Editing Billy Graham (section)

==Multiple roles==
[[File:Billy Graham.JPG|thumb|Graham with his son, Franklin, at [[Cleveland Stadium]], June 1994]]
Graham played multiple roles that reinforced each other.<ref>{{Cite news |last=BBC news website |first=Billy Graham on BBC |date=February 21, 2018 |title=Billy Graham: Six things he believed |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-43144752 |access-date=2023-04-14}}</ref> Grant Wacker identified eight major roles that he played: preacher, icon, Southerner, entrepreneur, architect (bridge builder), pilgrim, pastor, and his widely recognized status as America's Protestant patriarch, which was on a par with Martin Luther King and [[Pope John Paul II]].<ref>Grant Wacker. ''America's Pastor: Billy Graham and the Shaping of a Nation'' Look for the purposes 2014 p. 2.</ref>

He served as a trustee of the [[International Mission Board]] in the late 1950s and trustee of the SBC's Radio and Television Commission in the late 1960s.<ref>David Roach, [https://www.baptistpress.com/resource-library/news/billy-grahams-southern-baptist-ties-highlighted/ Billy Graham's Southern Baptist ties highlighted], baptistpress.com, USA, February 23, 2018</ref>

Graham deliberately reached into the secular world as a bridge builder. For example, as an entrepreneur he built his own pavilion for the [[1964 New York World's Fair]].<ref name=IN70>{{cite web |url=http://www.in70mm.com/news/2005/5th_dimension/chapters/credits.htm |title='Man in the 5th Dimension' |work=The 70 mm Newsletter |date=March 6, 2005 |access-date=May 12, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110525223201/http://www.in70mm.com/news/2005/5th_dimension/chapters/credits.htm |archive-date=May 25, 2011 }}</ref> He appeared as a guest on a 1969 [[Woody Allen]] television special, in which he joined the comedian in a witty exchange on theological matters.<ref name="autogenerated1">{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xS9f-DI5ag4C&pg=PA52 |title=Love, Sex, Death & The Meaning of Life: The Films of Woody Allen |first=Foster |last=Hirsch |publisher=Da Capo Press |page=52 |year=2001 |isbn=0-306-81017-4 }}{{Dead link|date=October 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> During the [[Cold War]], Graham became the first evangelist of note to speak behind the [[Iron Curtain]], addressing large crowds in countries throughout Eastern Europe and in the Soviet Union, calling for peace.<ref>[[Nancy Gibbs|Gibbs, Nancy]]; Duffy, Michael (May 31, 2007). [https://web.archive.org/web/20070603153247/http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1627139,00.html "Billy Graham: A Spiritual Gift to All"]. ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]''. Archived from [http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1627139,00.html the original] on June 3, 2007.</ref> During the [[Apartheid in South Africa|apartheid]] era, Graham consistently refused to visit South Africa until its government allowed integrated seating for audiences. During his first crusade there in 1973, he openly denounced [[apartheid]].{{sfn|Aikman|2007|pages=109–10}} Graham also corresponded with imprisoned South African leader [[Nelson Mandela]] during the latter's 27-year imprisonment.<ref>[http://crossmap.christianpost.com/news/billy-graham-nelson-mandela-united-by-apartheid-opposition-7290] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131211081713/http://crossmap.christianpost.com/news/billy-graham-nelson-mandela-united-by-apartheid-opposition-7290|date=December 11, 2013}}</ref>

[[File:Billy Graham in het Feyenoord stadion.ogv|thumb|Graham at the Feyenoord-stadion in Rotterdam, the Netherlands (June 30, 1955)]]
In 1984, he led a series of summer meetings—Mission England—in the United Kingdom, and he used outdoor [[Association football|football]] (soccer) fields for his venues.

Graham was interested in fostering evangelism around the world. In 1983, 1986 and 2000 he sponsored, organized and paid for massive training conferences for Christian evangelists; this was, at the time, the largest representation of nations ever held. Over 157 nations were gathered in 2000 at the [[Amsterdam RAI Exhibition and Convention Centre|RAI Convention Center]] in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. At one revival in [[Seoul]], South Korea, Graham attracted more than one million people to a single service.<ref name="satevepost" /> He appeared in China in 1988; for his wife, Ruth, this was a homecoming, since she had been born in China to missionary parents. He appeared in North Korea in 1992.<ref name="baptisthistory" />

On October 15, 1989, Graham received a star on the [[Hollywood Walk of Fame]]. He was the only person functioning as a minister who received a star in that capacity.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-10-16-me-93-story.html |title=Billy Graham Now a Hollywood Star |work=Los Angeles Times |date=October 16, 1989 |access-date=November 25, 2012 |first=Sheryl |last=Stolberg}}</ref>

On September 22, 1991, Graham held his largest event in North America on [[Great Lawn and Turtle Pond, Central Park|the Great Lawn]] of Manhattan's [[Central Park]]. City officials estimated that more than 250,000 were in attendance. In 1998, Graham spoke to a crowd of scientists and philosophers at the [[TED (conference)|Technology, Entertainment, Design]] Conference.

On September 14, 2001 (only three days after the [[September 11 attacks|World Trade Center attacks]]), Graham was invited to lead a service at [[Washington National Cathedral]]; the service was attended by President [[George W. Bush]] and past and present leaders. He also spoke at the memorial service following the [[Oklahoma City bombing]] in 1995.<ref name="baptisthistory" /> On June 24–26, 2005, Graham began what he said would be his last North American crusade: three days at [[Flushing Meadows–Corona Park]] in the borough of Queens, New York City. On the weekend of March 11–12, 2006, Graham held the "Festival of Hope" with his son, [[Franklin Graham]]. The festival was held in [[New Orleans]], which was recovering from [[Hurricane Katrina]].

Graham prepared one last sermon, "My Hope America", which was released on DVD and played around America and possibly worldwide between November 7–10, 2013. November 7 was Graham's 95th birthday, and he hoped to cause a revival.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://myhopewithbillygraham.org/what-is-my-hope/? |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120822005233/http://myhopewithbillygraham.org/what-is-my-hope/ |archive-date=August 22, 2012 |title=My Hope With Billy Graham Mission Statement |publisher=My Hope America Website |access-date=November 4, 2013}}</ref>