Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-5nwft Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-05-24T04:48:40.267Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

“One Way”: Billy Graham, the Jesus Generation, and the Idea of an Evangelical Youth Culture

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 July 2009

Larry Eskridge
Affiliation:
Associate director of the Institute for the Study of Evangelicals at Wheaton College and is a doctoral candidate at the University of Stirling in Scotland

Extract

On New Year's Day 1971 Pasadena, California, basked in its standard smog-tinged sunshine as well over a million people lined the route for the annual Tournament of Roses Parade. That year's grand marshal was America's “Protestant Pope,” evangelist Billy Graham. Consistently voted among America's most admired men and a highly visible spiritual counselor and friend of Richard Nixon, Graham may well have been at the zenith of his national influence. But, as he entered into the gala festivities surrounding the Tournament of Roses, Graham claimed that he was of two minds. Despite the “fanfare, the flag-waving,” Graham wrote later that year, “I have seldom had such mixed emotions as I had that day in Pasadena.” For he claimed he knew “that decadence had settled in. As I savored the grandeur of this great nation I also sensed its sickness.” As the elements of the parade headed down the boulevard, Graham and his wife Ruth waved to the smiling crowds while he, as he said, “watch[ed] the horizon for a cloud of impending revival to restore [America's] spiritual greatness.”

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © American Society of Church History 1998

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1. Graham, Billy, The Jesus Generation (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan, 1971), p. 13.Google Scholar

2. “1,300,000 Greet New Year at ‘Biggest’ Rose Parade,” Van Nuys Valley News and Green Sheet, 3 01 1971, collection 360: Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (hereinafter cited as BGEA) Scrapbooks, reel 33(June 1970–December 1971), Archives of the Billy Graham Center, Wheaton College, Wheaton, 111. (hereinafter cited as BGC Archives); tape transcript of Graham Press Conference, 28 February 1971, Greenville, S.C., collection 24: BGEA-Billy Graham Press Conferences, tape T9, BGC Archives; “U.S. Journal: Pasadena—Waiting for the Roses,” The NewYorker, 16 January 1971, pp. 85–88; Graham, Jesus Generation, pp. 13–14.Google Scholar

3. Palladino, Grace, Teenagers: An American History (New York: Basic Books, 1996), pp. 358.Google Scholar For a look at the early history and methodology of Youth for Christ, see Johnson, Torrey and Cook, Robert, Reaching Youth for Christ (Chicago: Moody Bible Institute, 1944).Google Scholar

4. Martin, William, A Prophet With Honor: The Billy Graham Story (New York: William Morrow and Company, 1991), pp. 9094.Google Scholar

5. Graham, Billy, Billy Graham Talks to Teen-Agers (Wheaton, III.: Miracles Unlimited, 1958).Google Scholar

6. Flint, Cort R., comp., The Quotable Billy Graham (Anderson, S.C.: Droke House, 1966), pp. 56, 218;Google Scholar“Graham Seeks Out Youth in Crusades,” Madison State Journal, 30 September 1967 and “Graham Urges Youth to Act,” Kansas City Times, 12 September 1967, collection 360: BGEA-Scrapbooks, reel 31 (January 1967–July 1969), BGC Archives; transcript of Graham Press Conference, 13 May 1968, Los Angeles, Calif., collection 24: BGEA-Billy raham Press Conferences, box 1, folder 10, BGC Archives.Google Scholar

7. “Graham Draws 8,000 at UC—and 6 Pickets,” San Francisco Chronicle, 28 01 1967, collection 360: BGEA-Scrapbooks, reel 31 (January 1967–July 1969), BGC Archives.Google Scholar

8. “Graham Urges Youth to Act,” Kansas City Times, 12 09 1967, collection 360: BGEA-Scrapbooks, reel 31 (January 1967–July 1969), BGC Archives.Google Scholar

9. Bright, Bill, Come Help Change the World (Old Tappan, N.J.: Fleming H. Revell, 1970), p. 189;Google Scholar for a good, if now somewhat dated, look at the growth of Campus Crusade see Quebedeaux, Richard, I Found It! The Story of Bill Bright and the Campus Crusade for Christ (San Francisco: Harper and Row, 1979);Google ScholarKeith, and Hunt, Gladys, For Christ and the University: The Story of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship of the U.S.A., 1940–1990 (Downers Grove, III.: InterVarsity Press, 1991), pp. 399402, 413.Google Scholar

