The Billy Graham Sermon Archives: Complete Guide

Billy Graham preached the gospel in person to more than 200 million people in over 185 countries and territories — and because his ministry recorded nearly everything, most of that preaching still exists. This guide explains what the Billy Graham sermons archives contain, who maintains them, where to hear the audio archives today, and what his team's obsessive record-keeping can teach a church that wants its own preaching to outlive a single generation.

What Is the Billy Graham Sermon Archives?

Billy Graham (1918–2018) organized his work under the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (BGEA), founded in 1950 and headquartered today in Charlotte, North Carolina. From the famous 1949 Los Angeles tent meetings that made him a national figure, through the sixteen-week Madison Square Garden crusade of 1957, to stadium events on every inhabited continent, BGEA treated recording as part of the ministry itself. Crusade sermons were captured on audio and film, the Hour of Decision radio program carried his preaching weekly beginning in 1950, and televised crusades brought his messages into living rooms from 1957 onward.

The result is one of the largest bodies of recorded preaching from any single evangelist in history. BGEA remains the steward of that legacy. The Billy Graham Archive & Research Center in Charlotte, which opened in 2022, consolidates the ministry's historical records, recordings, and papers in one purpose-built facility. Wheaton College's Billy Graham Center Archives historically housed many BGEA materials as well, and much of that collection has since been transferred to Charlotte, though Wheaton continues to hold significant evangelism-related collections.

What's Inside the Archive

Because the archive spans radio, film, television, and print, it is unusually rich in formats. No public figure of the mid-twentieth century was recorded preaching more consistently, and BGEA continues to restore and republish classic material rather than letting it sit in storage.

• Crusade sermon recordings — hundreds of complete messages on audio and film, from tent revivals to stadium crusades
• Hour of Decision radio broadcasts, the weekly program launched in 1950
• Televised crusades and specials, many rebroadcast today as Billy Graham Classics
• Print material: Decision magazine, the syndicated 'My Answer' newspaper column, and published sermon collections
• Historical records, photographs, and correspondence held at the Archive & Research Center in Charlotte

How to Access the Billy Graham Archive

You do not need to visit a physical archive to hear Billy Graham preach. BGEA publishes classic sermons across its own channels, and the historical collections are available to researchers.

Official site: billygraham.org · Rights: © BGEA — free to watch and hear on official channels

How Billy Graham's Approach Can Inspire Your Church's Archive

BGEA's archive did not happen by accident. It reflects decisions made in the 1940s and 1950s that any church can copy today at a fraction of the cost.

For the full step-by-step playbook, read our guides on building searchable sermon archives and publishing a searchable sermon archive in 30 days.

Frequently Asked Questions

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