Interview with Cliff Barrows of BGEA

Billy Graham had just conducted a crusade in New York, which he had stated was his last in America, though he did not rule out an invitation from London.

Cliff Barrows, long-time friend and partner in the ministry with Billy Graham since 1949, spoke with The Christian Post about the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, the reasons for its success and its future direction.

Has Mr. Graham decided to accept the London invitation to conduct another crusade?

We have not made that decision yet. He'll be praying much about it in the next few months. A lot is depending on how he is feeling. He was greatly encouraged in New York because his voice held out, and he was so strong. He was stronger than in Pasadena, CA last November.

We'd love to go back to London. It's one of our favorite cities. I was there with Mr. Graham in 1946, and we spent six months in England, preaching all over the UK, including Wales, Ireland, and Scotland. We developed so many wonderful friendships.

Mr. Barrows, I understand you have been with Mr. Graham since before he began the ministry. How does it feel to be Mr. Graham's master of ceremonies and music director all these years?

I have just been privileged to be part of a host of faithful staff members around Mr. Graham and the team, who have been called to perform certain services, and I am just thankful to be in the ministry of programming and music because that has always accompanied the moving of God's Spirit. I think my ministry has been one of encouragement more than anything else.

Can you give an example of God at work in Mr. Graham’s six-decade long ministry?

Well, there are many instances where we have felt the spirit of God at work in a most marvelous way. Billy Graham doesn't consider himself an icon, or any of us. We have been given a commission and called to serve Him, and our one desire is to finish the course with joy and faithfulness and pray that those who come behind us will have found us faithful.

As an illustration of how He has worked, people are uniting from different denominational backgrounds and from different walks of life in the ministry of evangelism. We have witnessed that in country after country in marvelous and miraculous ways.

Perhaps one of our greatest memories was the Madison Square Garden meeting in 1957. It was scheduled for six weeks, but it just continued week after week. The book, God in the Garden, written by Curtis Mitchell is a very accurate, historical, and anointed book describing what took place during those 16 weeks. God definitely showed us that it should be extended, and we went for 16 weeks in 1957. We saw many people come to Christ, and that was the miracle of the Gospel.

That was true in London in 1954, and it was true out in the big tent in Los Angeles in 1999 when that meeting was extended for 8 weeks; it was only scheduled for 3.

I think one marvelous thing is so many of these places were scheduled for a shorter period of time, but they were extended, and I am very grateful. We have witnessed the power of God at work in many countries.

What is it about Mr. Graham that allowed his ministry to succeed so well?

Well, I think he was a young man who was truly desirous of the Lord's glory and committed to God's call. Back in 1948, four of us, Grady Wilson, George Beverly Shea, Cliff Barrows, and Billy Graham, as we were just beginning in the ministry, we had two or three meetings. While we were in Modesto, he said, 'Fellas, let's go back to our rooms and think about the history of evangelism (and evangelists), see what their pitfalls were, what errors did they make, where did they stumble, and let's pray that God will keep us from them. Then, we'll compare our lists tomorrow.'

The next day when we met, there were four areas which we considered to be core values of our ministry. We didn't know then that we were going to be in it for 50 years; we didn't know if we were going be in it for another year. We were just taking it a day at a time.

The first one we all had down was integrity - men who were honest of their word. The second was accountability - being accountable to God, being accountable to the people who invited us, being accountable to each other, being accountable to our wives and families.

People sometimes believe the evangelist thinks he is the high man on the totem pole and that he isn't accountable, but we're accountable just the way Jesus, himself was accountable to His Father. He said, 'I do all things to please my Father.' We were accountable.

The third one was purity of life in our dealings with the people of the opposite sex - never being alone in a room with them, never traveling in a car alone, and being accountable to each other, helping each other to be guarded against this, and God has honored that, and we've kept that.

