GREENSBORO, N.C. - A Triad pastor got his start back in 1976, working with the crusade team for Billy Graham in San Diego.
Over Graham's career, he preached at more than 400 crusades worldwide. Before coming into town, he would send a campaign team ahead of him to set up before the big event. Pastor Michael Usey says his own experience at one of these crusades shaped his religious path.
To those who saw him - at a crusade, on television, or face to face - there was something that set Reverend Billy Graham apart.
“He was used by God's wild spirit in the moment, and I think that is unique,” said Usey.
Pastor Usey runs his own church now, College Park American Baptist Church in Greensboro. As a high school senior in 1976, he heard one of Graham's crusades was coming to town.
“I went down and I started volunteering at the campaign headquarters, and I got to know everyone. So they offered me a job,” he said, “I was the team chauffeur, which basically meant I would pick up all the VIPs from the airport and bring them to the stadium.”
On numerous occasions, he met Billy Graham.
“He was warm, and friendly to everyone,” said Usey, “He was a good model for me as kind of a young Christian who wanted to be a pastor. I think that the things that I saw in his life were his faith, his integrity, and his ability to keep & make friends.”
► Make it easy to keep up to date with more stories like this. Download the WFMY News 2 App now
Decades later, inside a smaller venue, with a smaller crowd, Pastor Usey says Graham's influence is one that's stayed with him, inspiring him still.
“While there was an intensity to the whole thing, he kind of held all of that celebrity really lightly and I admire that,” he said, “He was really something.”
The pastor also said he greatly admired how open and loving Graham was, and how he would admit when he was wrong and apologize.