ISAE Announces New Grant on the Life & Legacy of Dr. Billy Graham

December 6, 2011:  The ISAE is pleased to announce that the Indianapolis-based Lilly Endowment, Inc. has awarded the Institute a two-year grant to examine the impact of the life, career and ministry of evangelist Billy Graham.  The undoubted lynchpin that held the modern evangelical movement together, Graham’s 60+-year career provides a unique lens through which to examine American religion as well as the larger story of 20^th-century American cultural and political history.  Moreover, his vast influence in promoting world evangelism and missions through such efforts as the Lausanne Committee has meant that he may well have been the singular most important figure in world Christianity during the same period. The ISAE will pursue this topic in several ways, including: research grants aimed at promoting thecollections of the Billy Graham Center Archives; the sponsorship of a series of lectures and course offerings here at Graham’s alma mater, Wheaton College; a series of day-long symposia on Graham’s legacy at major seminaries; the production of a DVD documentary designed for classroom and adult study group use; commissioned articles on aspects of Graham’s ministry aimed at pastoral and lay audiences; and the support of scholarly research and writing which will culminate in a major conference at Wheaton College in the fall of 2013. Details about specific elements of the project will be announced in the months ahead; future updates will be made available on this website.