10. Graham, Billy, “The Jesus Revolution,” 29 07 1971, collection 345: BGEA-Media Office, box 32, folder 3, BGC Archives; “Today's Q & A: Billy Graham,” unspecified Florida paper, 28 February 1972, collection360: BGEA-Scrapbooks, reel 34 (0310 1972), BGC Archives.Google Scholar

11. Frady, Marshall, Billy Graham: A Parable of Righteousness (Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1979), p. 404;Google ScholarMartin, , Prophet With Honor, p. 376.Google Scholar

12. Martin, Prophet With Honor, p. 375.

13. “Converting the World—Billy Graham Talks to William Hardcastle About His Many Media,” Listener, 21 01 1971, 84–85; collection 360: BGEA-Scrapbooks, reel 102 (1971); Frady, Billy Graham, p. 400.Google Scholar

14. Frady, , Billy Graham, p. 400.Google Scholar

15. Graham, Billy, Just As I Am (San Francisco: Harper, 1997), pp. 419420;Google ScholarFrady, , Billy Graham, p. 400; Martin, Prophet With Honor, p. 376.Google Scholar

16. “Voting Age of 18 Endorsed by Longer-Haired Graham,” Omaha Morning World-Herald, 23 06 1970, collection 360: BGEA-Scrapbooks, reel 33 (June 1970–December 1971), BGC Archives.Google Scholar

17. “Graham Defender of Long-Hair Set,” Hot Springs New Era, 19 09 1970, collection 360: BGEA-Scrapbooks, reel 33 (June 1970–December 1971), BGC Archives.Google Scholar

18. “Graham Trying to Bridge Generation Gap,” Gadsden (Alabama) Times, 14 05 1972, collection 360: BGEA-Scrapbooks, reel 34 (March–October 1972), BGC Archives.Google Scholar

19. Graham, Franklin, Rebel With a Cause (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishing, 1995), pp. 2845;Google ScholarMartin, , Prophet With Honor, pp. 290–291.Google Scholar

20. Graham, Franklin, Rebel With a Cause, pp. 47–60; Martin, Prophet With Honor, pp. 377378.Google Scholar

21. The existence of the “Jesus Movement” received no attention from the major national media in the years 1967 through 1969. The evangelical press paid some attention to the early manifestations of the movement during this time, but it was usually perceived as an outreach to the hip generation as opposed to any consciousness of a discernible “Jesus Movement”Google Scholar (see, for example, Allan, Maurice, “God's Thing in Hippieville,” Christian Life, 01 1968, 2023, 34–35, 38;Google Scholar and Witnessing to Hippies,” Christianity Today, 7 06 1968, 4142).Google Scholar, By 1970, the news that a highly vocal segment of the counterculture had embraced a form of traditional evangelical Christianity began to appear in newspapers and national periodicals (see, for example, “Street Christians: Jesus As the Ultimate Trip,” Time, 3 August 1970, 31–32;Google Scholar and Tracy, Phil, “The Jesus Freaks: Savagery and Salvation on Sunset Strip,” Commonweal, 30 10 1970, 122125).Google Scholar A similar cognizance also began to appear in evangelical periodicals (see, for example, Klein, Rita, “Spiritual Revolution—West Coast Youth,” Christianity Today, 19 06 1970, 876;Google Scholar and, Backman, L. F., “Linda's Revolutionary Army,” World Vision Magazine, 0708 1970, 14).Google Scholar It was arly in 1971, however, that the “Jesus Movement” began to make major national headlines in the secular media, undoubtedly stoked by the enormous sales and controversy over the release of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice's album “Jesus Christ Superstar” in the late fall of 1970. In late January, NBC's “First Tuesday” presented an hour-long special that focused exclusively—and rather favorably—on the Children of God as representatives of the movement, but the network later retracted that report in a 1972 update on “Chronology,” after learning of extensive criticism of the group among converts’ family members and church leaders (Davis, Deborah Berg, The Children of God: The Inside Story [Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan, 1984], pp. 95, 112113).Google ScholarSoon thereafter a major story with an extensive photo layout appeared in Look (“The jesus Movement is Upon Us,” 9 02 1971, 1521),Google Scholar followed by articles in the Wall Street Journal (Gottschalk, Earl C. Jr, “Hip Culture Discovers A New Trip: Fervent, Foot Stompin’ Religion,” 2 03 1971, p. 1), Newsweek (22 March 1971, 97), and Life (“The Groovy Christians of Rye, NY,” 14 May 1971, 78–86).Google ScholarBy June, “The Jesus Revolution” was enough of a national story to merit the cover of Time (21 June 1971, 56–63). In the wake of secular media attention, there was a deluge of coverage in the evangelical press that hailed the movement as the sign of a national revival among the nation's youthGoogle Scholar (see, for example, Plowman, Edward, “Revival in the Underground,” Christianity Today, 29 01 1971, 3435;Google ScholarRosen, Martin Meyer, “Jesus’ Kids Turn on Others,” Christian Life, 04 1971, 2225, 59–63).Google Scholar Capitalzing on the publicity, a flood of enthusiastic books on the Jesus People by evangelical observers other than Billy Graham also began to appear in 1971. Among these were Pederson, Duane and Owen, Bob, Jesus People (Glendale, Calif.: Regal Books, 1971);Google ScholarEastman, Dick, Up With Jesus (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker Books, 1971);Google ScholarKnight, Walker L., Jesus People Come Alive (Wheaton, III.: Tyndale House, 1971);Google Scholar and Plowman's, Edward E.The Jesus Movement in America (Elgin, III.: David C. Cook, 1971).Google Scholar More “objective” books on the movement did not really come until 1972; however, one rather critical book did make it into print by the end of the year (Streiker, Lowell, The Jesus Trip: Advent of the Jesus Freaks [Nashville: Abingdon, 1971]).Google Scholar

