A searchable, downloadable PDF of the original article appears below. Jack Charleson, Elder, Bridlewood Presbyterian Church. Chairman, Executive Committee, Mission Ontario with Billy Graham. Retired Banker.

Saturday June 10, 1995 will live in the minds of many people in Greater Toronto and the surrounding communities for many years to come. In SkyDome at 11:00 am Psalty, the singing songbook, Charity Church Mouse and the Church Mouse Choir, along with Corben the computer and some young people from the Toronto area, presented the gospel to 25,000 children and parents at the Kid’s Gig of Mission Ontario with Billy Graham. This was an exciting time which proved to be a prelude to what was to come later in the day.

By 5:00 pm crowds had started to gather for the Youth Event at 7:00 pm. A SkyDome record attendance of 68,500 predominantly young people, plus at least 5,000 outside, were entertained by the Christian rap group DC Talk, saw video testimony from Mike Gartner of the Toronto Maple Leafs, Joe Carter of the Toronto Blue Jays and Susan Aglukark, winner of two Juno Awards this year. Then Michael W. Smith and his group provided more entertainment with contemporary Christian music prior to introducing Billy Graham.

The huge crowd gave Mr. Graham a standing ovation, then sat in silence and heard the gospel presented in simple terms. The sense of the presence of the Lord was awesome and, despite the logistical difficulties created by such a large crowd, over 5,000 responded to the invitation to accept Jesus Christ – undoubtedly others were unable to make their way forward due to the crowd.

At the pre-Mission press conference, Mr. Graham had indicated his concern for the young people of our communities. Clearly, the Lord spoke to many during the meetings and, while final statistics are not available at the time of writing, almost 60% of the total enquirers during the five-day Mission Ontario meetings were 25 years of age or under.

The Lord has reached out to many young people through this ministry and now is the time for the local church to take up the challenge. Mr. Graham and his team showed leadership in recognizing the needs of this segment of the community – without neglecting others.

The program content of Mission Ontario with Billy Graham was substantially different from other Crusades or Missions, as it sought to identify the diverse preferences expressed by the community without diluting the gospel message. Guest artists over the other four evenings during June 7- 11, 1995 included singer Susan Aglukark, Canadian opera great Ben Heppner, Dove Award winner Steven Curtis Chapman, Andrae Crouch, the Canadian Brass, local Toronto group the dustkickers, and George Beverly Shea, as well as a forty-piece orchestra conducted by Noel Tredinnick, Musical Director at All Soul’s, Langham Place, London, England. Many of the orchestra came from the Toronto Symphony. Each program was distinct but, apart from those for children and youth, included a balance of contemporary, traditional and classical segments, at the same time recognizing the cultural diversity of the community.

Attendance over the five days totalled 261,500, representing one of the largest gatherings ever of its kind in Ontario.The impact as the gospel was presented at each meeting was encouraging, as over 16,000 individuals responded. While many were under 25 years of age, all age groups were impacted, as were the wide variety of nationalities and language groups in the Toronto area. Plans for Mission Ontario with Billy Graham did not include the potential of Mr. Graham’s illness, which occurred on the day prior to the opening meeting. He collapsed during a speech to a combined luncheon meeting of the Empire and Canadian Clubs and was unable to participate in the first three meetings at SkyDome.

During the luncheon meeting, a Prayer Summit was taking place in the Prayer Room at SkyDome. Over 100 pastors and prayer leaders were present, many of whom were from the group of about 150 pastors who met monthly in small groups to pray for the Mission. As soon as the situation was communicated to them, the focus of prayer changed to Mr. Graham and his family. When it

appeared he might not be available for the first meeting, the group sought guidance from the Lord as to the individual who would carry the recommendation of the local committee. Following a subsequent telephone poll of a number of the General Committee, it became clear we were being directed to recommend Dr. Ralph Bell.

Dr. Bell is an Associate Evangelist with the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and a native of St. Catharine’s, Ontario. He was present in Toronto and had previously substituted for Mr. Graham. The local recommendation was accepted by Mr. Graham and his team and Dr. Bell preached at the first three services. Following Mr. Graham’s release from hospital he preached at the final two services.

Even before services commenced at SkyDome on June 7, 1995, Mission Ontario with Billy Graham had a significant impact on the Church. Over 800 congregations, representing 62 denominations, were involved in preparation during the previous nine months. Some 16,000 attended the five week course of Christian Life and Witness Classes and from this number almost 6,000 became Counsellors and over 400 volunteered to lead follow-up Discovery Groups for at least seven weekly sessions following the Mission meetings. There were 4,600 in the adult choir, 1,500 in the children’s choir, almost 2,000 ushers, the co-labour group who processed enquiry cards each night after the meeting totalled about 750. The Love in Action program saw countless volunteers as high protein food, kits for street kids and youth, as well as other hygiene items were collected through local churches and at the meetings. In total, it is estimated over 30,000 volunteers became involved in Mission Ontario with Billy Graham. Truly, we saw the Church mobilized and working as a body!

Mission Ontario did not go unnoticed by the media! Indeed there was substantial favourable coverage by all aspects of the media, TV, radio and print – both Christian and secular. Undoubtedly, the illness of Mr. Graham had some impact but this created a focus upon the meetings at SkyDome and it was interesting to watch the expressions of many media representatives as they observed. It would be difficult for anyone in the Greater Toronto area, particularly, to have missed the significance of what took place during that week in June.

