Billy Graham’s Grandson Resigns From Megachurch After Affair
Billy Graham’s Grandson Resigns From Megachurch After Affair
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William Graham Tullian Tchividjian attends the Billy Graham birthday party on November 7, 2013 in Asheville, United States.Alicia Funderburk — Getty Images
A grandson of the influential evangelical pastor Billy Graham has resigned from the pulpit at a high-profile church in South Florida after church leaders discovered he was having an affair.
Tullian Tchividjian said that he returned from a trip a few months ago to find his wife having an affair, and that he in turn went on to a friend with whom he “sought comfort,” in a statement to the Washington Post. “I resigned from my position at Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church today due to ongoing marital issues.”
“Both my wife and I are heartbroken over our actions,” he said.
The pastor, 42, has three children with his wife, Kim. Tchividjian was widely considered a rising star in evangelical circles and is the fourth Florida megachurch pastor to resign after having affairs, according to the Post.
Tchividjian’s grandfather, the 96-year-old Billy Graham, was an adviser to U.S. presidents including Dwight Eisenhower and Lyndon Johnson.
LIFE With Billy Graham: Rare Photos From the Early Years of His Career
Not published in LIFE. The Rev. Billy Graham in 1952.Mark Kauffman—TIME & LIFE Pictures/Getty ImagesNot published in LIFE. Billy Graham, Washington, D.C., 1952. Mark Kauffman—TIME & LIFE Pictures/Getty ImagesNot published in LIFE. Billy Graham in Washington, D.C., 1952.Mark Kauffman—TIME & LIFE Pictures/Getty ImagesNot published in LIFE. Billy Graham and his daughter, Ruth, in 1956.Ed Clark—TIME & LIFE Pictures/Getty ImagesNot published in LIFE. Billy and Ruth Graham and their four children in North Carolina in 1956: Franklin (who would become the pastor's designated successor as head of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association), Virginia, Anne and Ruth. Ed Clark—TIME & LIFE Pictures/Getty ImagesNot published in LIFE. Billy Graham and family in North Carolina in 1956. Ed Clark—TIME & LIFE Pictures/Getty ImagesNot published in LIFE. Billy Graham preaches in Little Rock, Arkansas, in 1959.Francis Miller—TIME & LIFE Pictures/Getty ImagesNot published in LIFE. Billy Graham in Africa on a six-week crusade in 1960. He traveled 14,000 miles and preached to a third of a million people, some 20,000 of whom raised their hands as a sign of their born-again experience. James Burke—TIME & LIFE Pictures/Getty ImagesNot published in LIFE. While in Africa in 1960, Graham preached in stadiums, on banana plantations and in mud huts. One place he did not preach was South Africa. He was a vocal opponent of apartheid and insisted on desegregated seating at his rallies in Africa, as he did in the American South and everywhere else he preached.James Burke—TIME & LIFE Pictures/Getty ImagesNot published in LIFE. Billy Graham during his 1960 crusade through Africa. James Burke—TIME & LIFE Pictures/Getty ImagesNot published in LIFE. Billy Graham in Africa, 1960. When he first began to preach, as a student at the Florida Bible Institute, he would paddle a canoe across the Hillsborough River to a little island where, as he wrote in his autobiography, "I could address all creatures great and small, from alligators to birds. If they would not stop to listen, there was always a congregation of cypress stumps that could neither slither nor fly away." Today, the area is the site of Rev. Billy Graham Memorial Park.James Burke—TIME & LIFE Pictures/Getty ImagesNot published in LIFE. During his 1960 African crusade, Graham explained the Bible to a group of Waarusha warriors living in a village at the base of Mount Meru, not far from Kilimanjaro, in Tanganyika (now Tanzania). James Burke—TIME & LIFE Pictures/Getty ImagesNot published in LIFE. "My home is in Heaven," said Graham. "I'm just traveling through this world."James Burke—TIME & LIFE Pictures/Getty ImagesNot published in LIFE. As the 1960 presidential campaign heated up, LIFE asked several leaders and thinkers to address the topic of "The National Purpose" in a series of essays. Graham wrote that, despite America's postwar prosperity, there was a nationwide sense of unfulfillment, a "moral and spiritual cancer" that could only be cured by a return to God.Alfred Eisenstaedt—TIME & LIFE Pictures/Getty ImagesNot published in LIFE. Billy Graham, 1960. Golf played a key role in Graham's life; he wrote in his autobiography that he received his calling to preach the gospel on the 18th green of the Temple Terrace Golf and Country Club. He joked that God wouldn't let him get too good at golf, or else he'd spend too much time playing.Alfred Eisenstaedt—TIME & LIFE Pictures/Getty ImagesNot published in LIFE. Billy Graham in 1960.Alfred Eisenstaedt—TIME & LIFE Pictures/Getty ImagesNot published in LIFE. Billy Graham reads from the book of Isaiah, Chapter 33, Verse 2: "O Lord, be gracious unto us; we have waited for thee: be thou their arm every morning, our salvation also in the time of trouble." Alfred Eisenstaedt—TIME & LIFE Pictures/Getty ImagesBilly Graham joins newly inaugurated president John F. Kennedy at a national prayer breakfast at Washington's Mayflower Hotel in February 1961.Paul Schutzer—TIME & LIFE Pictures/Getty Images
