Billy Graham funeral to serve as evangelist’s final crusade
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — As his public appearances dwindled in recent years, the Rev. Billy Graham began choosing songs, scripture and speakers for one last public opportunity to spread the Gospel — his own funeral.
Plans for Friday's service took shape in the years after his last crusade in 2005 as he huddled with confidants and loved ones in his North Carolina mountain home. Musicians who had shared Graham's stage would sing. Some of the best preachers Graham knew — his own children — would deliver personal messages.
And evoking the "Canvas Cathedral" revivals that helped launch his ministry seven decades ago, mourners would gather under a tent to pay their final respects. For his family, the idea became capturing the feeling of the crusades that made Graham "America's Pastor" and the world's best-known Protestant preacher of his era.
"His fingerprints are on this service for sure," family spokesman Mark Demoss said in a phone interview. "The Graham family has long considered that his funeral eventually would really be his last crusade."
Graham, who died last week at age 99, brought a message of salvation to millions during visits and live broadcasts to scores of countries. While the invitation-only crowd Friday on the grounds of his Charlotte library is limited to 2,000 or so, internet livestreams are allowing many more to watch at noon.
The service features songs from gospel musicians who performed at Graham's events: Linda Mccrary-fisher, Michael W. Smith and the Gaither Vocal Band. They are all friends who sang for Graham at his home in recent years, Demoss said, adding: "They're not just artists."