How did all this come about?

Channels readers will be interested to learn the whole process started in early 1985 when a very small group sensed a leading from the Lord to “do something about evangelism in the Toronto area.”

Some 50 church leaders from across Southern Ontario attended a meeting at Bridlewood Presbyterian Church, Agincourt on October 26, 1985 to discuss how this may be accomplished. Clearly, there was a need to seek the Lords agenda, and seek to follow it, rather than try to impose local wishes upon him. The name Mission Ontario was first used at that meeting and an ad hoc committee formed. One of the first actions of this committee was to establish five objectives:

  1. To strengthen prayer life in the Church across the province.
  2. To present Jesus Christ winsomely to every person in Ontario.
  3. To foster a spirit of co-operative evangelism among local churches.
  4. To establish a network of neighbourhood Bible studies.
  5. To encourage the social responsibility inherent in loving our neighbour as ourselves.

This vision was shared with Mr. Graham in late 1986 and he expressed interest, dependent upon the base of support, and availability of time in his schedule.

Throughout subsequent years various prayer strategies were shared with interested congregations. Mission Ontario joined with Vision 2000 Canada and established a “prayer strategy group” to conduct a survey of prayer strategies which appeared to be effective for individual congregations. These were then shared with involved congregations as efforts were made to implement the first objective. Significant strategies included the concept of Concerts of Prayer, where congregations come together with a specific prayer focus. Another was the introduction of the Prayer Triplet Plan, used effectively in England in preparation for Mission England in 1983/85. Under this concept three individuals commit to pray with each other on a regular basis. Each shares names of three friends or relatives whom they believe do not have a personal relationship with Christ.

Prayer has been the key to maintaining a focus on the needs for Greater Toronto and the surrounding communities. Through prayer strategies an ever expanding network was established and, when, in 1993, the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association indicated the potential of time being available for Mr. Graham to come in 1995 this assisted initial development of plans.

An Interim Steering Committee, under the chairmanship of Dr. William J. McRae, Chancellor, Ontario Bible College/Theological Seminary, was formed in the late summer of 1993. The task of this committee was to determine the level of support an invitation to Mr. Graham would have. Over the next few months more than 200 individuals wrote letters, encouraging Mr. Graham to come to Ontario. These letters came from leaders in the church, business and civic segments of the community. In addition, between 60 and 70 added verbal assent to the invitation which was presented to Mr. Graham at the North-eastern Ohio Crusade in Cleveland, on June 9, 1994.

A General Committee of 66 members was established, with Rt.Rev. Douglas Blackwell, Bishop of Trent and Durham, Anglican Diocese of Toronto, and Rev. Dr. Brian Stiller, Executive Director of the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada as Honorary Co-Chairs. Included in this committee was a fourteen-member Executive chaired by Mr. Jack Charleson, Elder at Bridlewood Presbyterian Church, Agincourt.

Following the formal acceptance of the invitation by Mr. Graham on September 19, 1994 committees became active and Mission Ontario with Billy Graham was incorporated as a Federal entity and a Registered Charitable Organization. The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association sent a team of seven to live in the Toronto area and work with the local committee. Office facilities were obtained and local staff hired as the need arose. By Spring 1995 the staff and team totalled over twenty, in addition to numerous volunteers.

During Fall 1994 information seminars were held throughout the region bounded by Burlington, Bowmanville and Barrie. Pastors and lay leaders were encouraged to attend the first series and then asked to form a congregational leadership team for Mission involvement. These teams were then invited to a second series of information seminars. Following these, three Leadership Rallies were held in different locations and Cliff Barrows, who has been associated with Mr. Graham from the outset of his ministry, came and brought words of inspiration and encouragement.

March and April 1995 saw motivational rallies for men, women, youth and children. Almost 13,000 attended these rallies and over 1,000 responded to invitations at the men, women and youth events – a further indication the Lord had his hand on the preparation process.

Prayer had been the initial emphasis for Mission Ontario and prayer continued to be the focal point of all that took place. Monthly prayer calendars were distributed to participating congregations, both in English and other languages where this was requested and translation available. However, the key to Mission Ontario with Billy Graham was Operation Andrew. Individuals were asked to:

Look around and list names of unchurched persons where they live, work or go to school.
Look up to God and pray each day for themselves and the people on their list.
Look out for ways to cultivate friendships with people on their list.
Look forward and begin to talk with each person on their list and invite them to attend the Mission with them.
Look after those who respond to Christ or even begin to show interest in the gospel. Also, continue to pray for those who do not respond.

Operation Andrew was an effective tool in developing the attendance at meetings for Mission Ontario with Billy Graham. It can be adapted, also, for work within the local congregation, as we seek to reach out into the community in which the Lord has placed us.

It is the prayer of all who were involved in Mission Ontario with Billy Graham, that the spirit of co-operation experienced will continue and expand. Clearly, the Body of Christ was able to put aside the non-essential elements, which sometimes create division, and focus on the unity that exists when the name of Jesus Christ is held high, both in the local congregation and the community.

May God be glorified as we continue to worship his Son through the power of the Holy Spirit! He has blessed those to whom he revealed a portion of his agenda, who persevered and consistently sought his will through prayer.