BGEA Announces Ark-La-Tex Franklin Graham Festival 2005
The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (BGEA) will be holding an evangelistic festival Nov. 11-13 at the CenturyTel Center in Bossier City, Louisiana.
The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (BGEA) announced last week that Franklin Graham, along with local church and civic leaders, will be holding an evangelistic festival Nov. 11-13 at the CenturyTel Center in Bossier City, Louisiana.
“I look forward to bringing a message of hope to Shreveport,” said Graham, who recently accepted local church leaders’ invitation to lead the Ark-La-Tex Franklin Graham Festival 2005. “People will hear a lot of music from award-winning artists, personal testimonies, and most importantly, an opportunity to accept a challenge that will change their lives.”
According to the BGEA, more than 100 clergy and church leaders from the Greater Shreveport area attended the Festival announcement meeting on Feb. 15 at the Holiday Inn Downtown in Shreveport. For several months, Shreveport pastors and church leaders have urged Franklin Graham to conduct a Festival in their region.
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“Families and neighborhoods will be touched and changed,” said Dr. Gregory Hunt, pastor of First Baptist Church in Shreveport. “What’s more, Christians will be coming together across denominational, racial and ethnic lines, creating a new strength of love and partnership.”
The General Festival Committee, comprised of local volunteers from the Greater Shreveport area, will assist in the planning and operation of the Ark-La-Tex Franklin Graham Festival. Kelvin Cochran, who was named chairman of the General Festival Committee at Tuesday’s meeting, will oversee the nine-month Festival preparation process.
Since beginning his career as main preacher of evangelistic festivals in 1989, Franklin Graham has led an average of seven evangelistic festivals each year for the BGEA. To date, he has led more than 90 festivals in locations from Johannesburg, South Africa, to Tupelo, Miss., speaking to more than 3.5 million people.
Graham's 2005 Festival schedule includes events in Australia, Paraguay, and Corpus Christi, Texas.
