Albany ministers remember Billy Graham

ALBANY — Billy Graham, who died Wednesday morning following an evangelistic career that spanned eight decades, will be remembered as a pillar of faith whose impact was felt worldwide, pastors in the Albany area said.

“I learned this morning, just like most everyone else, and my first thought was what a tremendous legacy of faithful ministry he left,” the Rev. Butch Knight, pastor of First Baptist Church of Albany, said. “He was very simple in the terms of his message, but, man, how impactful it was not only in our country but around the world. What a great homecoming it must have been for him this morning to hear ‘Well done, good and faithful servant.’”

Graham’s son, Franklin Graham, confirmed his 99-year-old father’s passing at home in Montreat, N.C., Wednesday morning on Twitter.

“My father @BillyGraham was once asked, ‘Where is Heaven?’ He said, ‘Heaven is where Jesus is, and I am going to Him soon!’ This morning, he departed this world into eternal life in Heaven, prepared by the Lord Jesus Christ — the Savior of the world — whom he proclaimed for 80 years,” Franklin Graham wrote.

Billy Graham, a native of Charlotte, N.C., has been referred to as the most influential Christian leader of the 20th century, with estimates that, with his live appearances and TV and radio ministries, he was heard by 2.2 billion people and, through his crusades and other appearances, preached to more people in person than anyone else in history.

Graham, who died of natural causes, became a Christian at age 16 after attending a revival in his hometown led by evangelist Mordecai Ham. Graham’s early work as a minister gained national attention with an eight-week tent revival that he conducted in 1949 Los Angeles, two years after his first Billy Graham Crusade in Michigan. By the time he retired in 2005, Graham had conducted 400 crusades in nearly 190 nations on every continent except Antarctica.

“We lost one of the heroes of the faith,” Byne Memorial Baptist Church Pastor Kerry Reeves said. “He was an icon of American history, and he will be missed.”

Yaz Johnson, pastor of the nondenominational Walk by Faith Ministries in Albany, said word of Graham’s death caused him to stop his auto.

“I was driving when the news of Billy Graham’s passing came over my phone,” he said. “I literally had to pull off of the road and sit in my care for a few minutes. It had that much of an immediate impact.

“It doesn’t matter what denomination a person was, I know a lot of pastors felt that Billy Graham was their pastor. Even in black churches, I know of many pastors who quoted him on what it’s like to become a better person. This news, it’s a hard hit for us all.”

Father Lee Lowery, rector of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Albany, said Graham lived his life in a way that reinforced the words he spoke.

“Obviously, Billy Graham was a gifted preacher and speaker,” Lowery said. “But the most powerful element of his life, I believe, is the way he lived a life that was consistent with the message he delivered.

“I don’t know of anybody who did not respect him.”

Indeed, since 1955 Graham has appeared a record 60 times on Gallup’s annual list of most admired men and women. An estimated 2.3 million people over the years accepted his call to come to Christ at events and crusades at which he was speaking.

Graham also was known as a faith counselor to presidents, serving in that capacity with every president from Harry S. Truman to Barack Obama.

Former President Jimmy Carter, one of three presidents with George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton who attended the rededication of the Billy Graham Library in Charlotte 11 years ago, described the evangelist as one who lived a Christian life.

“Broad-minded, forgiving, and humble in his treatment of others, he exemplified the life of Jesus Christ by constantly reaching out for opportunities to serve,” Carter said in a statement.

“Billy Graham was a humble servant who prayed for so many — and who, with wisdom and grace, gave hope and guidance to generations of Americans,” Obama tweeted Wednesday.

President Donald Trump tweeted Wednesday: “The GREAT Billy Graham is dead. There was nobody like him! He will be missed by Christians and all religions. A very special man.”

U.S. Sen. David Perdue, R-Ga., called Graham “America’s pastor.”

“Reverend Graham was truly ‘America’s pastor.’ Over his lifetime, he was instrumental in counseling numerous presidents through some of our nation’s most difficult times,” Perdue said. “His work and dedication to Christ are an inspiration to many and will not soon be forgotten.

“Bonnie and I join the nation in lifting up the entire Graham family in prayer during this very difficult time.”

CNN, Carlton Fletcher and Terry Lewis contributed to this report.