c. 2003 Religion News Service

(UNDATED) More than 3,000 mourners gathered Wednesday (July 30) for an Orlando, Fla., memorial service to recall Campus Crusade for Christ founder Bill Bright as a mentor, friend and evangelist whose multimedia ministry spanned the globe.

Bright, the founder of the large evangelical organization that extended far beyond campuses to a wide array of initiatives for athletes, executives and others, died July 19 at the age of 81 after suffering from pulmonary fibrosis.

He co-founded Campus Crusade with his wife, Vonette, in 1951, and it grew to include 26,000 full-time staffers and more than 225,000 trained volunteers working in 60 different ministries and projects.

His sons, his pastor and dignitaries from evangelical and political circles recalled Bright’s willingness to pray for them and to encourage many to become Christians as he had.

“He surrendered his life to Jesus Christ,” said the Rev. Howard Edington, the Bright family’s pastor, in a message at First Baptist Church of Orlando. “He patterned his life after Jesus Christ. Now he is with Jesus Christ.”

Edington, pastor of Providence Presbyterian Church in Hilton Head, S.C., was among those who took turns at the podium bedecked with flowers and a large, smiling photo of Bright.

Bright’s son, Bradley, recalled how his father strove in his last days to keep up his Bible study, despite sleepiness.

“He was struggling to spend time with the Lord even with the haze of the medication,” his son recalled. “That was a phenomenal example to me.”

His other son, Zachary, said Bright spent family time in earlier days arguing about faith, culture and politics.

“It’s been said that the two things you don’t discuss at dinner are religion and politics but in our home, what else could be so important?” he said.

Between the singing of Bright’s favorite hymns and the reading of verses from the evangelical leader’s Bible, others recalled him evangelizing taxicab drivers and maids or simply pausing to pray for them in a church hallway or over the telephone.

Well-known evangelical leaders such as Prison Fellowship Chairman Chuck Colson, religious broadcaster Pat Robertson and Focus on the Family founder James Dobson lauded Bright as a mentor and a friend.

Tim Goeglein, special assistant to President Bush, recalled regular conference calls he had with Bright on Mondays and how, even on his last call, Bright remarked on the happiness his faith had brought him.

“`I want you to know that I’m here rejoicing in the name of my lord and savior Jesus Christ,”’ Goeglein recalled Bright saying. “He said, `I’m always rejoicing.’ That was his signature song.”

Just as Bright’s ministries have used different media to spread the gospel _ from “The Four Spiritual Laws” booklet to the “Jesus” film _ the service reached those recalling his life in many ways. About 3,500 were in attendance at the 21/2-hour service, but others watched via satellite and a Webcast. Video greetings came from Housing and Urban Development Secretary Mel Martinez and Sen. Elizabeth Dole, R-N.C.

Billy Graham’s greetings came in a letter read by his son, Franklin Graham, who has succeeded him as president of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association.

“I think Bill Bright is one of the most focused people I ever knew,” the elder Graham wrote. “He had one goal in life: to share Jesus Christ with as many people as possible and by every means possible. His vision, his single-mindedness and his dedication were a constant example to me and to countless others whose lives he touched across the world.”

Bright, a native Oklahoman who once owned a confections business, often spoke of his transition from a “happy pagan” to a “slave of Jesus Christ.” His Campus Crusade organization was long based in California but moved to Orlando in 1991.

After the many speeches praising Bright’s 50-plus years of evangelical endeavors, his successor challenged people to move beyond the man and remember his mission.

“The challenge of the life and the death of Bill Bright to all of us is this: Will we pick up the torch?” said Stephen Douglass, president of Campus Crusade since 2001.

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