Los Angeles Crusade, 1949

The Los Angeles Crusade was an evangelistic revival held by Billy Graham (who, at that time, was holding revivals for the Youth For Christ organization). Originally planned for a three-week event from September 25 through October 17 (though still the largest Graham had planned to date), the response would ultimately result in it expanding to eight weeks total (though November 20).

Events leading up to the Crusade were not promising:

• A prior Crusade in Altoona, Pennsylvania went poorly, due in large part to lack of cooperation between church groups as well as criticisms from both liberal Christian groups and hardline fundamentalists
• Graham was at that time the President of Northwestern Schools in Minneapolis; the school was seeking accreditation which would have required Graham to leave the traveling circuit for at least two years while studying for a Ph.D. and he was uncertain of God's direction in that area
• Finally, a close friend, Charles Templeton, had enrolled at Princeton Seminary; Templeton's studies had led him to cast doubt on the authenticity of Scripture (Templeton would later become an agnostic) and he was trying to convince Graham that his "old-fashioned" beliefs would not suit him well in the modern era

A month prior, Graham agreed to speak at the College Briefing Conference at Forest Home, a Christian retreat center outside of Los Angeles, at the invitation of Miss Henrietta Mears, director of religious education at First Presbyterian Church of Hollywood. Unlike Templeton, Mears had complete faith in the integrity of Scripture; Graham felt stretched between the two competing views. Graham realized that if he could not trust the Bible, he was still young enough to leave Northwestern and the pulpit and return to the family business of dairy farming. So one night he walked on the Forest Home property, opened his Bible on a tree stump, and openly prayed that even though there were many things he didn't understand, he would accept God's Word "by faith!" The prayer led Graham to a spiritual peace he hadn't had in some time.

At the beginning crowds were good but Graham sensed that he was preaching mainly to those who were already Christians. The turning point came when Stuart Hamblen, a well-known radio personality, invited him on his radio program, told his listeners to go hear Graham, proclaiming that he would do likewise. Hamblen had numerous run-ins with the law, always bailed out by his large fan base; he listened to Graham a few times but would always walk out angry. Yet when the Crusade team was praying about extending, Graham received an early morning call from Hamblen, who was asking Graham to pray for him; Hamblen's conversion was the sign needed to extend.

Hamblen would give his testimony over the radio, and then Graham would learn that William Randolph Hearst, the legendary newspaper owner, was telling his papers to "Puff Graham". Crowds expanded and ultimately two more notable Los Angeles figures converted: mobster Jim Vaus and former Olympian (and POW) Louis Zamperini.

The 1949 Crusade would ultimately catapult Graham from a relatively unknown evangelist into the internationally known one he would become.

External Links

Just As I Am: The Autobiography of Billy Graham, Chapters 8-9.