Some of those who were there 60 years ago recall Billy Graham’s Modesto crusade

It's been 60 years this month since Billy Graham came to town. He was in Modesto at the invitation of Ben Jennings, director of Youth for Christ.

Graham was just beginning to make a name for himself in YFC circles. He would have his first hit on the national scene a few months later when he took his crusade to Los Angeles. A three-week stop there with moderate crowds stretched to eight weeks with standing room only.

But first, the young evangelist accepted an invitation to Modesto.

"Normally, we met in the old Winter Garden Auditorium at 10th and L streets," said Jennings. "We would have an average of 300 or so. We were always looking around for top-flight speakers and (Graham) became well-known in our circles as the traveling evangelist."

About 26,250 people attended the evening meetings over a two-week period, according to a newspaper report. That's when the population of Modesto was about 18,000.

Jennings first met Graham at that crusade.

"There was something unusual about Billy," he said. "He was very friendly, very outgoing. Almost all the speakers I hosted were very edgy — 'Is everything set up right?' 'How many people are going to be here?' But with Billy, it wasn't like that. He built up the self-confidence and sense of significance with those who worked with him.

"Another big impression is he put all of his heart into whatever he was doing. We had him on KTRB a number of times. It was the main radio station in Modesto. He would preach into that microphone just like he was preaching to a crowd. It was great to work with him."

Jennings may be a bit prejudiced. The year before Graham came, Jennings married the former Mary Jean Barrows, sister of the evangelist's longtime song leader, Cliff Barrows.

The Barrows family grew up in the Ceres area. "My father was a farmer. We lived out on Service Road right next to Faith Home," said Barrows, 85, in an interview from his home in North Carolina. "We had to work. That was part of our ethic of living.

"My grandfather was one of the first to settle in that area. When irrigation came in, they planted crops and vineyards. We grew every kind of fruit you could imagine. That was very fertile land. Of course, I had to work on the farm during the summer when harvest time came. I thought back then that I had to work too much, but I didn't really. I'm thankful for the discipline of it and what I learned from it."

Barrows met Graham while on his honeymoon.

"I met him in 1945, the year that my late wife, Billie, and I were married. We had gone to South Carolina for our honeymoon and were staying in the home of a friend. He said there was a youth rally going on nearby and asked if we wanted to go hear a young man preach. We said yes.

"When we pulled up on the grounds, Mr. Graham was standing outside. His host said, 'We've got a problem. It's time for the service to begin, but we don't have anyone to lead the worship.' My friend pointed to us and said, 'She plays the piano and he leads worship. You'll be happy to help, won't you?' That was the beginning of a wonderful relationship that has lasted for more than 62 years."

Barrows said he very much remembers the 1948 Modesto crusade.

A large tent, rented from a Southern California firm, was erected at La Loma and Burney. The "Canvas Cathedral" was filled "with (wood) shavings on the floor and a choir I enjoyed leading very much," Barrows said.

His sister, Mary Jean Jennings, remembers her family hosting Graham's team and others in 1948, as well as in 1958 when Graham spoke at Turlock's 50th anniversary celebration and at other times when the team was in the area. Some, such as Graham's soloist George Beverly Shea and his family, would stay at the Barrows home. Others, such as Graham, would stay elsewhere but drove to the farm for meals.

"I can remember when we went to a restaurant for my birthday during the 1948 crusade," she said. "(Graham) gave me a cute little ceramic Bambi that I cherished for a long time. When we were with him, I was impressed with his dignity and his honesty. He didn't try to impress anyone."

Golf and manifesto

Barrows also remembers some fun times during that 1948 rally. "I bought my first set of golf clubs there. Billy and I played our first game (of golf) there in Modesto," he said.

And there was a more serious side to the visit.

"In Modesto, we as a team — Bev Shea, Grady Wilson, a lifelong friend of Billy's and the associate evangelist, Billy and I — would meet. Billy said, 'Men, there have been pitfalls for evangelists through the years. Let's pray that God would keep us from them.

"There were four things we came up with: Integrity — to be faithful to our calling; accountability — to the committees that invited us, to our wives and to the work we had been called to; purity of life — we determined never to be alone in a room or a car with someone of the opposite sex; and humility — preferring others before ourselves, knowing God gives grace to the humble.

"When we finished talking about them and had prayed over each one, we called it our Modesto Manifesto. That's been our guiding theme over all the years."

Jerry Jenkins, co-author of Graham's best-selling book, "Just As I Am," said from his Colorado home that he believes the evangelist's simple message and humility — the same from his early days to now — is what makes Graham so popular.

"While, yes, the media flurry is worse today than ever and we all suffer from sensory overload, it has really long been this way. Even in the 1950s, we were bombarded daily with advertisements and news and entertainment," Jenkins said. "In the midst of that cacophony came this clear, powerful, authoritative — yet somehow humble — voice, declaring the simple Gospel.

"He preached to come as you are, that you could not do anything to earn your salvation, that it was a gift paid for by Christ on the cross and that all you have to do is accept it by faith."

Barrows believes there are three things that impress him the most about Graham: "Simplicity, his sincerity and the sovereignty of God upon his life. He wasn't for fancy things. If he had a choice between a steakhouse and the Golden Arches, he would take the Golden Arches every time.

"He was a very sincere man. What you saw was what you got. He spoke with conviction. And he took his calling very seriously as a direct calling from God. He was always conscious that God himself deserved all the glory and all the honor. He cautioned us through the years to never touch the glory."

Graham's legacy

Jennings agreed that Graham's message has remained the same over the years and across the globe, regardless of the audience. And he sees a large legacy from the man on this country and around the world.

"I think he's made Jesus Christ a foremost figure in public thinking," Jennings said. "He helped start this strong magazine called Christianity Today. He launched Billy Graham films; they were great films. He started up schools of evangelism in the United States and also overseas. I was part of the first ones he had in Amsterdam. There were 4,000 people there. Of course, he started the beautiful Cove Conference Center. Presidents called on him for counsel.

"One of his biggest legacies could be that there are thousands of pastors who are active today because they found the Lord through Billy. Many went out as missionaries. There's not a congregation of them, they just infiltrated society."

Graham's impact has been so great and yet so underestimated, said Jenkins, that it "will come as a surprise to many in the media when it comes to light — likely, sadly, only at his funeral.

"I predict that when he does pass, so many who have been impacted by his ministry will come out of the woodwork to commemorate him that the press will be blown away. I believe the intention of the family is not to make a big deal of his funeral, but if his body were lain in state somewhere, it wouldn't surprise me if the public turned out the way it did for John F. Kennedy or Ronald Reagan."

That's a testimony that no doubt would leave Graham, who is in fragile health, shaking his head and pointing instead to the heavens, reminding people to look to God instead.

Barrows believes Graham's greatest legacy is "the clarity of the proclamation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ without compromise. He's preached to millions of people. We've been in 185 countries with 419 crusades before 215 million people face-to-face. We've seen nearly 3 million of those come to Christ.

"It's been a great privilege of mine and a great joy to be identified with a group of men who were used by God."

To learn more about Billy Graham and the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, visit www.billygraham.org.

Bee staff writer Sue Nowicki can be reached at 578-2012 or snowicki@modbee.com.

This story was originally published October 30, 2008 at 4:24 PM with the headline "Some of those who were there 60 years ago recall Billy Graham’s Modesto crusade."