Billy Graham in New Orleans
Netlore Archive: Email flier describes an evangelical gathering in New Orleans during which 87-year-old pastor Billy Graham allegedly led a procession through the French Quarter on his mobility scooter
Description: Email hoax
Circulating since: September 2006
Status: False
Analysis: See below
Email example contributed by Jack H., 26 September 2006:
| Subject: Billy Graham in New Orleans In what might prove to be the crowning achievement of an illustrious career in ministry, the 87-year-old evangelist, Billy Graham shocked the 16,300 in attendance at the Celebration of Hope crusade in New Orleans Arena on Sunday Night. Touted in advance as possibly his last evangelistic crusade, Graham invited the packed house of evangelical Christians and the hundreds of new converts to join him on the one mile walk from the arena to New Orleans' infamous Bourbon Street. "While we have seen God do tremendous things here the past couple of evenings. Yes, it is true that a great healing and a great many salvations have occurred within the confines of this auditorium. Still yet, there lies a great mountain in this city which needs to be conquered." Then taking from the Biblical Book of Joshua Chapter 14 he read, "I am this day, eighty-five years old. As yet I am as strong this Day as on the day that Moses sent me; just as my strength was then, so now is my strength for war, both for going out and for coming in. Now therefore, give me this mountain of which the Lord spoke in that day," his voice suddenly sounding more forceful than during his 22 minute sermon. "I last preached in the City of New Orleans in 1954 and I felt then that there was some unfinished business. Tonight, in what very well might be my last evangelistic service, I aim to finish that business and lead as many of you that would follow me to the multitude of lost souls that fill Bourbon Street tonight. That is my mountain ! That is where we shall see the harvest!" said Graham as the stadium erupted in cheers that lasted the next several minutes. Utilizing a waiting mobility scooter, the elder Graham joined his son and heir to the ministry, Franklin across the Arena floor and through the opened doors leading towards the French Quarter. In a show of solidarity and determination reminiscent of civil rights marches of the 1960's, nearly the entire capacity crowd joined in the 20 minute trek while singing When the Saints Go Marching In. As the march crossed Canal Street and headed northward towards Bourbon Street, many onlookers stood in stunned silence as the massive crowd of people began singing in unison the Christian hymn, Amazing Grace. Upon entering the west end of Bourbon Street, Billy Graham was soon recognized by partiers. Soon those joining in the march began to approach those partying on Bourbon Street with the Gospel message that they had heard preached just a half hour before. Graham himself joined with a group of local street evangelist in ministering to a man who had survived Hurricane Katrina in the lower 9th Ward. Within 30 minutes the entirety of Bourbon Street was packed with Christians and the once blaring music of nightclubs and strip joints had been replaced by weeping and worship as people poured out their drinks and sought prayer from the Christians who were now reaching out to them. "I have never seen anything like this in my life," said 20 years New Orleans Police Department veteran, Tom Phillips. "This is unbelievable! We thought a riot was going to break out, but this looks more like a revival than a riot!" Two hours later, a glowing Graham sat back down on his scooter and smiled. "Now I know how the Apostle Paul must have felt at the end of his ministry. Do the work of an evangelist; make full proof of thy ministry. For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith." Hours later hundreds of Christians remained on the street ministering to the many people eagerly waiting to receive prayer and ministry. New Orleans will never be the same. |
Comments: It is true that evangelist Billy Graham, who was 87 years old at the time, preached a sermon at an event called the Celebration of Hope in the New Orleans Arena on March 12, 2006.
Apart from that, the text is a complete fabrication.
Press releases and eyewitness accounts confirm that Billy Graham spoke at the event, which also featured sermons by his son, Franklin Graham, but there is no mention of a "one-mile walk from the arena to New Orleans' infamous Bourbon Street" led by the elder Graham on a mobility scooter.
"It's fascinating and would be wonderful if it had happened," wrote attendee Dr. Joe McKeever, director of missions for the Baptist Association of Greater New Orleans, in response to the story. "But it didn't. No way. None of it.
"The writer is someone who has frequently been in this city witnessing and who was apparently upset that the Billy Graham team was booked into the New Orleans Arena where they invited everyone to 'come and hear,' instead of going into the French Quarter and witnessing to the people there who truly need the gospel," McKeever added. "He wrote the article, as I understand it, to show 'what might have been.'
"I do not know the man, but obviously wish he had taken his frustrations up with the Father rather than using this means to vent."
Billy and Franklin Graham Offer Prayer and Encouragement to New Orleans Clergy in Preparation for "Celebration of Hope"
Billy Graham Evangelistic Association press release, 9 March 2006Celebration of Hope with Billy and Franklin Graham
Decision magazine, May 2006Misrepresenting Billy Graham
JoeMcKeever.com, 22 November 2006
Last updated: 02/17/07
