Crusader in the Capital

"God is going to speak to the people of Washington ... He will awaken them spiritually in a way that will affect the whole wide world . . . All of these exposures have brought home the need for a spiritual awakening . . . If we had come earlier, it might not have been the time. Now, I am convinced, is the time."

With these words Evangelist Billy Graham moved in on Washington, D.C. for the first time in his career, to hold a five-week "crusade" of revival meetings. As a concession to Washington's conservative tastes, Preacher Billy toned down his tailoring, took the pulpit at the National Guard Armory last week wearing a sober blue double-breasted suit. But he gave Washington the same high-tension preaching show that has rocked auditoriums in the West and South.

On the first day of the crusade, a Sunday, Evangelist Graham drew a crowd of more than 10,000. "The Bible says we're all sinners," Billy told them. "That's the reason you have cheating among the finest boys of America at West Point. That's the reason you have irregularities in high places. It's because we're all sinners." Before the meeting was over, 205 Washingtonians walked up the aisle to answer Billy's call. It was the largest number of converts for an opening day in Billy's history.

After his big first-day turnout, Evangelist Graham drew a mild reminder about Washington's fire laws, which limit the armory's capacity to 5,310. (Said Billy: "Personally, I know that religious audiences of this kind don't smoke.") For the rest of the week, however, Washingtonians kept their attendance down to 5,000 or 6,000 a night--a steady response, but not yet comparable to last year's 13,000 a night in Seattle.

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