U.S. evangelist Graham 'followed Jesus
all the way to heaven,' son says
Send a link to a friend
[March 03, 2018]
By Jeff Mason and Greg Lacour
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (Reuters) - U.S. evangelist
Billy Graham, who preached to millions and counseled presidents in his
70-year career, was remembered as a man who loved his family and the
Bible at a funeral on Friday attended by President Donald Trump in
Graham's native North Carolina.
The service at his religious center was a mix of Bible readings, tender
family memories, songs and words meant to inspire. About 2,300 people
gathered beneath a canvas tent emblematic of Graham's 1949 Los Angeles
revival that marked his breakthrough as a religious leader.
Graham, who died on Feb. 21 at age 99, lay in honor at the U.S. Capitol
this week in recognition of a clergyman who became the first noted
evangelist to take his message to the Soviet bloc when its communist
regimes were hostile to organized religion.
"Just a few days ago, my father followed Jesus all the way to heaven,"
son Franklin Graham, president and CEO of the Billy Graham Evangelistic
Association, said at the funeral.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2018/Mar/03/images/ads/current/graue_sda_2016.png)
He said the man seen by millions around the world preaching the Bible
was the same man at home. Billy Graham asked his children to read him
the Bible because he loved to hear God's word, other family members
said.
"He was faithful. He was available and he was teachable," son Nelson
“Ned” Graham told the service.
Trump, a Republican, sat with first lady Melania Trump, Vice President
Mike Pence and his wife, Karen, in the front row.
The president spoke with family members ahead of the funeral, including
Jean Ford, Graham's sister, but was not among the speakers at the
service.
Graham will be buried in a pine coffin made by Louisiana prison inmates
and laid to rest next to his late wife, Ruth, at the Billy Graham
Library in Charlotte.
[to top of second column]
|
![](../images/030318pics/news_g11.jpg)
Pallbearers carry the casket of the late U.S. evangelist Billy
Graham during Graham's funeral service at the Billy Graham Library
in Charlotte, North Carolina, U.S. March 2, 2018. REUTERS/Chris
Keane
![](../images/ads/current/richardson_lda_011918.png)
His headstone will carry his name, dates of birth and death and the
inscription "Preacher of the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ" above
a reference to John 14:6. The Bible passage reads: "Jesus answered,
'I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father
except through me.'"
Graham became the de facto White House chaplain to several U.S.
presidents, most famously Richard Nixon.
The evangelist found himself at times in controversy over his
disapproving stand on gay rights, as well as over a secretly
recorded conversation with Nixon in which the cleric complained that
Jews had too much influence on the U.S. media.
(Additional reporting by Ian Simpson in Washington; writing by Jon
Herskovitz; editing by Colleen Jenkins and Cynthia Osterman)
[© 2018 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
Copyright 2018 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2018/Mar/03/images/ads/current/fcs_funeral_lda082613.png) |