BILLY GRAHAM CRUSADE

Press, Volume XCVIII, Issue 28894, 14 May 1959, Page 7

BILLY GRAHAM CRUSADE

Discussion By Presbytery As a parish minister he was very concerned at the failure of the Billy Graham campaign committee to notify parish ministers of an after-campaign meeting to which inquirers were invited, said the Moderator of the Presbytery of Christchurch (the Rev. K. L. Warren) at the monthly meeting of the Presbytery yesterday. “I think it was a very bad mistake and a gross discourtesy,” he said. Mr Warren was speaking after the Presbytery had adopted a report from its representatives on the executive committee of the campaign in Christchurch, the Rev. A. W. Baxter and the Rev. J. A. L. Carter. “This was a crusade within the framework of the Church and as such was different from other crusades,” said Mr Baxter. “It is something in which we were all involved. I believe the evangelists. were men of God, used by God. I believe they uplifted Christ in their presentation of the Gospel.” Mr Baxter spoke of the urgent need for evangelists. “There is a hunger for the Gospel,” he said. He recommended that the Presbytery give thanks for what the crusade had accomplished, that special attention should be paid to the follow-up work, and that heed should be taken of the need for evangelism. He felt that the members of the crusade team were not used to their maximum value, said Mr Carter. Better use could have been made of the Rev. J. Blinco and Dr. Paul Rees, he said. A motion that the life and WQrk committee should consider the need for evangelism was passed unanimously.