Graham, 86 and in frail health, bowed out Sunday with an appeal to tens of thousands of followers and many more watching on television to spread the faith in a world he said was full of "wickedness", violence and corruption. He also told them "it wont be long" before he dies.
"Theres no one else like him," said Tom Scanlan, a 41-year-old executive-search consultant and born-again Christian who joined about 90,000 others in a New York park.
American patriotism, Christian rock music and prayers featured in the program as the white-haired preacher wound up three days of revival meetings at Flushing Meadows that included an appearance by former U.S. president Bill Clinton.
We hope to come back again some day," said Graham, though he noted it was "probably" his last U.S. sermon. However, he said he still hopes to preach one more time in London.
Parents pushing babies in strollers mixed with elderly faithful in an ethnically diverse audience, many of them holding up umbrellas against the blazing sun or lying on picnic blankets under trees. Others swayed their arms, palms uplifted, to the music.
South Korean-born Sarah Kim said evangelical Christianity's message of personal redemption through Jesus Christ had helped her and her 22-year-old son, who just finished U.S. Army infantry school.
"God gave him strength for every day," she said. "Hes not afraid of the devil."
Graham, who suffers from prostate cancer and Parkinsons disease, has indicated he chose New York as his final U.S. venue because of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, which he believes left many New Yorkers looking for spiritual support.
A New York firefighter told Sunday's crowd he found faith after several dozen of his colleagues were killed by collapsing structures while attempting to save lives on Sept. 11.
"Religion is one of the great things in America today," the ailing Graham said in his sermon, which lasted just over 20 minutes.
New York is also the place where Graham held a summer of revival meetings at Madison Square Garden in 1957, kick-starting a career that has taken him to virtually every country. His warnings against communism, liberalism and moral decline have reached many millions worldwide through television appearances and rallies.
If this was indeed his swan song, Graham is retiring with the evangelical Protestant movement at its most vibrant and politically influential in years.
U.S. President George W. Bush is a born-again Christian whose Republican party has rallied religious conservatives - key voters who have helped him win two terms in the White House.
While Graham gave spiritual advice to a string of U.S. presidents, he largely stayed out of politics. But he helped spawn younger evangelical activists now at the forefront of the fight for tougher laws on social issues like abortion and gay marriage.
Bush, mindful of the political center, has not made sweeping concessions to the religious right. But a new battle could loom if a seat on the U.S. Supreme Court opens up, possibly through retirement of one of the justices, and Bush can name a replacement.
Another sign of evangelical Christianity's strength is the rapidly growing number of "megachurches" with space for thousands of worshippers, which often provide what amounts to a range of community services with an evangelical underpinning.
Nearly 900 megachurches are operating in the U.S. these days, up from 250 in 1990.
Scanlan, the New York consultant, explained the appeal of the faith for him and growing number of others.
"It gives you hope spiritually and, practically, gives you a way to live your life that is just and with integrity," he said. "It gives you a purpose so you're not floundering around."
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