On September 10, 1951, a selected group of the Christian Business Men's Committee of Albuquerque, New Mexico, met to consider the possibility of conducting a city-wide revival campaign. The CBMC had been approached earlier by evangelist Jack Shuler who suggested the period between November 25 and December 16 of that year. Timing did not seem right, but the desire was almost unanimous that such a campaign was desirable. The City Wide Revival Campaign Committee was formed to suggest the time, place, and personnel for this purpose. It consisted of 18 ministers and four laymen.

In June 1952, the Committee met with fifty-five ministers of the city and two members of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, Grady Wilson and Cliff Barrows, to discuss the possibility of Billy Graham's holding a crusade in the city. Wilson and Barrows described the BGEA policies of operation, discussed the possibilities of housing the crusade, its budget, and other details. As a result of this meeting, an invitation was extended to conduct a campaign for the month of November 1952, and to plan for construction of a tabernacle. The Albuquerque group was to incorporate for the duration of crusade needs, to solicit participation of ministers, and to provide for the subcommittees to follow up on all details required for operation. Arrangements for construction of a semi-permanent tabernacle to be used for this Crusade required considerable negotiation.

The crusade was reported in Albuquerque papers as drawing the largest indoor crowds in the history of the city. During the Crusade, Time magazine featured a story on Graham, describing him as "...the hottest Protestant soul-saver since the late Billy Sunday quit the sawdust trail." A total of 144,030 persons attended the meetings resulting in a total of 3,826 responding to the call at the completion of the services.