Trump and Pence among the thousands gathered to mourn Billy Graham
Inside a massive white tent that stood as a symbolic throwback to Billy Graham’s super-charged religious crusades in downtown Los Angeles decades ago, thousands gathered Friday to mourn the death of the Southern Baptist minister who preached to millions, counseled presidents and helped carry evangelism into the mainstream.
Family members who gave eulogies at the funeral, attended by President Trump and Vice President Mike Pence, kept to the evangelical message that Graham carried through life, calling on those listening to turn their back on sin and devote their lives to God.
“Most of his life was spent traveling the world, but the last week he embarked on the journey he had been looking forward to all of his life: the journey from Earth to heaven,” Graham’s oldest son, Franklin, 65, said as he delivered the main eulogy.
“How about you?” Franklin Graham asked the crowd. “If this were your funeral, would you be in heaven? Are you sure?”
Graham’s grandchildren served as pallbearers, carrying his pine plywood casket from the 40-foot cross-shaped glass entryway of the Billy Graham Library in Charlotte, N.C., to the billowy tent. Topped with a simple wooden cross, the casket had been made by inmates at a state penitentiary in Angola, La.
While Graham came to preach at stadiums and arenas, the white
tent evoked the fiery days in 1949 when the then-30-year-old preacher quoted Scripture to more than 350,000 people over eight weeks in downtown Los Angeles. Sixty-five sermons later, about 3,000 nonbelievers had committed their lives to Christ and Graham stood as an international celebrity.
Graham’s sister and five children delivered tributes at the noon service, sharing memories of Graham and their religious upbringing. They spoke of mountain walks and family prayer readings, of Graham’s close relationship with his wife of 64 years, Ruth, and how deeply he missed her after her death in 2007.
“We learned hard work, we learned to love the Lord, we learned to pray, we learned to love the Scriptures,” said Graham’s sister, Jean Ford. “And that has never left any of us.”
Daughter Ruth Graham spoke of her shame after a traumatic divorce and hasty second marriage, which turned out to be a mistake.
“What was I going to say to daddy?” she said. “You women will understand, you don’t want to embarrass your father. You really don’t want to embarrass Billy Graham!”
Yet her father was standing outside waiting for her when she drove up the mountain to her parents’ home.
“He wrapped his arms around me. He said, ‘Welcome home.’ There was no shame, there was no blame, there was no condemnation. Just unconditional love.”
The father he knew, Franklin Graham emphasized, was no different from the man who spoke to millions across the world.
“The Billy Graham that the world saw on television, the Billy Graham that the world saw in the big stadiums, was the same Billy Graham that we saw at home,” he said. “There weren’t two Billy Grahams.”
Franklin Graham, the president and chief executive of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Assn., issued an explicit call to those listening to follow Jesus.
“Many ask today what is truth?” he said. “With all the lies and false information, what is the truth? Jesus said, ‘I am the truth,’ and all truth is found in him…. The world, with all of its political correctness, would want you to believe that there are many roads to God. It’s just not true.”
Anne Graham Lotz, Graham’s daughter, said she believed her father’s death on Feb. 21 was significant. After researching the date of his death, she discovered the date is the day Jews focus on reading Scripture dealing with the death of Moses.
“I believe, from heaven’s perspective, that my father’s death is as significant as his life — and his life is very significant,” Lotz said. “But I think when he died that was something very strategic from heaven’s point of view…. I believe this is a shot across the bow from heaven. I believe God is saying, ‘Wake up church! Wake up world! … Jesus is coming!’”
Earlier this week, about 13,000 people, including former presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, viewed Graham’s casket in his childhood home near Charlotte. On Wednesday, Graham became the first religious leader in American history to lie in honor at the U.S. Capitol Rotunda in Washington.
Born in 1918, Graham grew up on a dairy farm near Charlotte and was ordained a minister in the Southern Baptist Church in 1939. A lifelong Democrat, he went on to serve as a key figure of evangelicalism, traveling the globe to preach the Gospel to millions of people from big cities such as London and New York to remote villages in Australia and Africa.
Throughout his life, Graham had private meetings with U.S. presidents from Harry S. Truman to Barack Obama.
After the service, Graham’s casket was carried from the tent as a bagpiper played “Amazing Grace.”
Graham was buried beside his wife in a private family ceremony at the foot of the cross-shaped brick walkway in the library’s prayer garden.
The grave marker’s inscription says: “Preacher of the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.”
Jarvie is a special correspondent.
UPDATES:
2:50 p.m.: The story was updated throughout with additional details.
The story was originally published at 10:50 a.m.
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