Billy Graham Library grounds to reopen – with COVID-19 precautions, ministry says
The Billy Graham Library grounds in Charlotte will reopen to the public for prayer and reflection beginning Monday, library officials said. All indoor facilities will remain closed.
To assure COVID-19 social distancing standards, only 20 visitors will be allowed on the property at a time, and access on the 20-acre grounds will be limited to the memorial prayer garden, according to a library news release Friday.
Admission will be free.
Visitors will find more hand sanitizer stations, and staff have increased the cleaning of benches and surfaces, officials said.
Library officials encourage visitors to follow CDC guidelines for being in public spaces. Visitors showing symptoms of the novel coronavirus should stay home.
Library officials closed the library and grounds last month for the safety of staff, volunteers and visitors because of the pandemic, Lisa Moseley, a spokeswoman for the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, told The Charlotte Observer.
The library is considered an essential service as a religious center and could have stayed open, she said.
Reopening the garden gives people a place “to pray, take a short walk and find respite from the uncertainty amid this global pandemic,” Scott Holmquist, library executive director, said in Friday’s release.
Evangelist Franklin Graham, Billy Graham’s son and president and CEO of the association, also spoke to the importance of reopening the garden.
“During this time with the coronavirus, fear is gripping the hearts of people around the world,” Graham said in a statement. Quoting a New Testament verse, he said, “We need to share the ‘reason for the hope that is in you.’”
Added Graham: “Let’s share His love with as many people as we can, making every day count.”
Billy Graham Rapid Response Team chaplains will be available “to listen to and pray” with visitors, according to Friday’s release.
Chaplains at the library “are subject to health guidelines, including having had their temperatures screened and wearing face masks,” officials said.
The Rapid Response Team recently sent chaplains with Samaritan’s Purse emergency field hospitals to New York City and Italy, and to areas across the South ravaged by Easter Sunday tornadoes.