Glasgow was branded ‘most unholy place in UK’
PDF 
American evangelist Billy Graham, right, chatting with students during a visit to the Royal Technical College on 26 April 1955. Strathclyde University Archives
He was the American farm boy who grew up to become a legendary preacher, writes Gayle Ritchie.
So it was no surprise that when evangelist Billy Graham visited Scotland in 1955, he created a huge stir.
His six-week crusade reached more than 2.5million people at mass meetings and services, and 50,000 Scots came forward to be converted.
His Good Friday address to Glasgow’s Kelvin Hall was broadcast on BBC radio to a huge audience – second only to the Coronation.
He drew a 90,000 crowd to Hampden stadium, and had a full house at Kelvin Hall every night for six weeks.
This month marks the 55th anniversary of Graham’s All-Scotland Crusade, a moment in time that is etched in the minds of many Scots worldwide.
As he stepped off the train from London in Glasgow, he was greeted by shouts of “Welcome, Billy” from hundreds of followers.
Then, as a chorus of Scottish voices sang the 23rd Psalm, a crowd, many of them weeping, surged towards the slim young American.
With hat in one hand and a Bible in the other, Graham joined briefly in the singing, then made his way through a forest of outstretched hands to his hotel.
There, under his window, another crowd waited. The first day of his crusade was a whirlwind of press conferences, a civic reception with Glasgow’s Lord Provost and rounds of gospel-hymn singing.
That night he met the 7000 stewards, counsellors and choristers, who were waiting for his instructions.
He told them: “I believe the flames that burned in Scotland centuries ago can burn again. A spiritual awakening in Scotland will encourage the entire world at a very critical period.”
Graham chose Glasgow to start his crusade because it was Scotland’s biggest city and because of its reputation as “the most sinful place in Britain”.
• Full story at the Daily Record.
