I’d like to drive you to his home, and we can read the Bible to him and pray with him and encourage him. He has meant a lot to me.”
His pastor turned out to be one of the leading evangelical pastors in the Southern Baptist Convention, Dr. W. O. Vaught, who had played a pivotal part in getting us to come to Little Rock and was widely loved and respected.
The governor drove me out there, just the two of us. We were greeted by the pastor’s wife and taken immediately into his bedroom. He was propped up with pillows and had his Bible open. He was down below a hundred pounds, and we all knew his time on earth was short.
“W. O.,” I said in greeting. “We’re certainly praying for you at this time, that if it is God’s will you will be healed.”
“I have something to say to you boys,” said W. O. “Sit down.”
And he started in with his Scofield Bible on the Second Coming of Christ and the hope of Heaven we have as believers in Christ. In spite of his frailty, he gave us a real Bible lesson that lasted thirty, perhaps forty minutes without stopping. Finally, he finished.
“Now let’s have prayer,” he said. “Let’s each one of us pray. We’ll pray for the Crusade.”
So Governor Clinton and I got down on our knees by the bed. The governor prayed first, a wonderful prayer. Then I prayed. Then Pastor Vaught closed. I know both Bill Clinton and I felt that we had received far more encouragement from our visit than we ever could have given to his pastor.
After Clinton’s election, some people criticized me for agreeing to pray at his inauguration. On certain issues, the new President had taken stands that disconcerted those who were morally more conservative, including some evangelical Christians. I felt it was important to keep my commitment to pray, however, even if I did not agree with everything he held. I also felt a warm personal affection for Mr. Clinton, whatever his viewpoints.
I also wanted to assure Mr. Clinton of my prayers, for no President stands outside the need for God’s constant help and guidance. That is one reason I have always agreed to lead prayers on such occasions whenever asked. Furthermore, the Scripture commands us to pray “for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior” (1 Timothy 2:2–3). When the Apostle Paul wrote those words, a pagan emperor ruled the Roman Empire, but that did not nullify the command. I asked one person who tried to dissuade me, “Are you saying you don’t think Mr. Clinton needs our prayers, or that we shouldn’t pray for him?”
The night before the 1993 National Prayer Breakfast—Clinton’s first as President—Ruth and I stayed at the White House. The Clintons had the governor of Hawaii there too. At dinner that evening, Hillary Clinton had me to her right and the governor to her left; they talked much of the time about health care, a deep concern of the First Lady’s. Ruth sat at the other end of the table on the President’s right. My sister Jean and her husband, Leighton Ford, were also dinner guests. It was a delightful and informal time, almost like a family gathering. The next morning, the President and I both got up early and had quite a talk while he was getting ready for his morning run.
Afterward we went together to the Washington Hilton for the National Prayer Breakfast. My good friend Doug Coe (who has done so much in his quiet way to work with leaders and to foster the Prayer-Breakfast movement in the United States and many other countries) escorted us to the platform. I found the sincere words of both Vice President Al Gore and President Clinton acknowledging their need of God’s guidance very moving.
Two events from President Clinton’s first term in office will always remain in my memory.
The first occurred in 1995, shortly after the tragic bombing of the federal office building in Oklahoma City. By any standard, that bombing—which resulted in the deaths of 168 men, women, and children, and injury to hundreds more—was a senseless, barbaric act. The whole nation was in a state of shock, but no one was touched so deeply as the citizens of Oklahoma City and the state of Oklahoma.
The day after the bombing, I received an invitation to participate in a special memorial service for the victims of the disaster from Governor Frank Keating and his wife, Cathy. Just a few weeks earlier she had been taken to our San Juan, Puerto Rico, Crusade by Laura Bush, wife of Governor George Bush of Texas. Mrs. Keating was coordinating the Oklahoma service. President and Mrs. Clinton came also, and in his simple but deeply moving words he extended his and his wife’s sympathy to those who had suffered the loss of a loved one. By his presence and his speech, he also conveyed to everyone in Oklahoma the clear message that the whole nation was standing with them in their grief.
I spoke also to the assembled crowd—one of the most difficult things I have done in my life—telling them frankly that I did not understand why God allowed things like this to happen. Our knowledge is limited, I pointed out, and there are some things we will never understand this side of eternity. I reminded them, however, that even though we do not understand, God does not change. He is still the God of love and mercy; and in the midst of our sorrow and pain, we can turn to Him in faith and trust.
The service itself was unforgettable, but I will always especially remember joining President and Mrs. Clinton as we met privately with some of the families who had been affected by the bombing. There were no television cameras or reporters around, and Mr. Clinton had nothing to gain politically by taking the time to be with them. And yet seldom have I seen anyone express so movingly and sincerely a genuine sense of compassion and sympathy to those who were hurting. I felt that he, not I, was the real pastor that day. I couldn’t help but wonder if his own years of hardship and pain as a child had given him an understanding of the heartache and pain of those who suffer, whatever the cause.
The second occasion took place on May 2, 1996, when Ruth and I were presented with the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest honor the Congress of the United States can bestow on a citizen. Our local congressional representative from western North Carolina, Charles Taylor, had first proposed the idea (without my knowledge) to the congressional leadership. Then (still without my knowledge), he had enlisted the support and help of my colleague T.W. Wilson.
The medal itself depicted Ruth and me on one side, with an image on the reverse of the new Ruth and Billy Graham Children’s Health Center at Asheville’s Memorial Mission Hospital. T.W. had worked with the hospital on the project, and funds from the sale of bronze copies of the medal went to help provide health care for poor children throughout Appalachia.
I felt totally unworthy of the honor, which was first
given to George Washington in 1776; ours, we understood, was only the 114th such medal awarded in America’s history. And I was delighted that Ruth was included in the honor, for without her partnership and encouragement over the years, my own work would have been impossible.
The ceremony itself was held in the Capitol Rotunda, with a number of officials from both parties participating, including Vice President Al Gore, Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole, Senate President Pro Tem Strom Thurmond, and our two senators from North Carolina, Jesse Helms and Lauch Faircloth.
Mr. Gore’s comments were especially gratifying, for they pointed beyond Ruth and me to the sovereign purposes of God. “You have touched the hearts of the American family,” he said. “In presenting this Gold Medal of Honor, . . . the United States of America makes a powerful statement about what is truly important in our national life. You have touched that part of the American spirit that knows Providence has a greater purpose for our nation.”
(His comment about the American family reminded me of a delightful evening I had spent in the Gores’ home some months before. The Vice President proudly introduced me to their children, and then he and I had a relaxing candlelight dinner in their dining room.)
I was especially pleased that many members of our families could be present in the Rotunda, including our five children and a number of grandchildren.
In his remarks, Bob Dole, who has a terrific sense of humor, quipped, “When the idea of awarding the Congressional Gold Medal [to the Grahams] was first raised, it received something rare in this building—unanimous approval.”