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Tennessee Franklin Graham Festival draws 45,000 people

Franklin Graham In the basketball arena at University of Tennessee, a weekend crowd of more than 45,000 enthusiastically participated in an event that had nothing to with basketball, reports Jeremy Reynalds, correspondent for ASSIST News Service.

According to a news release, while the mood was cheerful, the message was serious.

“We live in the South where it's culturally accepted to go to church, and many people go to church believing that they're saved, they’re forgiven, and they're going to go to heaven. But for many there's something missing because they don't have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ,” said Franklin Graham, speaking in a news release.

Graham is president and CEO of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and international Christian relief organization Samaritan's Purse.

Graham added, “The choice you make tonight is going to decide where you spend eternity.”

Knoxville's Mayor Bill Haslam welcomed the Festival, which was held April 25-27 at Thompson-Boling Arena, as a way to make a positive impact not only on individual lives, but on the whole community.

“If we're going to have the kind of city we want we can do that by creating businesses here and revitalizing downtown and all sorts of great things, but the main way to build the kind of city we want is to change hearts,” he told the Friday night opening audience.

According to the news release, during the three-day event, 1,207 people responded to Graham's invitation to make a commitment to Jesus Christ. On Saturday morning, 6,196 children and their parents attended the KidzFest program, where more than 183 children made a commitment to follow Jesus Christ.

The Graham event drew significant community support with thousands of volunteers and 478 churches joining together for the non-denominational effort, working in partnership with the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association.

In addition to nightly messages by Graham, the Festival also featured music by award-winning artists, including Toby Mac, Israel Houghton and New Breed, Group 1 Crew, Michael W. Smith, Austins Bridge, Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder, Phil Stacey, Tommy Coomes Band, Dennis Agajanian, and a 1,500-voice choir made up of volunteers from churches across the region.

[04/30/2008]

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