Graham mission a first for Ottawa
The
first city-wide mission in 92 years unites
French and English, Protestant and Catholic.
By
Debra Fieguth
ChristianWeek staff
OTTAWA–A full-page ad in The Ottawa Citizen the week Billy Graham came to town sums up what the four-day mission to the National Capital Region was really all about: "He’s in Ottawa to address our deficit."
The clever ad wasn’t referring to the national debt, of course. Graham’s purpose was to speak to the spiritual needs of the million people who inhabit an area that straddles two provinces, includes speakers of both official languages and considers itself a self-sufficient government community with little need for faith.
"Ottawa represents the soul of Canada," Graham said, referring to the city’s political influence, its media and its reputation as "Silicon North" because of the computer and telecommunications companies based there.
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"Canadian leaders have
told me that loneliness, discontent and
difficulty are serious problems which have caused
many to lose hope," Graham said in a written
statement at a press conference before the
mission began. "Underneath the country’s natural beauty, there are profound challenges as you struggle with your own identity and future. In many ways, it appears that Ottawa suffers from being a house divided. The Ottawa River running through your city divides cultures, languages and religions." But Graham added that he preferred to focus on unity rather than division. |
| Classic
Graham–His style has slowed and
softened, but the world’s most famous evangelist still preaches the same message of salvation. At the left is mission chair Allen Churchill; at the right, tenor Ben Heppner. |
Long time coming
The June 25-28 mission was a long time coming. The last time Ottawa had hosted a co-operative, city-wide crusade was in 1906, with Chicago evangelist R.A. Torrey. Graham first preached at a rally in Ottawa in 1949, when he worked for the fledgling Youth For Christ. Six years later, he held an outdoor rally at Lansdowne Park. The same year, 1955, he held his first major Canadian crusade, spending five weeks in Toronto. And in 1965, he spoke at a Council of Churches meeting in Ottawa.
In between he has held a dozen major crusades in Canada, from Vancouver to Halifax, but never in Ottawa.
The church community was just never able to muster enough cooperation within its ranks, explains mission chair Allen Churchill, minister of Dominion Chalmers United Church. (Graham won’t hold a mission in any city unless he is assured of church-wide support.)
That changed only within the last two years, and the resulting participation from 470 churches in 42 denominations is something Churchill refers to as a miracle. "For years, 25 to 30 years, people had been praying for something like this," he says. While he can’t pinpoint what changed, he says that somewhere along the line, "we discovered that God had pulled the blinkers off our eyes."
Archbishop endorsed it
And although suspicion still exists between French and English, Catholics and Protestants, those barriers are being broken down, says Richard LaPointe, mission co-chair who is pastor of Eglise Omega, a French-speaking Pentecostal church.
Almost 400 people from 50 French churches participated in the preparatory Christian Life and Witness classes, says LaPointe. It’s difficult to get a handle on francophone involvement, because many French speakers are bilingual and attend English churches.
"However, during the mission we ran out of headphones a number of times because we underestimated the numbers," says LaPointe. French was one of eight languages Graham’s sermons were translated into.
Roman Catholic Archbishop Marcel Gervais endorsed the mission, explaining in a pastoral letter that his reasons were "based on the traditions of the Roman Catholic Church, the spirit of Vatican II and the teachings of Pope John Paul II." In the early 1960s, the council of Vatican II concluded, among other things, that the Catholic church should seek increased dialogue with other Christian denominations. Gervais also pointed out that he chose the theme of evangelization when he became a bishop.
Graham said he was grateful for Gervais’s support, which resulted in a higher participation from the Roman Catholic church than anywhere else in Canada. With 60 participating churches–most of them English-speaking–the Catholics "led the pack" of denominations, says Churchill.
That support also kept many French Protestant pastors away, says LaPointe. "The problem is with Billy Graham’s ecumenical stand." Some pastors refused to be involved in an event that might direct seekers back to the Catholic church.
For their part, some French Catholics would be reluctant to get involved because they see Protestants as the enemy, LaPointe adds. "Still, in Quebec, we’re considered a cult."
But LaPointe is optimistic that things are changing. "I’m sure there will be some effects from [the mission]," he says.
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| Lifting their voices–Two young brothers sing enthusiastically with 20,000 others during the opening night service. |
With four evening meetings–one of them actually a concert directed at youth–the Corel Centre in Kanata, just west of Ottawa, pulled in a total of 106,000 people. A couple of thousand each night were out on the parking lot, watching the proceedings on a JumboTron.
Message hasn't changed
Although the world’s most famous evangelist has always made an effort to gear his missions to the times, using popular musicians and including a youth emphasis, his basic message hasn’t changed. "We’re going to see what the Bible has to say about the problems in our lives, our families and the world," he announced at the beginning of his opening sermon.
Quoting from the King James Version of the Bible, Graham explained the basics of the gospel story of salvation. Judging by the response–his statements were frequently met with applause–he was speaking to a largely Christian audience.
But each night, when he called people forward to repent and accept Christ, they came, some crying, some smiling, some appearing nervous or self-conscious, others oblivious to their surroundings. One woman, blind and in a wheelchair, sang "Just As I Am" along with the choir as she was pushed forward. A little boy, about eight years old, stayed in his seat and held his mother’s hand while he prayed out loud with Graham to invite Jesus into his heart.
Two sisters, neither of whom realized the other was attending the crusade, found themselves face to face one night during the invitation. One had volunteered as a counsellor, while the other, who was involved in native spirituality, had come to reconcile a void in her life. The Christian sister had the opportunity to counsel her sister and lead her in a prayer to accept Christ.
Between 1,500 and 2,000 people filled out inquiry cards each night, some to accept Christ for the first time, some to rededicate their lives and others to find out more.
Graham’s next scheduled mission is for Tampa, Florida, at the end of October, just a few weeks before his 80th birthday. For him it will be a home-coming of sorts. The farm boy from North Carolina went to Bible school near Tampa in 1937, and that is where he preached his first street-corner sermons.
