Graham crusade ends — but was it his last?

NEW YORK — With all the talk about whether this weekend would be the Rev. Billy Graham's final American revival, the 86-year-old evangelist spoke strongly and clearly in the scorching summer heat Sunday, flubbing only once when he said the D-Day invasion was in 1945, not 1944.

However, Graham's sermons each day were noticeably short. He spoke for only 23 minutes Sunday before his energy appeared to flag and he abruptly issued the invitation for people to come to Jesus.

For many of the 90,000 people in the audience, this was a sign.

"It's a little bit sad if this is the last one," said usher Bertha Astor.

The expectation this would be Graham's last revival meeting hovered over the event all weekend. His sermon Sunday appealing for decisions to follow Jesus emphasized that nobody knows the hour of death.

Noting his own advanced age, he said, "I know it won't be long."

"We are celebrating the end of 60 years of ministry with Billy Graham," said the Rev. A. R. Bernard, crusade chairman and pastor of Brooklyn's booming Christian Cultural Center.

But Graham seemed to toy with the crowd over the question, saying he hopes "to come back again someday" and that he previously told journalists who asked if this was the last Graham crusade, "never say never."

Graham is suffering from fluid on the brain, prostate cancer and Parkinson's disease. He uses a walker due to a pelvic fracture and is largely confined to his home in Montreat, N.C.

The man known as America's pastor is considering a request to hold a rally in November in London, but Graham says chances are slim that he'll accept.

His son, the Rev. Franklin Graham, said the elder Graham does not like to be away from his wife, Ruth, who is also in ill health. But an Anglican rector from London was present in New York to coax Graham into visiting.

Out in the throng Sunday, Ismael Rivera, a New York City firefighter, didn't want to believe it was the end. "Hopefully, praise God, I'm sure he will go on."

Joe Lin, a graduate student from Singapore, said he wanted to see Graham preach one last time. "This is a historic moment," he said. "Nobody has had such impact on the people."