Evangelist Billy Graham, 85 years old and recovering from surgery, is planning what is likely his final crusade in New York City, his representatives said Thursday.
Graham is scheduled to preach for four days next June in Madison Square Garden, reprising his 1957 appearance in the arena, which drew more than 2 million people and was extended from six to 16 weeks. Next year's crusade is tentatively scheduled for the weekend of June 24.
Tom Phillips, a top crusade organizer with the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, said it "will probably be the very last crusade in the New York area" for Graham. Asked if it could be Graham's last crusade ever, Phillips said: "It's very possible, but we don't know that."
"He just keeps going and going," Phillips said.
In the last few years, Graham has been treated for illnesses including Parkinson's disease and skin cancer. He had surgery this year for his hip and for a pelvic fracture after he fell. Cliff Barrows, the crusades' music director who has worked with Graham for five decades, said the preacher has "been in bed almost this entire year," however his physicians say he is recovering ahead of schedule.
Graham has said he will not retire. He is scheduled to appear at a crusade starting next Thursday in Kansas City, and at another in Los Angeles on Nov. 18-21. Phillips said a new pulpit has been designed for Graham with a movable seat hidden from view, so he can sit down while preaching if he feels tired.
"I feel better than I expected to at this point and I am thankful that God has strengthened me for continued ministry," Graham said, in a news release last week.
Graham has a long history in New York. Following the 1957 crusade in Madison Square Garden, he returned to the arena in 1969, then preached the following year in Shea Stadium. His last major gathering in the city was a one-day rally in 1991 in Central Park, which organizers said drew more than 250,000 people.
His 1957 outreach in Madison Square Garden is regarded as among his more memorable events. Graham has long wished to return, especially after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, his representatives said.
New York-area pastors who attended a crusade organizing meeting Thursday prayed for another "holy moment of history" next June.
"When we look at the spiritual life of the city since 9/11, there's been a maturing," Phillips said. "The heart of New York is showing itself."