North Carolina’s “Favorite Son,” spiritual advisor to 13 U.S. presidents and arguably the most well-known evangelist in the world was celebrated recently as a statue of the late Rev. Billy Graham was unveiled in the United States Capitol.
“This is a great honor, and my father would be humbled and grateful,” Franklin Graham, CEO of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, told lawmakers and family members at the private ceremony which was live-streamed. “At the same time, he would not want the attention on himself but on God’s Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.”
Each state is allowed statues of two deceased figures of “historic renown” in the Capitol display. Graham, depicted as he looked in the 1960s, preaching and holding a Bible in one hand, replaced a statue of Charles Aycock, a Democrat who became North Carolina governor in 1901. The move to replace Aycock began in 2012, after U.S. Rep. Patrick McHenry, a Republican from Lincoln County, became aware of Aycock’s role as a white supremacist.
A year later, the state Legislature voted unanimously for Graham as North Carolina’s Favorite Son, and in 2015 lawmakers commissioned a statue of the evangelist. On the same day, the N.C. House voted to petition the U.S. Postal Service for a Billy Graham stamp.
“There have been many great North Carolinians, but few have impacted the world more than Billy Graham,” then Gov. Pat McCrory said at the time.
Gov. Roy Cooper said Graham was known as “a minister to millions, a pastor to presidents, a selfless man of God who lived out his calling by preaching and teaching across the world.” He emphasized Graham’s humility and his ability to bring together people of different ideologies.
He “did not bludgeon nor deify political leaders,” Cooper said, but treated everyone with dignity and respect.
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson called Graham one of America’s greatest citizens, saying that the evangelist “prayed and served endlessly for what our nation could become again, that shining city on a hill.” And Sen. Ted Budd called attention to the scripture at the base of the Graham statue: John 3:16 and John 14:6, urging the audience not to forget the Bible that Graham preached and the message of salvation.
“The legacy of Rev. Billy Graham is based on his simple message of forgiveness based on John 3:16. His lifelong commitment to preaching the Gospel, his fight for civil rights, his opposition to communism, and his spiritual guidance provided hope to hundreds of millions,” said Sen. Budd.
Rev. Mark Creech, executive director of the Christian Action League, called Graham “one of the most important figures, not only in our time, but in the history of the church.”
He said that it is providential that at a time when race is a central issue again in America, when statues of those associated with slavery and racism are being pulled down, a statue is being erected of a man who represented by his life and message the true solution for the problem.
“When our identities merge in Christ, our immutable differences are seen for the glory that they are. Our differences are strengths whereby we complement each other and lift all of humanity together,” Creech said.
The statue of Graham was designed by Charlotte artist Chas Fagan and was cast in bronze by Carolina Bronze Sculpture in Seagrove. A Rowan County quarry provided Salisbury granite for the base, across which is written “Preacher of the Gospel of Jesus Christ” along with the two Bible verses.
“We need that kind of witness in Washington to remind us that this great nation was built upon the Gospel of Jesus Christ,” Creech said. He said Graham, who provided spiritual counsel to presidents since the days of Harry Truman, “repeatedly reminded us that liberty and its maintenance are profound spiritual matters.”