22. The fusion of these two diverse subcultures seems bizarre at first glance. However, social scientist Ellwood's, Robert S. 1973 study One Way: The Jesus Movement and its Meaning (Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1973) provides some possible insights into the convergences between the counterculture and evangelicalism. First, and most important in Ellwood's analysis, was the evangelical emphasis on the subjective experience of conversion, the Pentecostal baptism of the Holy Spirit and the “walking with Jesus” that paralleled hippie fascination with drug-induced experience and the pursuit of the high. Other similarities—such as a shared emphasis on music, idealization of the rural past, separatist outsider leanings, belief in the supernatural, tendencies toward antiintellectualism, and a suspicion of history—provided a touchstone for those in the counterculture who came into contact with the evangelical Gospel. A growing pessimism pervaded the counterculture as the hippie dream devolved in the late 1960s amid persistent world travails and the growing realization of the dangers of pharmaceutically induced enlightenment. At this point, Ellwood argued, the apocalyptic dimension of evangelicalism provided a particularly convincing explanation of contemporary events that resonated with many disillusioned hippies (pp. 11–21).Google Scholar

23. While the beginnings of a “movement” were most clearly evident in California during 1967, other groups with similar countercultural origins—unconnected with any California “contacts”—were in existence within the next year. To date, there has been no comprehensive historical examination of the jesus People movement.Google ScholarDiSabatino's, David master's thesis, “History of the Jesus Movement” (McMaster University, 1994), is the best attempt thus far to put the movement into historical perspective.Google Scholar The contemporary examination of the Jesus People that gave the best historical account of its development was Enroth, Ronald M., Ericson, Edward E. Jr, and Peters's, C. BreckinridgeThe Jesus People: Old-Time Religion in the Age of Aquarius (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 1972).Google Scholar

24. Enroth, , Ericson, , and Peters, , The Jesus People, pp. 12–13;Google ScholarDiSabatino, , “History of the Jesus Movement,” pp. 30–37.Google Scholar

25. Enroth, , Ericson, , and Peters, , The Jesus People, pp. 102–114.Google Scholar The CWLF specialized in mimicking the rhetoric and modus operandi of leftist groups and was particularly adept at utilizing the hip argot of the counterculture to communicate its message, as in this adaptation from Philippians 3: “Watch out for the law pushers. They'll lay aheavy rap on you about how you got to follow rules in order to keep up your relationship with Jesus. Following a set of rules doesn't make us the Father's children. It's digging on the relationship with Him. Trust Jesus, not what you can do. We've said it before, and we say it again with tears in our eyes: there are people who live among thebrothers and sisters who don't know Jesus and are against His plan for making men right with God” (Two Brothers From Berkeley, Letters to Street Christians [Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan, 1971], p. 101).Google Scholar

26. Palms, Roger C., The Jesus Kids (Valley Forge, Pa.: Judson Press, 1971), pp. 2124;Google ScholarEnroth, , Ericson, , and Peters, , The Jesus People, pp. 71–73.Google Scholar