The fourth thing was in the area of humility - humbling ourselves in the fear of God, asking God to honor the other and to lift each other up and to walk humbly before our God. Bill is always reminding us that He was a jealous God. He would not share His glory with another, and honoring and encouraging one another.

Those four things became the core values. We called it the Modesto Manifesto - integrity, accountability, purity, and humility.

How did the four of you manage to keep all four of these values all these years?

The Lord helped us do it. We prayed about it continually. We would be very quick to remind each other. We would be constantly reminding each other of these values, and when compromising opportunities presented themselves, we ask God not to let that happen, and He has kept us for more than 50 years.

I feel these four values are central to any effective work for the Kingdom of God. It's true in any church, or any organization. If you have these four values with the leadership, then they will be transmitted and passed on down to the folks along the line, and if they see it mentored in our lives and practiced in our lives, then we can be examples to others. I think God has enabled us to do it.

The younger generation that is coming along in leadership - if they adhere to these four core values - then they can expect God to bless them, but if they deviate from it, the Lord would not be honored and pleased.

I think that God has blessed BGEA because He has kept us focused, kept Mr. Graham focused on his responsibility as an evangelist to be all that He wanted him to be and to be faithful to the message. He has been a man that has a singular purpose, and God honored that purpose. Mr. Graham hasn't deviated from it, and I think that's one reason why he's been so effective.

How do you practice faith? Do you have prayer time or Bible study?

When we were in New York for a week, the team that was there met together for an hour at 8:30 in the morning for prayer, Bible study, and praising. It was this prayer fellowship, keeping us in close touch with each other and encouraging each other in our personal walk with the Lord, that God honored, and that's how He has kept us faithful.

How do you think the ministry has changed over the years and what will be the future of the ministry as Mr. Franklin Graham assumes the leadership of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association.

I think the Internet and the Web has made our radio programs even more widespread than before. I think we have a greater opportunity now to reach the world with the Gospel than ever before. The future of our organization is as bright as the promises of God, if the leadership remains true to the core values, and if they follow the leading of the Lord. They're going to do it in a new way, I'm sure, because methods change, but the message doesn't change. Jesus said to go into the entire world and preach the Gospel to every creature. That's been the driving motivation of the BGEA all these years.

I think it's Franklin's desire as he takes over the leadership to preach the Gospel to the whole world, and he's able to do it through television, radio, and festivals, similar to crusade services put on by Mr. Graham, his father, but on a different dimension. It's still the same message.

We're excited about what's happening in places like Europe and other parts of the world that are running campaigns over national television. We've trained counselors in the home so that people with a television can invite their neighbors and invite others to make a decision to make a decision for Christ right in the home. Thousands upon thousands are doing this and getting involved in the church. This is happening in city after city and in country after country. It's pretty exciting.

That's a whole new dimension that we haven't been able to carry out in our generation, but the young generation can, because of the availability, and their vision and their faith, and I just pray that the Lord will continue to richly bless them.

How has the world changed from when the ministry first began in 1950?

Well, the world has become a neighborhood. It used to be a far-flung area and greatly divided but television and modern communication has brought us together, and that brings immediacy to current world situations all the time.

It means that we must be aware of what's happening. There are brief windows of opportunity, sometimes it's brought about by tragedy, like tsunami, earthquakes, devastation, poverty, or hunger. All of this presents an opportunity for the Christian work to reach out into these areas of the world and provide physical health. With that cold water in one hand and the gospel in the other, they'll be open to receive it because we've ministered to them.

I'm just so grateful for the privilege that God has given me. Everything that has happened - it's been His doings. I just pray that He will keep us faithful. There's going to be work for us to do even though we may not have another crusade. We'll still have opportunity to encourage people in other areas of our work.

Mr. Barrows hosts the weekly “Hour of Decision” radio program since its 1950 inception. He was inducted into the Nashville Gospel Music Hall of Fame in April 1988 and into the Religious Broadcasting Hall of Fame (NRB) in February 1996.
He and his wife, Ann, now reside in Marvin, North Carolina.