Billy Graham funeral: Trump, Obama and Bill Clinton expected to attend ceremony under canvas

Billy Graham's funeral is expected to be attended by Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence as well the living former US presidents Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, Jimmy Carter, George H W Bush and his son George W Bush.

As CBN put it, Graham will finish in the same way that he started – under a large white tent in front of thousands of people.

Yesterday evening, the family spokesman Mark DeMoss announced that the great preacher's funeral service will be held on Friday, March 2, at 12 noon in a canvas tent set up near The Billy Graham Library in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Billy and Ruth Graham smile and hold hands in this undated photo shared by their son Franklin. (Facebook/Franklin Graham)

Last night tributes continued to flood in from all around the world as everyone from presidents to preaches mourned his passing.  

Graham's coffin will be moved from the funeral home in Asheville in the state to Charlotte this Saturday, February 24.

On Monday and Tuesday, Graham will lie in repose at the Graham Family Homeplace from 8am to 10pm, when the public will be allowed to pay their respects.

The funeral service will be private and will include family members, friends, and community leaders who were touched by Graham's ministry with around 2,300 people in total attending the 90-minute service.

Graham himself spoke regularly about death and approved the planning and details of his funeral arrangements years before his death and made sure the focus will not be on him, but on the gospel, CBN reported.

His son, Franklin Graham, will give the eulogy, and his other children will speak briefly to honour their father.

In 1949, Graham's preaching first gained national prominence when he held a 'crusade' in downtown Los Angeles under a large white tent, also known as a 'canvas cathedral'. He then went to impact the lives of millions through his powerful speaking and altar calls with thousands saying their lives were transformed by his preaching.

DeMoss said: 'His family and team members thought it would be fitting to also conduct his funeral service under a tent as a reminder of how his public ministry was launched.'

At Graham's request, his casket was hand-made by inmates of Angola Prison in Louisiana in 2006.

Graham will be buried at the Billy Graham Library next to his wife Ruth, who died in 2007.

You can read Billy Graham's obituary here.

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