Pastor Whose Life Was Changed By Graham Awaits Latest Crusade

Dan Lloyd remembers walking out on the new Kingdome's artificial turf as an 18-year-old high-school senior, inexplicably called forward by the booming message of the Rev. Billy Graham.

Next month, he will find himself on the Kingdome's plastic grass again, this time as a 32-year-old pastor and counselor. Lloyd will be there to talk to others coming down to the stadium floor to commit themselves to Christ.

It's been 15 years since Graham last brought his crusade to Seattle - he was in Tacoma eight years ago - but his basic message will not have changed. Neither will the expected result of thousands of people streaming out of the stands at the Tacoma Dome and Kingdome to stand beneath the raised pulpit and publicly declare they are sinners who seek to be saved.

Lloyd is eager to hear Graham this time from his perspective as a Christian and minister. In 1976, he had wanted to see the just-opened Kingdome and hear in person the world's most famous evangelist.

``I was just going to go listen and go home,'' said Lloyd, now pastor at the SeaTac Bible Church in Federal Way. ``I wasn't looking for anything, and I had no spiritual questions.''

Instead, he became convinced after hearing Graham's message that he needed a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

Lloyd was joined on the Kingdome floor by some 18,135 others during the eight nights of the '76 crusade, out of an attendance of 434,000.

King County Councilman Paul Barden says he was saved during Graham's '76 appearances, and now is serving on the executive committee for this crusade.

In Graham's eight appearances in the Tacoma Dome in 1983, 8,881 of 221,000 answered the altar calls.

Though not all those ``saved'' at the Puget Sound crusades have stuck with their commitment in the intervening years, Graham officials and religious leaders say the crusades are a positive influence for the region and increase church attendance.

Also, improvements in follow-up procedures mean fewer people are left wondering how to turn a one-night commitment into life-long participation.

In a typical Graham crusade, about 2 1/2 to 3 percent of the people will come forward, said A. Larry Ross, Graham's spokesman. In the Bible Belt, for example, the numbers of ``inquirers'' are lower because more people go to church than in the Northwest, he said.

The Northwest is one of the most unchurched regions in the country. The recent Seattle-Tacoma crusades had more converts. In 1976, 4.2 percent of those attending made commitments; in 1983, 4 percent came forward.

There is no goal set for the number of souls to be saved at next month's crusade, said Mark Cutshall, publicity chairman. Instead, the focus is on counseling and finding a church home for those who do come forward.

George Wilson, executive vice president of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association in Minneapolis, explained the ministry's work this way: ``Our job is to dispense the world's greatest product with the greatest economy to the greatest number of people as fast as possible. Everything we do is directed to winning souls for Christ.''

How effectively it does that is open to debate.

A 1977 survey concluded that the Seattle crusade a year before did not increase local church attendance. The Institute for American Church Growth found that 82.7 percent of Seattle-Tacoma pastors said the crusade had no growth effect on their congregations.

However, a 1979 study commissioned by Christianity Today found that 64 percent of the ministers and 88 percent of the lay leaders rated the crusade effective overall. The study concluded that about 2,900 people out of 18,136 ``inquirers'' were new church members because of the crusade.

Since Graham's crusades began in 1974, more than 2.2 million persons have come forward, his association estimates. A study completed in 1988 and published in the book, ``Billy Graham: do the Conversions Last?'' involved 15,000 people over a 30-year period.

The book, published by Robert O. Ferm, a Graham association member, found 70 to 80 percent of ``our inquirers remain steadfast in their decision to follow Christ . . . approximately one out of every 100 of those converted in a crusade has entered the Christian ministry in some way.''

Adding converts to church rolls was fourth on a list of five expectations given by Tom Phillips, crusade director. Phillips, a Tacoma native, works full time for Graham's association as director of counseling and followup.

Phillips said that just as important as bringing in new church attenders is building a ecumenical coalition of area ministers, training people in sharing their faith and a renewed emphasis on evangelism.

Ross listed the short-term impacts of a crusade as unity and cooperation among churches, increased ``God consciousness'' as area media report on Graham's appearance, strengthening the faith of Christians, and church growth.

``But it's very difficult to measure the impact (of a crusade) until much later down the road,'' he said.

Ross compared Graham's job with that of an obstetrician who gives ``birth'' to the convert, while area churches are the pediatrician who ``nurtures'' the believer.

``Mr. Graham shoots with a rifle; he has one message of salvation,'' said Ross. ``A pastor shoots with a shotgun,'' having other things such as sermons and Bible classes to help his members grow in the faith.

Those people coming forward next month will be met by a trained counselor of the same sex and similar age, and asked to fill out a card asking for their religious background, said Phillips. That night, volunteers will sort through the cards, matching each inquirer with a church of the same denomination, and mail them to pastors.

The church will be expected to call the person, invite them to church and Bible study, and continue the followup.

Graham's organization also will contact the converts and ask them if they've completed the Bible-study booklet, a self-teaching series of lessons, given to them at the crusade.

About three weeks after the crusade ends, the inquirers will be telephoned in a follow-up survey. This also provides an opportunity for further counseling, said Phillips.

``The focus of a Billy Graham crusade is to leave a legacy of change and renewal, not to just have people saying, `Wasn't that a great experience?' or, `Wasn't it interesting to see Billy Graham up close? He doesn't look 72!' '' said Dan Southern, director of the Long Island, N.Y., crusade held last fall.

Doris Van Dyke recalls her conversion as a 25-year-old during Graham's first Seattle crusade in 1951. She joined the church her counselor suggested and has led her entire family to Christ. She plans to be on hand all four nights of this crusade.

``I just meet people all the time that have been converted by Graham,'' said Van Dyke of Woodinville. ``I wish sometime we could get the Kingdome and all of us converts would meet on a Sunday afternoon. It would be wonderful.''