Behind the scenes with Will Graham Celebration

John Cass spends a lot of time on the road. Cass is the point man for the East Alabama-West Georgia Will Graham Celebration, set to take over Auburn University's Beard-Eaves Coliseum from March 26 through March 28. He's been in Lee County since last October, putting together details of the massive event that is expected to fill the 12,000-seat Coliseum and draw from a 75-mile area.

"I'll probably stay through May, working on follow-up for two months," Cass said. "These crusades are one of my major responsibilities."

When he arrived, Cass rented a small office on Skyway Drive, off East Glenn in Auburn. Three employees from the Billy Graham Evangelical Association in Asheville, N.C., came with him, and he hired five more employees locally.

When a reporter arrives at 10 a.m., the group is engaged in morning prayer.

"The Celebration will be on us before we know it," Cass said.

The team handles all the details, starting with updating church mailing lists, sharing the plan and identifying churches where meetings can be held. Right now, a series of Christian Life and Witness courses is going on at area churches, starting Feb. 1 and continuing all month.

Another part of the team's job is training the several thousand

volunteers who will do everything from act as ushers to help entertainers to counsel new Christians. They also work with the Celebration's local executive committee, chaired by retired local attorney Banks Herndon.

And Will Graham, Billy Graham's 34-year-old look-alike grandson, has already been to Lee County for a devotional breakfast.

The team is also responsible for lining up entertainment for the event, typically two or three artists each night, starting their free performances at about 6:30 p.m.

"There's usually a two-hour program," Cass said. "We get Christian musical artists, and sometimes they are pretty big names."

The Lee County event will be Will Graham's sixth Celebration in the U.S. He has spent more time in India and Canada, Cass said.

Cass himself spent September in India training pastors, as well as a month in Quito, Ecuador. He spent a year in Australia, but most of his travel is in the U.S.

His home is in Charlotte, and his family comes to Auburn to visit once a month. Cass went home for Christmas, though.

It's all worth it, he maintains.

"The world sees so much of what the Christian community stands against, but they don't get to see them standing together, all different denominations," he said. "There are a lot of hurting, broken people out there, and we're praying they'll come."