AP Photo by Bill Haber Franklin Graham, left, helps his father Evangelist Billy Graham to the podium at First Baptist Church in New Orleans Thursday, March 9, 2006.

A Lifetime Legacy

By Natalie Paul, 11.29.06

The sons of well-known evangelists could have chosen paths filled with fame and glory lifting them to heights equal to many celebrity moguls --but instead have chosen the memorable calling of a minister.The sons are picking up the torches passed down to them by their fathers in the expectancy of reaching many more with the Christianity’s unchanging story of redemption and hope.

Renowned Christian leaders Reverend Billy Graham, Pastors Robert H Schuller, Oral Roberts, and Charles Stanley have passed on a legacy of uncompromising faith to their sons who now have dedicated their lives to the spreading of the gospel.

“I’ve been called to the slums of the street and the ditches of the world,” said Franklin Graham; now president and CEO of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, according to BGEA.

Franklin’s son William Graham IV is also continuing the legacy of preaching as well as director of Billy Graham Training Center; where he is leading conferences geared for today’s youth.

Robert A. Schuller, now senior Pastor of the famous Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove, CA, foresees a growth in church membership to bloom with the help of advanced technology.

“I’m really interested in using the technologies that are available to help people grow spiritually,” said Schuller Jr. to the Associated Press.

Richard Roberts has answered the call of taking over where his father left off in 1993 serving as CEO of Oral Roberts Evangelistic Association. Among other associated roles, Roberts is President of Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Roberts is known for his ministry of healing much like his father through out the mid-nineties. And, like his father, he seeks to drive the masses into physical and spiritual wholeness.

"Jesus was born to step into a world of trouble and bring healing and deliverance. That is the call of God upon my own life,” said Roberts in an interview on CBN. “To step into the troubles and heartaches of people everywhere, to pray and believe God, and to bring a word of hope and resurrection."

Despite being known as the son of Charles Stanley of InTouch ministries, Andy Stanley is the founder of North Point Ministries having several churches in Georgia and across the nation. He also serves as Senior Pastor of First Baptist Church in Atlanta, GA.

Much like Graham and Roberts, Stanley remains passionate about reaching out to the community at large, particularly generation xers. However, he believes the need for more churches is not priority but transformation within an individual.

"Atlanta does not need another church,” said Stanley, according to North Point Ministries. “What Atlanta does need is a safe environment where the un-churched can come and hear the life-changing truth that Jesus Christ cares for them and died for their sin."

These sons continue to share the life-changing message that has been the crux of the Christian faith for centuries.

“Telling someone else the good news of Jesus Christ is one of the greatest privileges I know, said Graham,” according to BGEA.