Yankee’s Stadium and the July 20th, 1957 Billy Graham Crusade

You step off the Lexington Avenue 4 train at the 161st Street and New York.

It’s a balmy day, the weather feels like it’s 100 but your mom is taking you to come “church event” thing. You had no interest. The summer heat was too much. A malt could only cost you pocket change and could cool you down, and you could listen to Doo-Wop groups on the corner while you enjoyed. Not to Mention that the Dodgers were only a game back of the Milwaukee Braves for 1st place in the National League Pennant. They finally took the title last year after several losses in the postseason Subway Series to the cross-town Yankees who always seemed to win.

Yes sir, there were more important things on your mind. But hey, your mom was clever and knew you’d do anything to spend an evening at Yankee Stadium and what better way to do that then by seeing this religious guy Walter Conkrite had done an interview with a month ago? Yes-sir, Whitey Ford wasn’t on the mound but you were going to get a chance to sit on the infield of Yankee Stadium. You follow along, intrigued but gloomy because your mind is only fixed on the latest article on Walter O’ Malley, the Brooklyn Dodger owner who was threatening to send ‘dem bums somewhere else. You walk with your mother, distracted and down in the dumps until you see those beautiful white colonnades of Yankee Stadium (thought you couldn’t admit that to your fellow Dodger fans).

You go in and find a seat, as that man everyone is talking about comes out. While you start the day more interested in “The House that Babe Built”, you notice the Vice President come up and give a speech. Kinda dull, you thought. But hey, your dad and uncle served under President Eisenhower when he was Chief of the Allied Forces in Europe. His excitement was enough for you to gaze in a little. But then that man came up, that man who seems like an average guy from the south. He seems to preach with conviction, and His message seems to prod at your very meaning of life.

That man was Billy Graham. And that event you were at was no small feat in history! Billy Graham was already a rising start in Evangelicalism when this Crusade happened, but this one solidified him as a leader in American Religious life. What was supposed to be a 6 week event turned into 16 weeks. It was reported that over 2,000,000 people showed up to the crusade over those weeks. Not only that but at-least 64,000 people made decisions concerning Christ! (I say at-least because we have no idea who The Spirit may have regenerated beyond the count).

The Crusade was a hit, and the sheer statistics and fruit would be enough to celebrate it. But in reality, its impact was felt beyond that. You see, The 1957 crusade didn’t just change those individual lives who attended, it changed the American Church.

You see, this was set in the context of the continuing fight between Liberalism and Fundamentalism. The religious landscape of the mid twentieth century was different from now. Today we think of Liberalism as purely a political belief set. In all reality it was quite different (and quite bad). Theological liberalism had made its mark in the mid 19th century in Europe. Theologians who struggled with wrestling with modernity and the boom of technological and scientific advances sought to take Christianity and put it in their context.

The problem is that they decided to completely deny or rework key foundations of orthodox Christianity. This brought a conflict with Fundamentalist who held to the “fundamentals of the faith”. The fight was on. But before we rejoice too much, it has to be noted that Fundamentalism had severe shortcomings in how they dealt with culture and others in Christians love. Anti-intellectualism, denials of culture, and racism and segregation led to a church even more divided and really left Fundamentalism ineffectual to overcome it’s opposition.

Enter the New York City Crusade. Billy Graham didn’t just preach The Gospel he believed, he actually attempted to apply convictions of the ministry. Though he was a Southern Baptist from North Carolina, he went out of his way to have African-Americans attend the largely white gathering. The keynote of this was seen in one service where he had Martin Luther King Jr. lead the gathering in prayer. This was not merely a nice thing to do. Billy Graham put his reputation on the line to ensure that African Americans could hear The Gospel and feel free to worship in a nation dominated by segregation. The Southern Baptist evangelist faced scrutiny for this. It was scathing for Fundamentalist, because it pointed to the hypocrisy coming from their pulpits

The Crusade was also notable for being a land mark in ecumenicalism. Billy Graham invited people all across New York City’s Christian scene to get on board. Churches across denominations partnered with Graham to bus their members to and from services and many clergy had opportunities to help. The down side this, of course, is that this included many Roman Catholic and more liberal groups. This also brought scrutiny, but it also brought true fruit.

Through the various denominations, through the political leaders and celebrities in attendance, and within the sweltering heat; the answer to Theological Liberalism was formed. Yes, Billy Graham did indeed have practices that we might not endorse as Reformed Christians. But he was also an orthodox believer who founded his ministry on the Gospel and the sufficiency of scripture. When Graham allowed people across various traditions, they had to come on his grounds. They had to come knowing that he would preach The Gospel as revealed in Christ through scripture. They had to know that He was preaching for even those members. 

It wasn’t just the Liberals though. What made a difference was the conservatives. Young Evangelicals would pave a way into American Christianity that would make orthodox Christianity stand on its own. Billy Graham, Francis Schaffer, John Gerstner, R.C. Sproul, Carl F. Henry so many more would make it possible for us to proclaim the Gospel, fellowship across denominational lines, affirm the inerrancy and sufficiency of scripture, and hold institutions. And it was primarily because of this. This Crusade became the starting point for a movement that took out unloving and unscriptural practices within Fundamentalism and made orthodoxy (right belief) have orthopraxy (right practice). For now on the dominate scene in American Christianity would be led by people, many Reformed, who held to the fundamentals with love and right practice.

That is our model today. In a landscape torn by partisan political belief and culture war, our callings aren’t to take sides but to share the true hope of The Gospel with true practice. Especially in New York City