Billy Graham - Interactive guide to the Greater New York Crusade

Posted June 25, 11 p.m. ET

In final sermon, Graham to ask 'Is the world coming to an end?'

By GARY STERN, The (Westchester, N.Y.) Journal News

NEW YORK - Billy Graham is the star of the show, but his main supporting cast is made up of a few thousand volunteers who carry copies of the Gospel of John and hope to be able to answer potentially life-changing questions from brand-new Christians.

They are known as counselors, which is a pretty bland label for those who play a pivotal role at every Graham crusade. They are expected to attend to the spiritual needs of people in the audience who respond to Graham's invitation to make a commitment to Christ.

"Billy Graham does most of the work, but counseling is where we get to explain the Gospel personally," said Benjamin Kellum, 45, of West Haverstraw, N.Y., who came to last night's crusade with two busloads of believers from New City Gospel Fellowship. "It's an exhilarating thing, thrilling to be bringing someone into faith with Christ. You're part of that person's salvation, their passing from death to life. It's a miracle going on here."

At what may be Graham's final crusade, ending today at Flushing Meadows Corona Park in Queens, volunteer counselors are playing the same role for Graham that they have for decades. At the conclusion of Graham's sermons last night and Friday night, they waited in front of the great stage here and at stations across the park for people to come forward with questions about living a Christian life. Those answering Graham's call are known as "inquirers."

When many hundreds were able to wind their way through the crowd last night and reach the stage area - people of all ages and ethnicities - Graham led them in prayer.

"Oh God, I'm a sinner," they said, along with the evangelist. "I'm sorry for my sin. I'm willing to turn from my sin. I want to receive Jesus as my saviour. I want to confess him as lord. From tonight on, I want to follow him and serve him in the fellowship of his church."

Then the counselors took over. Counseling is done one-on-one, and the crusade attempts to quickly match counselors with people of the same gender and approximately the same age, not to mention those who speak the same language. It is a well-coordinated and impressive process, creating order out of chaos, that the Graham team has perfected over many years.

Each counseling session is supposed to be confidential, meaning that teams try to find some space to talk in private for several minutes.

"Some people are looking for assurance of salvation, so you have to ask them why they're not sure they are saved," said Kellum, who worked as a counseling supervisor last night, matching inquirers with counselors at a hurried pace. "For others, it's the first time they're looking at the concept of accepting Jesus as their lord and savior."

Christian entertainment was the heart of the second day of the crusade, attended by about 80,000 people. Bibleman, a Christian superhero, led a low-key battle against evil during an afternoon program for kids. Later, a concert featured Christian musical acts Tree63, Nicole Mullen and the hard-rocking Jars of Clay, a band of some notoriety in the secular world that is active in the fight against AIDS in Africa.

During each act, thousands waved their arms heavenward and sang along with the songs. When Mullen, who raps praise songs over heavy hip-hop beats, called "Can I get a witness?" over and over, the crowd was only too happy to oblige. Jars of Clay pounded out anthems like "God Will Lift Up Your Head" and "Nothing But the Blood."

The crusade, almost certainly Graham's last in America and perhaps the last of his life, concludes Sunday from 3:30 to 6 p.m. Graham said his final sermon will ask "Is the world coming to an end?"

Graham preached for hardly 20 minutes, but sounded more relaxed than the night before. He quoted Madonna, mentioned the new Star Wars movie and even preached the opening lines of The Rolling Stones' "Satisfaction," referring to spiritual longing rather than sexual. Young people in particular, he said, need to find meaning in their lives.

"We're all under the sentence of death," Graham said. "We're all going to die. We all need to be ready to meet God."

Bill and Hillary Clinton sat by Graham as he spoke. Graham said he once advised President Clinton to become an evangelist, words that must have sent shivers through Graham's Republican loyalists.

"He has all the gifts," Graham said. "And he can leave his wife to run the country."

Mayor Michael Bloomberg last night thanked communities of faith for serving the needy and recalled the assistance that many provided in the days after 9/11.

"New Yorkers share an appreciation for the power of faith," he said. "After all, our city was built by people who came here to worship freely."

The main counselors in the crowd were trained at five-session "Christian Life and Witness" classes offered at churches across the region last month.

"I feel like I don't have what it takes," said Josefina Almonte-Filpo, a counselor from Ridgefield Park, N.J., who was extremely nervous as Graham's altar call was nearing. "But I have to remember that the Holy Spirit does the work through me. When people come up, I just have to love them."

The process does not end after the crusade. People who make commitments to Jesus this weekend will be contacted in the weeks ahead, both by their counselor and a church pastor. Every effort is made to keep the person on the Christian path.

Counselors like to say that Jesus called on Christians to make disciples, not just converts.

"The Billy Graham team is the best in the world at this, at the counseling," said Nick Hall, 23,of Fargo, N.D., who is here with a young evangelist network organized by Graham. "I've worked with other big ministries, and this is what sets Graham apart: getting to every person, listening, collecting information and connecting them with a local church."

But Kimberly Schwarzentraub, a counselor from Peoria, Ill., described the opportunity to meet with newly committed Christians in a less formal way.

"You want to throw a party with them," she said. "You want to celebrate."