Remembering Billy Graham and the huge crowds he once drew in Sacramento

Evangelist Billy Graham’s death Wednesday was felt by millions of people around the globe, including thousands of Sacramentans who attended his crusades here.

Among them was Jim Holst, outreach pastor at Bayside, a nondenominational church that has six campuses in the Sacramento region hosting about 20,000 parishioners a week. In 1995, Holst served on the executive committee for Graham’s Sacramento crusade, a five-night event held at Arco Arena.

“My wife and I had the privilege of meeting him,” said Holst, 61. “My wife got to say thank you (to Graham) for coming to Oakland in 1971, an event which changed her life at 15. He looked at her and said in his famous Southern accent, ‘I remember that well.’ He was giving us his full attention like we were the only people in the room.”

Source  : sacbee