Graham honored by SBC

By Marv Knox

Texas Baptist Standard

NASHVILLE-Even though he could not attend, Southern Baptists' favorite son stood in the spotlight at their annual meeting June 22 in Nashville.

Billy Graham was away preparing for what might be his final crusade, but the Southern Baptist Convention approved a tribute honoring his life and ministry.

EVANGELIST - This bronze model represents a statue of Billy Graham in a pose familiar to millions world-wide from his many crusades. The statue will be unveiled at the SBC meeting next year in Greensboro Graham, unable to attend due to preparations for his next crusade in New York City, was represented by his grandson, William Franklin Graham IV, pastor of Wakefield Baptist Church in Raleigh and a graduate of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest. (BP photo by Kent Harville)

The Graham tribute capped a series of four citations of appreciation the SBC bestowed upon longtime Baptist leaders. The convention also honored Bill Crews, Jimmy Draper and Adrian Rogers.

"Probably, now there is no better known name in all the entire world when it comes to being a person of faith than 'Billy Graham,'" SBC President Bobby Welch said. "In addition to that, there has never been a man on the planet who has preached face-to-face to multiplied hundreds of millions. ... Or preached such a clear gospel.

"He is one of us, a Southern Baptist. That's a pretty good son to have."

The convention audience watched a video sketching the details of Graham's life and ministry. It told how a 1949 tent revival in Los Angeles stretched into an eight-week preaching marathon that catapulted the young Graham to national prominence.

In the intervening 56 years, he has preached to 210 million people, "more than any person in the history of the world," the video proclaimed. Graham has preached in 185 countries and has shared the gospel not only with millions of people, but also with presidents, dignitaries and world leaders.

The video contained several clips of Graham preaching the gospel through the years. It also included an interview in which he said, "I consider the call to the ministry the highest calling in the world ... divine and eternal."

SBC Executive Committee President Morris Chapman presented the framed tribute in honor of Graham to his grandson, called Will.

The tribute described Graham as "a trans-generational global icon" who has been "used by God to present the gospel to hundreds of millions of people around the world." It cites his impact on "the lives of countless Southern Baptist pastors" as well as churches and evangelists through more than 400 evangelistic crusades around the world.

"I wish my grandfather could be here," the younger Graham said. "He and my father (Franklin Graham) couldn't be here." But they're both at work, serving God, he added, noting his grandfather was preparing to start a crusade in New York City two nights later.

"I want to say thank you to Southern Baptists," Will Graham said.

"I don't want you to think, 'Man, I wish I could be like Billy Graham,'" he said. "My grandfather and I would say: 'You're shooting too low. Aim higher. Be faithful to the one calling God has given you.' He's going to use you, just like my grandfather. ... Say, 'Lord, use me.'"

The statue of Graham is titled, "There's Room at the Cross for You," Welch said. It will feature Graham standing before a towering cross, dressed in a three-piece suit, with a Bible in one hand and his arms outstretched.

O'Brien, the sculptor, is a bivocational pastor in Wyoming. He will spend the next year crafting the full-sized version of the piece, which will be unveiled in June 2006, when the SBC meets in Greensboro, N.C. Later, it will be moved to Nashville.

Among the other recipients of SBC statements of appreciation: