The Billy Graham Library and Billy Graham Training Center at the Cove

The thing that surprised me most at the Billy Graham Library was a video of Graham being interviewed by Woody Allen on the topic of premarital sex. It's difficult, nearly impossible, to imagine Ricky Gervais having a serious conversation with Tim Keller or Will Farrell with T.D. Jakes. But back in the day, Graham was regularly interviewed on news programs and talk shows.

Recently, in talking with a teenager who had never heard of Billy Graham. I assured the teen that in the next few years Billy Graham would die, and that his passing would be a huge news story because Graham was rivaled only by a few popes and Martin Luther King as the most influential religious figure of the last century. (Graham once said one of the greatest regrets of his life was not having King stand with him on a crusade platform. The men were friends, but both were afraid the controversy caused by appearing together would distract from their messages.)

The Billy Graham Library tells the story of the evangelist's life from his early days on the family dairy (apparently he grew up with talking cows*) to his days of meeting with Presidents. Graham first came to national prominence through his revival meetings in Los Angeles (the museum makes no mention of William Randolph Hearst's famous command to his papers to "Puff Graham.").

Graham appeared to millions of people through his more than half a century in ministry, and millions more saw his television appearances. His televised messages still reach many (we saw one of the call centers at the Cove which receives calls from viewers who have listened to one of Graham's televised crusade messages and, as a result, desire to know Jesus as their Lord and Savior.)

Graham's wife, Ruth, died in 2007, but his children, especially Anne and Franklin, carry on his ministry. We heard from volunteers and staff at the Cove that Billy Graham (at age 97) is losing his hearing and sight, but his mind is still sharp. He still continues the policy he began at the beginning of his ministry of never being alone with a woman other than his wife or daughters. Two nurses are always in attendance.

Since 1955, Graham has appeared on Gallup's list of most admired people 59 times, more than anyone else. Add us to the long list of admirers. 

The Billy Graham Library is in Charlotte, NC. It's open Monday through Saturday, 9:30-5:00

Billy Graham Training Center at the Cove is in Asheville, NC. It's a retreat center with a variety of classes and seminars available, mostly on weekends. Chatios Memorial Chapel, which also has historical information about Billy Graham's ministry, is open to visitors Monday through Friday from 9:00 - 5:00 (the last tour starts at 4:00 pm) with shorter hours on Saturdays. 

There is no charge to visit either place, although donations are accepted.

*At least that's the impression we got from Bessie here:

Just one church in the hills of North Carolina

It's not unusual for people to recommend we visit a church, and even if we can't make it there on Sunday, we do try to take a look. On our first morning in Franklin, NC, our new friend Patsy said we needed to see an Episcopal church outside town. So while we were doing various errands, we decided to take a little drive into the hills.

By the way, spring in the Appalachians is incredibly pretty.

After we'd spent a few minutes taking pictures (and Mindy walked the labyrinth), the rector and his wife came out of the office to see if we needed anything. Dean chatted with them and learned some of the story of St John's Cartoogechaye Episcopal Church. Among other things, some of the land had been given to a Cherokee, Chuttasohtee, so that he and his family wouldn't have to leave and live on a reservation. He (and his wife, who died the day after he did) are buried in the church graveyard, along with several former pastors and members of the congregation for the past 150 years or more.

In the summer, the church generally meets in their outdoor sanctuary. Once a deer walked through, and the cattle across the way occasionally make the sermon inaudible. We're sorry we won't be able to join them.

First Baptist Church Franklin, North Carolina

When she welcomes hikers at the breakfasts at First Baptist Church, Franklin, Patsy has a spiel she recites almost every morning. "You can come up for seconds, thirds, and fourths, we're not keeping track. If you leave here hungry it's your fault, not ours. Today's menu is bacon and pancakes, but if you're taking a zero day*, you're welcome to join us again, when the menu will be..." Returning guests join her in saying, "Pancakes and bacon."

The Appalachian National Scenic Trail (or A.T.) begins at Springer Mountain, Georgia, and goes on 2100 miles into Maine (almost everyone who plans to hike the whole route -- they're called thru-hikers -- goes south to north because that's how the weather works). Franklin, North Carolina, is about 110 miles along the trail, and an official stopping point for hikers. Years ago, a hiker came to First Baptist and asked for breakfast. In 2008, the church began officially serving breakfast for hikers, every day for several weeks at the height of the thru-hiker season.

We heard about the breakfast from a friend of ours who is a thru hiker this year. She told us that if we didn't have a church yet for North Carolina, we'd have to go to First Baptist in Franklin, so Mindy phoned the church and asked whether we could help serve breakfast while we were in town. The church secretary assured her that we would be welcome. When we arrived at church on Thursday morning (at 6:45, well before the sun was over the mountains), we found the kitchen full of workers cooking pancakes and bacon on several griddles.

The senior pastor, Dr. Robert Brown, invited me to ride along when he drove one of the two the church vans to pick up hikers. We drove to a local hostel, and a dozen people filled the seats. Robert asked where people were from; I remember hearing Virginia, Florida, and Pennsylvania. During the ride there were discussions of the joy of showers and the importance of good footwear.

We dropped everyone off and went to look for other hikers, but the other van had already gotten them, so we went back to the church. All the jobs were covered, so I got to the end of the food line. Three good sized pancakes were on my plate with a healthy serving of bacon. Besides butter and syrup, there were also a variety of other topping options (pumpkin butter, apple butter, and Mennonite raspberry jam among them). There's a random collection of cookies in zipper bags on the table, and hikers are happy to take them as a treat for later.

 

Hunger is a companion on the trail, so most breakfast guests make frequent returns for more. Though some vegetarians go through the line, most people are thrilled with the bacon. Bacon was dreamed of on the trail, and in the church kitchen those dreams come true. Some are thrilled by the orange juice ("No scurvy today!" someone said).

But the food isn't the only offering of the morning. Connie wanders from table to table taking pictures of guests with a digital camera. She prints them up while the hikers are eating, so it's almost like having a Polaroid taken. Pens, paper, and envelopes wait on the table for people to write home. You'd think that with cell phones, people wouldn't care anymore about mailing photos and notes home, but they do. And the church takes care of the postage, even if it's to New Zealand or the Netherlands or another part of North Carolina. Patsy tells hikers, "You've made it a hundred miles, and somebody wants to know that you're alive and getting a good meal," so most hikers write a letter and enclose the picture. We even heard that a hiker proposed by means of a breakfast photo in a letter from First Baptist.

Posters on the walls offer the opportunity to sign as proof that they've been through and to look up others who've gone before (Usually they sign their trail names; almost everyone has an alias.) Every poster is headed "Class of" whatever year it was, and both last year and this year had to have an extra sheet of paper added.

After a half hour or so, Pastor Robert gets the attention of everyone and says, "I'm going to talk for two minutes You can time me.” He tells a story about running a race and reads verses from Hebrews 12: 1 & 2 about running the good race and fixing our eyes on Jesus. And he was done in less than two minutes. Robert has just a few of these short talks that he puts into rotation for the month or so that breakfast is served. We were around for only four mornings (and one of those mornings, Jack Jarrett, the associate pastor, spoke), so we didn't hear a repeat.

I asked Robert about the people who walk the trail, especially the people who walk the full trail which takes about five months. He said that many hikers are going through transitions in their lives: divorce, loss, even retirement. During our first breakfast, about two and a half weeks into this year's season, Patsy announced that they'd reached 500 guests. Our fourth and final morning, they'd served almost 700 meals. Something else special happened that morning. The church was given acknowledged for their work in promoting Franklin as an A.T. community (along with a check to "buy more bacon").

Often I heard hikers thanking the servers. "You're angels," said one man. One woman thanked Patsy for the work the church did, but Patsy replied, "We as a church get much more than we give to you. The work of the breakfasts brings us together in the church as a community."

The church has, of course, other outreach ministries besides the breakfast. They have Good News Clubs that bring Biblical teaching to local elementary schools. We helped serve at a Saturday Community Lunch that provides a good meal for those in need, along with a free store offering clothes and toiletries. In a few weeks the church will be sending a work team to serve in Honduras.

And the Wednesday Bible study, Sunday School, and worship service we attended clearly presented the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Just the church does all it can to see that hikers don't leave the breakfast hungry; the church works to see that no one in the congregation will suffer spiritual hunger.

*A "zero day" is when a hiker takes a day off hiking.

Statistics

Service Length: 1 hour 8 minutes

Sermon Length: 23 minutes

Visitor Treatment: Ushers at all possibly entrances to the sanctuary handed out bulletins; each bulletin had a tear-out sheet for visitor information, prayer requests, and requests for further information. There was a greeting time near the beginning of the worship service, and several people we'd met during the week came to say hello to us. Strangers also said hello during the greeting time.

Followup by Tuesday Morning: none

Our Rough Count: 98

Probable Ushers' Count: 145

Snacks: none, although Sunday School classes tend to have coffee, tea, and snacks

Musicians: piano (man), organ (man), choir (4 men, 9 women), and director (man)

Songs: "Come, Holy Ghost" (organ prelude)

"How Great Thou Art" (choir call to worship with congregation quietly joining in)

"Majesty"

"There is Power in the Blood"

"Love Lifted me"

"Rise and Shine" (children's march when children came for their story)

"Speak to my Heart"

"Jesus Shall Reign" (organ postlude)

Miles to church: 2.5

Miles from start: 11,274

Total 2016 Miles: 11,019

Church website: fbcfranklin.org

6 things you need to do in North Carolina

1. Visit a cemetary next to or behind a church (Baptist churches are everywhere in the state). Though North Carolina was (perhaps) the last Confederate State to declare secession from the Union, the state suffered huge losses during the Civil War. Of the 125,000 men who served in the military during the conflict, 20,000 were killed in battle and 21,000 died of disease.

2. When you go to Charlotte, stop by the Billy Graham Library, especially in the spring. It's beautiful, interesting, and surprisingly well done, especially after the cow stops singing.

3. Taste-test pork barbecue. If you don't eat meat, compare slaw. There are at least two styles of each, and every restaurant has their own recipe. So do most households.

4. Try to see the state bird, the cardinal, on a blooming dogwood tree (it's the state flower).

5. If you see Pilot Mountain, go a few miles north to the town of Mayberry... or rather, Mount Airy. Take a tour of the town in a squad car, or have a sandwich at Leon's. A few miles west of town, visit Scoops Ice Cream and wander through the sculpture garden.

6. Drive through Smoky Mountain National Park and take a walk in the woods. It's free, but watch out for bears.

Phil Vischer at Montreat College in North Carolina

When the line, "And now it's time for 'Silly Songs with Larry,'" was spoken, the students at Montreat College erupted with cheers. Sure, they had laughed and clapped hearing Phil Vischer speak in the voice of Bob the Tomato, Archibald Asparagus, and Pa Grape, but it was the reminder of the songs about hairbrushes, water buffalos, and dancing cucumbers that really got them going. Some of them started singing these songs shortly after they stopped wearing Pampers. Sure, they're simple songs, but as Vischer said, "Simple songs are sticky songs..

Mindy and I were passing through North Carolina when we noticed a tweet announcing that the creator of Veggie Tales was speaking nearby. We were excited to have the opportunity to hear him at a chapel address that was open to the public. The chapel where Vischer spoke has a certain historical significance: among other things, it's where Billy and Ruth Graham were married.

We're longtime fans of Vischer's work. Veggie Tales were among the few Christian kids' entertainments (along with Jungle Jam) that didn't drive us to smash the tape deck or VCR with heavy objects. As a youth pastor, I found I could use Veggie Tales for the edification and amusement of junior high and high school students, and as a writer of children's fiction (the Bill the Warthog series), I've learned much from his work.

Vischer spoke passionately about the need for students to pursue the arts for God's glory, even if it didn't lead to financial gain. Plenty of waiters in New York are there to be actors, waitresses in Nashville are there to be songwriters and valets in Hollywood arethere to be film directors. Christians need to have that same passion for their craft rather than giving up when they don't become successful immediately.

Vischer acknowledged that the Church is God's fundamental instrument for God's work in the world, but he sees himself as an equipper of the Church ("like a pew manufacturer"). He said, "Like Liam Neeson, I have a special set of skills; I'm a computer animator," and he wants to use his skills for God's Kingdom. For instance, a number of churches are using his "What's in the Bible?" series for Sunday School classes.

When Vischer speaks, he is very honest about his personal, professional, and spiritual struggles. That testimony of God's work in his life contributes to the Kingdom as powerfully as his cartoons and his podcasts. Nothing silly about that at all.

6 (somewhat) surprising facts about South Carolina

 Don't tell anybody, but instead of staying completely in one state this week, we've been on the border between North and South Carolina, going back and forth multiple times a day. We'll officially cross into North Carolina this afternoon, so for now, let's pretend we've been in South Carolina every minute of the past week.

1. The state foods are peach, collard greens, and boiled peanuts.*

2. Lake Wylie, a 13,400 acre man-made reservoir, is the state's 8th largest lake**

3. The first European settlement (it was led by a Spaniard, Lucas Vazquez de Ayllon) on the North American continent may have been in what's now South Carolina, founded in the fall of 1526.*** The community was abandoned after about three months due to illness and harsh winter weather. However, the settlement lasted long enough to hold the first Catholic mass on North American soil; two Dominican friars were among the settlers.

4. When the English colonized what's now South Carolina, the Low Country in the southern part of the state had very fertile soil and good harbors. Religious tolerance was another factor in the prosperity of the area. The colony was named in honor of King Charles I of Great Britain****

5. In 1776, South Carolina became a republic and elected a president. In 1778, South Carolina was the first to sign the Articles of Confederation, making it a part of what would become the United States. At the time, slaves were vital to the economy (and had made up half the population since at least 1708), which was dependent upon indigo and rice farming. The state was also the first to vote to secede from the Union in 1860.

6. The American Revolution was an opportunity for slaves to obtain freedom by running away to the British. An estimated 30% of slaves in South Carolina (about 25,000 people) fled, migrated, or died during those years. As a result of the Great Migration, in which many black Americans headed north in search of jobs and opportunities denied them in the South, the state had a white majority in 1930 for the first time since 1708.

*we did not eat any of these foods while in South Carolina. Oops.

**the border with North Carolina pretty much bisects the lake. I didn't look up how much of the total acreage is actually in South Carolina.

***then again, it might have been in Georgia, or near the Chesapeake Bay. Scholars differ, and the settlement's founder didn't leave clear notes. He died there, though, as did about half of the 600 settlers.

****Carolus is Latin for Charles. And if you know your English history, you realize that this is the king who was beheaded during the English Civil War.