Wheaton College Graduate Billy Graham Turns 95 This Week

By John Devona

Billy Graham, who has preached to more people than perhaps any other human being, began his ministerial career shortly after graduating from nearby Wheaton College.

In 1943, he became pastor of the fledgling Village Church in Western Springs. At that time, the church was located in what is now the basement of today’s structure located at 4475 Wolf Road.

While the church did not have an impressive sanctuary as yet, it was home to a popular radio program entitled “Songs in the Night”. Broadcast every Sunday evening between 10:15 and 11 p.m. on station WCFL, the program featured live gospel music and was targeted to young people. It quickly expanded to 30 or more stations. See photo.

Graham preached on the program every Sunday and also persuaded George Beverly Shea, a popular Christian soloist, to join him. 

The program was only a few months old when Graham left it to become vice president of Youth for Christ. This organization had grown out of the many enthusiastic, unconventional Christian rallies that were being held all over the country in the mid-1940’s for returning servicemen and young people. 

As they say, the rest is history.  Graham began to hold evangelistic rallies across the country.  In 1949, he achieved national prominence when, at a rally in Los Angeles, he converted a local underworld figure and a prominent disc jockey, among others. Soon after, for reasons unknown, newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst ordered his papers to promote Graham’s rallies. A subsequent one-on-one meeting between Graham and Henry Luce also resulted in favorable stories in both of Luce’s national magazines, Life And Time.

After 1957, Graham usually held three to five crusades a year, while his other associates conducted many other ones in smaller cities. In 1962, Graham’s crusade held at Chicago’s Soldier Field drew 116,000 people. With his broad, universal appeal, it is no wonder that, over the years, Graham became a close spiritual advisor to virtually every U.S. President.

In 1980, Graham was honored with the dedication of the $13.5 million Billy Graham Center at nearby Wheaton College. See photo. The museum houses numerous items, including Graham’s grade school papers, classroom notes from his college days,  medals and keys to cities, gifts from presidents and heads of state, and video interviews that Billy Graham has given over the years.   

Or, if you prefer staying closer to home, visit our own Archives office located on the second floor of the Grand Avenue Community Center any Tuesday, 9 a.m. to Noon.  We have a collection of early documents relating to Billy Graham’s days at the Village Church.