27. See Enroth, , Ericson, , and Peters, , The Jesus People, pp. 2165.Google Scholar

28. Jorstad, Erling, That New-Time Religion: The Jesus Revival in America (Minneapolis: Augsburg, 1972), pp. 6869;Google ScholarEnroth, , Ericson, , and Peters, , The Jesus People, pp. 73–83.Google Scholar

29. Enroth, , Ericson, , and Peters, , The Jesus People, pp. 84101.Google Scholar

30. Ibid., pp. 85–94; DiSabatino, , “A History of the Jesus Movement,” pp. 56–62.Google Scholar For an engaging look at Calvary Chapel years after the passing of the Jesus Movement see Balmer, Randall, Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory: A Journey Into the Evangelical Subculture in America (New York: Oxford University Press, 1989), pp. 1230.Google Scholar

31. Transcript of Graham Press Conference, Greenville, S.C., 19 02 1971, collection 24: BGEA-Billy Graham Press Conferences, tape T9, BGC Archives.Google Scholar

32. Druin, Toby, “Graham Challenges N.C. to Be State of Destiny,’Biblical Recorder, 27 02 1971, 4, collection 360: BGEA-Scrapbooks, reel 102 (1971), BGC Archives.Google Scholar

33. Moving Toward Revival,” United Evangelical Action, Summer 1971, 15;Google ScholarThe NAE: New Marching Orders,” Christianity Today, 7 05 1971, 37.Google Scholar

34. Local fundamentalists used Graham's support of the Jesus People as prime reasons for avoiding Graham's Crusades in Chicago (1971) and Atlanta (1973).Google Scholar See Bennett, Philip E., “Billy Graham's 1971 Chicago Crusade—Beware!” The Christian Militant, 0506 1971, 23, collection 360: BGEA-Scrapbooks, reel 102 (1971);Google Scholarand a tract by Bob Spencer, “Why I Cannot Approve and Must Oppose the Billy Graham Atlanta Crusade,” collection 345: BGEA-Media Office, box 34, folder 23, BGC Archives.Google Scholar

35. The anti-worldly-entertainment, anti-rock-‘n’-roll thrust of disapproving evangelical elders is clearly evident even in a more moderate evangelical forum such as Youth for Christ Magazine in the 1950s and 1960s.Google Scholar See, for example, Hardman, Marlin E., “The Real Scoop on Rock ‘n’ Roll,” Youth for Christ Magazine 17 (10 1959): 1012,Google Scholar and the Mr. Music” column, Youth for Christ Magazine 19 (04 1962): 33.Google Scholar For an example of an extended screed against the evils of rock music see Larson, Bob, Rock and Roll: The Devil's Diversion (McCook, Nebr.: Bob Larson, 1967; revised 1970).Google Scholar

36. Nixon Again Leads the List, Graham Second,” Boston Evening Globe, 2 01 1972, collection 360:BGEA-Scrapbooks, reel 34 (March-October 1972), BGC Archives.Google Scholar

37. Religious News Service press release, “Billy Graham's Crusade Draws Record Throngs to Kentucky U. Coliseum,” 29 04 1971, collection 345: BGEA-Media Office, box 30, folder 13, BGC Archives.Google Scholar

38. 24,000 at Billy's ‘Youth Night,’Chicago Today, 8 06 1971, 16;Google ScholarWonderful Chicago,” Decision, 09 1971, 89, 14;Google ScholarGreater Chicago Crusade (1971), collection 113: BGEA-Films and Videos, F#252 & F#255, BGC Archives.Google Scholar

39. Orders of service and excerpts from these sermons are contained in collection 345: BGEA-Media Office, box 30, folders 24, 26–27, 29–31, BGC Archives.Google Scholar

40. Billy's Crusade Here Attended By 325,000,” Chicago Daily News, 14 06 1971, 9.Google Scholar

41. Pollock, John, Billy Graham: Evangelist to the World (Minneapolis: World-Wide Publications, 1979), pp. 124125;Google ScholarPhilbrick, Richard, “Bigotry in Churches Rapped by Graham,” Chicago Tribune, 9 06 1971, 11;Google ScholarHecklers Routed by Billy Backers,” Chicago Daily News, 9 06 1971;Google Scholarand BGEA press release, “Greater Chicago Graham Crusade Becomes Tri-State Affair,” 13 June 1971, collection 345: BGEA-Media Office, box 31, folder 8, BGC Archives; Martin, Prophet With Honor, pp. 376–377. According to Pollock, one of the two young ruffians who were carted away by Chicago Police was later converted at a post-Crusade follow-up showing of the Graham film “A Time to Run.”Google Scholar

