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The crusader

From Mary Snow
CNN

NEW YORK (CNN) -- Far from the Bible Belt, they call themselves the "faithful few."

By few, they mean 1,500 on a Tuesday night deep in Brooklyn; a tiny fraction of the Sunday congregation.

Church leaders say it's part of a rapidly growing, redefined evangelical movement.

"You think primarily of white, right-wing Christians," but at the Christian Cultural Center you'll find "a multicultural ethnic body of 24,000 members," says the Rev. A.R. Bernard.

Those 24,000 members belong to a church started in a storefront. It's now so big it even has its own restaurant.

The congregation's growth played a role in getting the Rev. Billy Graham to visit New York.

"He will, in essence, bring the spotlight on something that has been taking place here in the city in the past 20 years," says Bernard.

Why Billy Graham? Bernard says because of his focus on religion -- a message Graham, 86, says he will stick to.

"I'm going to talk about the gospel of Christ and I'm going to refuse to answer questions on subjects maybe 20 years ago I would have answered," says Graham.

That means steering clear of politics and issues like gay rights -- something other evangelical leaders have loudly denounced.

Graham says his message will be similar to one he delivered in New York in 1957, as he rose to prominence, when his scheduled crusade of several weeks stretched to four months.

Graham acknowledges the attacks of September 11 influenced the religious leaders who invited him to the city, including Bernard, who says the city is a fitting place for Graham's last U.S. crusade:

"In his closing out of his ministry, of his service to God, what better place than to go back where it all started? And that's New York City."

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