Clash of ideologies: Protesters greet attendees at Franklin Graham's Berkeley event

BERKELEY, Calif. (KTVU) - Hundreds of people came to Berkeley's Cesar Chavez Park for a religious experience Friday night.

"America needs more churchgoers more than ever. In my humble opinion, this is it," says Rita Raiassi of Danville.  

They came to rejoice, enjoy Christian music, and hear the religious teachings from a man that some call a controversial pastor, Reverend Franklin Graham.  

He rolled into town on tour buses for his 10-city 'Decision America' California Tour. 

"There are a lot of people in Berkeley who are searching and I don't think they know what they're searching for and I'm here to tell them God is right there," says Graham. 

But not everyone wanted to hear his words. Members of Refusefascism.org say Graham is anti-abortion and condemns gay people's civil rights.

San Francisco's Reverend Amos Brown joined the group supporting their stance.  

"Jesus didn't say one word about gay people. But you have this man Franklin Graham who [bashes] gay people, says Rev. Brown of Third Baptist Church.  The church issued a statement denouncing Graham as racist and fascist. 

"I'm not homophobic. If I were, I wouldn't be here," says Graham.  

"What Pastor Graham is preaching is just from the bible. He's just standing on his morals and what the word of God says," Jermaine Hargraves of Vallejo. 

However, Graham makes it clear he is against same-sex marriage and people, whether gay or straight, need to respect what he says the bible states.  

"Any type of relationship outside of that marriage relationship is a sin. Whether it is a heterosexual, homosexual, it's a sin. I just want people to know that God will forgive them," says Graham.  

"He's entitled to have his interpretation, but I think if we read history. We'll discover that Jesus wasn't a divider he was a uniter, says Brown.