42. Pollock, , Billy Graham, Evangelist, p. 124.Google Scholar

43. Graham Urges Governor to Trust ‘Jesus Power,’San Bernardino Sun, 30 06 1971, collection 360: BGEA-Scrapbooks, reel #33 (June 1970-December 1971), BGC Archives.Google Scholar

44. Graham Attracts 44,500,” Oakland Tribune, 30 07 1971, 21;Google ScholarOne Way in Oakland,” Decision, 10 1971, 8–9;Google Scholarvideo F261, Northern California Crusade—Oakland, CA (1971), collection 113: BGEA-Films and Videos, BGC Archives.Google Scholar

45. Video F261, Northern California Crusade—Oakland, CA (1971), collection 113: BGEAFilms and Videos, BGC Archives.Google Scholar

46. Ibid.; Graham, Billy, “The Jesus Revolution,” 29 07 1971, sermon excerpt in collection 345: BGEA-Media Office, box 32, folder 3, BGC Archives.Google Scholar

47. Decisive Hour for 21,000,” Christianity Today, 27 08 1971, 30.Google Scholar

48. BGEA Team Office press release, 1 08 1971, Collection 345: BGEA-Media Office, box 32, folder 7, BGC Archives; “Decisive Hour for 21,000,” 30; Billy Graham, “Jesus Revolution.”Google Scholar

49. Graham, , Jesus Generation, pp. 1322.Google Scholar

50. Ibid., pp. 16–17.

51. Ibid., pp. 33–34.

52. Ibid., pp. 64,154,156–157.

53. 1972 Decision articles with a Jesus Movement connection: Linda Raney, “Bible Rap,” February 1972, 6; Rick Carreno, “Overdose,” March 1972, 3; Pam Norman, “Sweet Song of Salvation,” September 1972, 3,13; “Fallout From Explo,” September 1972, 8–9.Google Scholar

54. Advertisement for Grason products, Christian Life, 06 1972, 107–110.Google Scholar

55. Youth Dampened But Enthusiastic,” Florence (South Carolina) News, 23 04 1972, collection 360: BGEA-Scrapbooks, reel #34 (March-October 1972), BGC Archives.Google Scholar

56. “Today's Q & A: Billy Graham.”Google Scholar

57. “Graham Trying to Bridge Generation Gap.”Google Scholar

58. Graham, Franklin, Rebel With a Cause, pp. 63–108; Martin, Prophet With Honor, p. 453.Google Scholar Although mentioned only briefly, Franklin Graham is tacitly assumed as inspiration for Ruth Graham's devotional collection of prose and poetry Prodigals and Those Who Love Them (Colorado Springs: Focus on the Family Publishing, 1991).Google Scholar

59. In Our Generation: Explo ‘72 Official Program (San Bernardino, Calif.: Campus Crusade for Christ, 1972), pp. 1619, collection 345: BGEA-Media Office, box 49, folder 11, BGC Archives;Google Scholar Paul Eshelman with Norman Rohrer, The Explo Story: A Plan to Change the World (Glendale, Calif.: Regal Books, 1972), p. 102. Handled by 200 film agents, more than 1,000 copies of the promotional film “Explo ‘72” were sent out to churches and youth groups in the year before the event.Google Scholar

60. Video, “Explo ‘72: Show # 1,” Arrowhead Productions, Campus Crusade for Christ, 1972; “A ‘Religious Woodstock’ Draws 75,000,” New York Times, 16 June 1971, pp. 1, 19; “‘Godstock’ in Big D,” Christianity Today, 7 july 1972, 31–32; Eshelman, Explo Story, pp. 59–65; Pollock, Billy Graham, Evangelist, p. 256.Google Scholar

61. “Graham Takes Explo to Streets,” Dallas Morning News, 13 03 1972, collection 345: BGEA-Media Office, box 9, folder 11, BGC Archives.Google Scholar

62. Graham Speaks at Final Rally,” Dallas Morning News, 18 06 1972, collection 345: BGEA-Media Office, box 49, folder 11, BGC Archives; Eshelman, Explo Story, pp. 90–93.Google Scholar

