By Annette Cole Mastron, Communications Director for
Southern Writers Magazine
Last
week, I learned with the world of the earthly death of Reverend Billy Graham.
He was from humble beginnings and rose through his tent-revival style ministry.
His voice, mannerisms, and delivery of his non-denominational sermons led
hundreds of thousands to Christ. He was a sought after advisor and counselor to
heads of states, Presidents and yes, the Queen of England. As one image on
Facebook shared by singer, Toby Mac, quoting Billy Graham, “My
Home is in Heaven, I’m just traveling through this world.” Travel, he did.
My
mother introduced me to Billy Graham as a child. Anytime his sermons were
televised, we sat and watched. She had all the books written by Billy Graham
and his wife, Ruth. She traveled to Graham's The Cove with
a church group and met him. That was the thing about Billy Graham, he was
comfortable meeting with people from all walks of life, from “wide spots in the
road” to Presidents and Queens.
In
December, the Billy Graham Evangelical Association posted about Graham’s
friendship with Queen Elizabeth. It stated, "Whenever he came to
England [the Queen] would invite him to preach, and often when she came to
America—the Queen would come to America more often than people realize, on
private visits to see the race horses in Kentucky—and she would often visit
with Billy Graham because they had the same fundamental Christian faith. No one
in Britain has been more cordial toward us than Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth
II. “Almost every occasion I have been with her has been in a warm,
informal setting, such as a luncheon or dinner, either alone or with a few
family members or other close friends. Her official position has prevented
her from openly endorsing our crusade meetings. But by welcoming us and having
me preach on several occasions to the royal family at Windsor and Sandringham,
she has gone out of her way to be quietly supportive of our mission.”
The Crown is a well written and acted Netflix, exclusive
show that is historically inspired by Queen Elizabeth’s rise and reign but
dramatizes events for effect with crisp, compelling dialogue woven with
intertwining events. In Season 2 Episode 6: Vergangenheit (Germany for "period of time
that has already happened") finds the Queen watching on a black and white tv, a young Reverend Billy
Graham preach to a packed stadium in London. His first crusade in London far
surpassed their expectations. The show depicts Graham’s firey preaching
style piquing the queen’s attention. The Queen insists for a private meeting
with him at the palace. The Queen, after all, serves not just as head of
state but head of the Church of England, the “mother church” of Anglicanism
worldwide. So meeting with a “crusading evangelist” was somewhat tricky.
In this episode the Queen tells Graham at their meeting
following a sermon for the royal family at Windsor Castle, “You do
speak with such wonderful clarity and certainty.” Queen Elizabeth, says
that she felt “a great joy” to be “a simple congregant, being taught, being led
… to be able to just disappear and be…“ “A simple Christian,” says Graham.
“Yes,” Queen Elizabeth says. “Above all things, I do think of myself as just a
simple Christian.” Thus, a friendship began between the Queen of England and Billy
Graham. Did this exact conversation take place? Who knows? But the television
writers have my total attention throughout this series and especially this
episode. It’s not uncommon for me to stop the show and Google to see if
something happened this way.
It is clear that Billy Graham and Queen Elizabeth were
friends but like with your own close friends, you guard their confidences.
Having met in 1955, theirs was a friendship that lasted half a century.
Billy Graham, an author of numerous books wrote in his autobiography, Just As I Am, “Good manners do not permit one to discuss the details of a private
visit with Her Majesty, but I can say that I judge her to be a woman of rare
modesty and character.”
Do you have a Billy Graham story?
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