Remembering a Billy Graham Crusade from 1963

[MineralMan]

I rode on a church bus from my little town in California to attend one of Billy Graham's famous crusades at the L.A. Coliseum. At the time, I was moving quickly from a childhood religious faith toward atheism, but it was a free outing, so there I was. In the photo below, taken from a perspective near where I and my friends were seated, you can see what we observed.

No jumbotrons back then, so Billy Graham was just a speck in the distance, and his voice was muted by reverberations and echos in that venue. I didn't hear much of anything he said, and wasn't buying it any longer, so it was, well, an outing. But, he could draw a crowd, for certain, as you can see:

[hlthe2b]

1. the crowds were pretty amazing... I'd have gone just to "people-watch"

(which is the real reason why I generally enjoy attending live sports games, though the $$ is a real deterrent)

[MineralMan]

3. I went because the bus was heading for the big city.

Any excuse to go somewhere that wasn't my town of 5000 people. The bus was full of kids doing the same thing, pretty much. Nobody from my town answered the "Altar Call." A big crowd, though. At one point, everyone sang "Amazing Grace." An impressive noise, to be sure.

[woodsprite]

4. I'm still freaked out by the hymn "Just as I am". Stupid probably, but

that was what they played/sang as he called people up. They used to do that at the Bible Evangelical church my parents made me attend when I was little. They didn't attend, but made me go with our neighbors. Such bad memories and nightmares from that time. Attending that church actually contributed greatly to my issues growing up with anxiety attacks.

I attend church now, after many years. It's a very liberal Presbyterian church, open to absolutely everyone (all races, sexual orientations, ages, income, etc.) Love the friends I've made there. I like to think of it as more a social and community service organization. I'm in the choir, but when that song came up as one that fit the "lectionary", I refused to sing it.

This Sunday, a group of people have decided to have a "State of the Union" meeting after church to discuss the "March for our lives" and other issues!

[MineralMan]

5. Thanks for sharing your perspective.

Those Billy Graham Crusades were quite something in their time. In the 1940s through about the 1970s, they managed to pull people into big venues amazingly well. They were a phenomenon of the times.

[NastyRiffraff]

6. OMG I remember "Just as I am"

My mother used to sing it over and over (and over). I grew to HATE that song. That's probably one of the reasons (certainly not the only one) I'm an atheist today!

[MichMary]

2. An elderly friend of mine

knew him from Wheaton College. She was a dear lady, who passed a few years ago.