63. “Yes ‘73 Youth Evangelism Seminar” official brochure, collection 345: BGEA-Media Office, box 36, folder 12; press release, BGEA Team Office, 6 09 1973, collection 345, box 36, folder 14, BGC Archives; Pollock, Billy Graham, Evangelist, pp. 256–260. Publicity for the film pushed the life-changing force of the Gospel in co-star Randy Bullock's life, describing him before coming to Christ as absorbed by “politically radical activism during his college life, which included a stay in Greenwich Village, contacts with the SDS … and a consuming intention to annihilate the military /industrial complex” (Crusade News, “Time To Run” [Upper Midwest Crusade (St. Paul, Minn.)], 21 July 1973, collection 345: BGEA-Media Office, box 35, folder 15, BGC Archives).Google Scholar

64. Graham, Franklin, Rebel With a Cause, pp. 115–153; Martin, Prophet With Honor, p. 453.Google Scholar

65. For a good look at Graham's relationship with Nixon see Martin, Prophet With Honor, especially pp. 269–283, 350–371, 391–399, and 420–435.Google Scholar

66. While still a major topic in the religious press, the Jesus Movement by 1972 was old news to the national secular press, except for an occasional article on the continuing adventures of the Children of God (for example see Lawrence Fellows, “Jesus People Think They Have a Fertile Field in West Germany,” New York Times, 24 02 1972, p. 2;Google Scholar and n.a., A Day in the Life of the Children of God,” U. S. News & World Report, 20 03 1972, 65).Google Scholar One of the few articles about the larger movement in a national magazine was Peter Maurin, Children of Yearning: Meditations on the Jesus Movement,” Saturday Review, 6 05 1972, 5863.Google Scholar

67. This was certainly evident to local journalists in southern California (See, for example, Chandler, Russell, “Jesus Movement Still Going Strong,” Los Angeles Times, 13 12 1975, p. 34;Google Scholar and n.a., 60s Jesus People Reshape Evangelical Church,” Los Angeles Herald-Examiner, 12 08 1978, p. A7). Issues of Cornerstone, the house organ of the Chicago-based Jesus People U.S.A. (JPUSA), continued to list a large number of Christian coffeehouses and Jesus people discipleship groups well into the late 1970s. JPUSA, a remnant of the Jesus Movement, continues to go strong in its commune in the Uptown neighborhood of ChicagoGoogle Scholar (see Jones, Timothy, “Jesus‘ People,” Christianity Today, 14 09 1992, 2025). Cornerstone—glitzier and more polished now—has earned a reputation for well-researched exposés of problems in the evangelical communityGoogle Scholar (see for example itsreport on the fraudulent career of Christian comedian and alleged ex-Satanist Mike Warnke by Trott, John and Hertenstein, Mike, “Selling Satan: The Tragic History of Mike Warnke,” Cornerstone 21, no. 98 [1992], 719, 30, 38).Google Scholar

68. Graham certainly had major reservations about the blasphemies of “Superstar” but thought it was at least raising the question of the day, “Jesus Christ, Superstar, do You think You are what they say You are?” (Graham, “Jesus Christ, Superstar,” 13 07 1971, Greater Chicago Crusade, collection 345: BGEA-Media Office, box 30, folder 27, BGC Archives). Allowing additional insight into the thought patterns of evangelical youth during this period, Chris Brunson wrote: “We saw [Chicago-based Southern Baptist youth speaker] Sammy Tippit in the Baptist Church. He was real good, I thought. He and his friends had long hair, yet they were dedicated to Christ. Sammy had a greatsinging group with him, and they sang some groovy songs they had composed. He really got to me. Sammy proved once and for all you can be a hippie and still be a Christian” (Letter to the editor from Chris Brunson, Rockford (Illinois) Star, 28 February 1972, collection 360: BGEA-Scrapbooks, reel #34 [March-October 1972], BGC Archives).Google Scholar

69. See Baker, Paul, Contemporary Christian Music: Where It Came From, What It Is, Where It's Going (Westchester, III.: Crossway Books, 1985); despite being written from a rather fan-oriented perspective, Baker's study is nonetheless a decent overview of the transformation of “Jesus Rock” into “Contemporary Christian Music.”However, the pace of change, diversification, and streamlining in “CCM” has been frenetic: much has happened since the publication of Baker's book. See evangelical publications like CCM Magazine for recent developments and a glimpse at the proliferation of evangelical youth cultures associated with various styles of popular music.Google Scholar