Crusades draw thousands
It probably wouldn’t happen these days, but almost half a century ago American evangelist Billy Graham was the talk of the town as he drew hundreds of thousands of New Zealanders to hear his Christian message.
According to the 1956 census, less than 1 per cent of adult New Zealanders claimed to have no religious belief at the time of Graham’s arrival, so the stage was set for the charismatic preacher to make an impact during his 11-day ‘‘crusade’’ in 1959.
Graham, who died in February this year aged 99, had drawn massive crowds to stadiums and halls across North America, Europe and Australia, including a mammoth 16-week event at Madison Square Garden in New York, before coming to New Zealand.
His visit here would prove just as popular, with more than 350,000 people flocking to multi-day crusades in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch between March 29 and April 8. New Zealand’s population at the time was just 2.3 million. As well as the live events, the services were relayed by landline to public gatherings in Dunedin and other centres.
Fast forward to today, and it would likely have been a different story, with almost 42 per cent of Kiwis not identifying with any religion in the 2013 census.
But in 1959, New Zealanders were mesmerised by the Southern Baptist minister, described by one of his biographers as ‘‘among the most influential Christian leaders’’ of the 20th century.
Along with fellow evangelists Leighton Ford, Grady Wilson and Joseph Blinco, Graham drew hundreds of thousands of New Zealanders to hear his message that Jesus Christ was their ‘‘personal saviour’’.
Crusades were held at Auckland’s Carlaw Park from March 29 to April 4, Wellington’s Athletic Park from March 30 to April 6, and Christchurch’s Lancaster Park from April 1 to 8.
Graham himself preached at the last two meetings in each city.
The signature moment was the ‘‘altar call’’, when worshippers would be asked to come forward and pledge their lives to Christ.
His success was based on his charisma, his simple message – repent and you’ll be saved – and his business skills.
Graham rose to fame in the late 1940s, but remained relevant well into the 21st century.
He provided spiritual counsel to every US president from Harry Truman to Barack Obama, and his televised show Billy Graham
Crusades ran until 2005.
With his intense passion and animated stage presence, Graham reached an estimated audience of 2.2 billion people across his television and radio broadcasts.
Before his arrival in Wellington, The Evening Post ran an interview with him by freelancer Dorothy Moses, while Graham was in Surfers Paradise for a break.
Moses wrote Graham had ‘‘a smile as million-dollarish as a movie star’s’’, and noted, ‘‘I’m sure New Zealanders will like him’’.
The newspaper was fascinated by his appeal, and ran a column from two speech experts who explained his magnetism, likening him to a spiritual boxer with Satan as his opponent.
Graham drew bigger crowds than the Springboks rugby side, and caused hysteria that would not be seen again until the Beatles briefly toured the country in 1964.
Among the hundreds of thousands who flocked to get a glimpse of the preacher were 18,000 who pledged their allegiance to Jesus and the Christian faith.
Graham returned to New Zealand in 1970, but did not have the same impact.
However, he was no less emphatic in his preaching style, and one video clip shows him with arms flaying yelling Jesus’ message that ‘‘I am from everlasting to everlasting . . . the eternal God’’.
Graham frequently spoke with a large backing choir, and delivered his largest address at Yoido Plaza in Seoul, South Korea, to 1.1 million people.