Returning to Los Angeles, 62 Years Later
A Lot Has Changed Since "Canvas Cathedral" — But Not the Gospel
June 21, 2011 - From the 1949 Los Angeles Crusade to the Rose Bowl 55 years later, Billy Graham's ministry has had an impact on southern California. This weekend, the next chapter begins as the BGEA's first Spanish-speaking Festival in the U.S. will be held at The Home Depot Center on June 25 and 26.
On the corner of Washington and Hill streets south of downtown L.A., a "canvas cathedral" was erected for Mr. Graham's first campaign in the city — originally scheduled for three weeks and extended to eight.
Now, 62 years later, the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association returns to Los Angeles for a two-day Spanish-speaking festival, reaching out to the Hispanic population in L.A.
A lot has changed since the late 1940s, but unchanged is the Gospel of Jesus Christ and Franklin Graham will be proclaiming that Good News on June 25 and 26 at The Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif.
Here is a compilation of how Billy Graham's ministry has impacted the Los Angeles area throughout the years:
A Watershed Moment
In his autobiography, Billy Graham reflected on 1949 Los Angeles Crusade: "Until then it had not fully registered with me how far-reaching the impact of the Los Angeles Campaign had been. I would learn over the next few weeks that the phenomenon of that Los Angeles tent Campaign at Washington and Hill Streets would forever change the face of my ministry and my life."
Read the excerpt »
Into the Big Tent
To commemorate the 60th anniversary of Billy Graham’s 1949 evangelistic campaign in Los Angeles, the Billy Graham Center Archives at Wheaton College launched an online exhibit in 2009. "This exhibit will enlighten and engage the casual visitor, as well as the person who wants to study America in 1949 and the early days of Rev. Graham’s ministry," said archivist Bob Shuster.
Learn more »
Billy Graham Preaches at Rose Bowl 55 Years Later
Many have heard of the "Big Tent" at the corner of Washington and Hill streets in downtown Los Angeles, where Billy Graham held his historic 1949 Crusade. But fewer people know about the adjacent "Little Tent"—the prayer tent, where Christians poured out their hearts in prayer for the people of Los Angeles. Cliff Barrows, who has worked side by side with Billy Graham for 60 years, remembers well the prayer tent.
Read the "Decision" article »
A Passion for the Lost
Willie Jordan attended every meeting of the 1949 Los Angeles Billy Graham Crusade. The experience fired her passion for the lost, leading her to join the Fred Jordan Mission—where she and her husband, Fred, ran ministries that are still proclaiming the Gospel to society's outcasts.
Learn more »
Sharing the Good News with L.A.'s Spanish Speakers
Believers from more than 600 Hispanic churches throughout the Greater Los Angeles area are joining forces to proclaim the Gospel to their people with BGEA's first-ever American Hispanic Festival at the Home Depot Center in Los Angeles on June 25 and 26.
Learn more »
Live Webcast from Los Angeles
Go to BillyGraham.org/LA to watch a live webcast of Festival de Esperanza on June 25 at 10 p.m. ET (7 p.m. Pacific) and June 26 at 8 p.m. ET (5 p.m. Pacific).
PRIVACY
