Billy Graham Evangelistic Association

Sarah Palin arrived for Sunday dinner with the Rev. Billy Graham a day before a planned stop on her book tour in eastern North Carolina. The former Alaska governor and 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee flew into Asheville and then went to Billy Graham's mountaintop home in Montreat for dinner, said Jeremy Blume, a spokesman for Graham's son, Franklin. Franklin Graham invited Palin. "He just saw that she was going to be in the area and he said to come by," Blume told The Charlotte Observer. The elder Graham has never met Palin, who is scheduled to stop at Fort Bragg on Monday to ... Read Full Story

From the Associated Press: ASHEVILLE, N.C. — Sarah Palin arrived for Sunday dinner with the Rev. Billy Graham a day before a planned stop on her book tour in eastern North Carolina. The former Alaska governor and 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee flew into Asheville and then went to Billy Graham's mountaintop home in Montreat for dinner, said Jeremy Blume, a spokesman for Graham's son, Franklin. Franklin Graham invited Palin. "He just saw that she was going to be in the area and he said to come by," Blume told The Charlotte Observer. The elder Graham has never met Palin, who is scheduled to ... Read Full Story

A black woman is suing the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, saying she was abruptly fired after complaining that the organization was not reaching out to African-American churches. A spokesman for the organization didn't comment on the firing, but said the association does extensive outreach and works extensively with African-American and other diverse churches. Kimberly McCallum said in the lawsuit that was moved into a federal court Wednesday that she was the only black employee working in the executive offices in Charlotte when she started in February 2007. She complained to her superiors later that year when she was asked to recruit congregations to a ... Read Full Story

Billy Graham's ministry denies that it discriminated against a black employee and argues for her lawsuit to be dismissed. Former employee Kimberly McCallum claims she was abruptly fired by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association in 2007 after complaining that the ministry was not reaching out enough to black churches. The ministry filed court papers Wednesday in North Carolina claiming that McCallum fails to prove that her job remained open or was given to another person. That's often a key element to work discrimination cases. They also argue that the lawsuit should be dismissed because it would interfere with the internal affairs of a religious ... Read Full Story

William Franklin Graham -- known to the world as Billy -- wasn't one for hogging the credit. "I knew that all we had seen happening ... was the work of God," runs a typical passage in his 1997 autobiography, "Just as I Am." "If we got in the way or began to take credit for what was happening, God's blessing would be withdrawn." What was happening was the Baptist pastor's 1954 crusade through Britain. As in so many other crusades, thousands of people converted to Christianity, or recommitted to their lapsed faith, after hearing Graham preach. Between 2 million and 3 million people responded ... Read Full Story