Billy Graham funeral to serve as evangelist's final crusade

Plans for Friday's service took shape in the years after his last crusade in 2005 as he huddled with confidants and loved ones in his North Carolina mountain home. Musicians who had shared Graham's stage would sing. Some of the best preachers Graham knew – his own children – would deliver personal messages.

And evoking the "Canvas Cathedral" revivals that helped launch his ministry seven decades ago, mourners would gather under a tent to pay their final respects. For his family, the idea became capturing the feeling of the crusades that made Graham "America's Pastor" and the world's best-known Protestant preacher of his era.

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"His fingerprints are on this service for sure," family spokesman Mark DeMoss said in a phone interview. "The Graham family has long considered that his funeral eventually would really be his last crusade."

Graham, who died last week at age 99, brought a message of salvation to millions during visits and live broadcasts to scores of countries. While the invitation-only crowd Friday on the grounds of his Charlotte library is limited to 2,000 or so, WRAL-TV, WRAL.com and other media outlets plan to provide live coverage of the funeral, allowing many more to watch at noon.

"He's a legend here, so it's going to be packed – just like always," Charlotte resident Joanne Lawyer said.

The service features songs from gospel musicians who performed at Graham's events: Linda McCrary-Fisher, Michael W. Smith and the Gaither Vocal Band. They are all friends who sang for Graham at his home in recent years, DeMoss said, adding: "They're not just artists."

Graham's oldest son, Franklin Graham, will deliver the funeral message after shorter addresses by his other children and his sister. The service, expected to last about 90 minutes, also includes prayers by pastors from as close as Charlotte and as far away as Asia.

President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence will attend.

Generations of people who live in and around Charlotte are keenly aware that the world has been watching as "America's pastor" makes his way to his final resting place.

"I remember seeing him on TV, and I thought he had a very powerful message, and in today's time, I wish he was here and younger and could try to bring the country together because people had so much respect for him," said Debby Gettys, of York, S.C.

"What I remember about seeing Billy Graham is he had a huge, huge crowd," Lawyer said. "It was a huge crowd in a big stadium, and his message was clear."

"I thought he was a great man of God, a great speaker and he loved the Lord," Charlotte resident Jewel Williams said.

"I think he had a terrific impact. I loved his sermons years ago, at the time," said Nina King, of York.

After the funeral, Billy Graham will be buried next to his wife in a memorial prayer garden at the library, with his grandchildren serving as pallbearers. His casket was made of pine by inmates at the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola. The grave marker reads: "Preacher of the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ."

The funeral serves as the culmination of more than a week of tributes that included crowds lining the road for a procession from the mountains to Charlotte, where Graham grew up. Approximately 13,000 people, including former presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton, filed past his casket during a public viewing in Charlotte on Monday and Tuesday. On Wednesday, Graham became the first private citizen since civil rights icon Rosa Parks in 2005 to lie in honor at the U.S. Capitol.

"I didn't realize just how far he stretched, so many different people, not just here, but all the presidents coming down, paying their respects. It puts it in a whole different perspective," Charlotte resident Mario Williams said.

Loved ones said Graham saw himself as a humble preacher who would have been embarrassed by such fanfare.

And most of all, to Graham, Friday's goodbye marks an end only to his earthly journey.

"Do I fear death? ... No. I look forward to death, with great anticipation," Graham told a Newsweek reporter in 2005. "I am looking forward to seeing God face to face. And that could happen any day."