Charlotte, N.C. ? Billy Graham helped break ground Friday in Charlotte for a library in his name, forsaking solemnity for a bit of mischief.

Considering that the Billy Graham Library will feature a mechanical talking cow, it seemed fitting that the evangelist of honor turned comedian for a day.

Graham thanked his friend and lawyer, Joe Grier Jr., for keeping him out of jail. He joked that while he never became a millionaire, he let his developer-nephew Mel become one. Reminding the crowd of 400 that he’s just about deaf, the 86-year-old said he never hears a word his wife, Ruth, says at home in Montreat, N.C.

It all made for an upbeat celebration at the Billy Graham Evangelistic Assn. – brightened by a spry appearance from a frail old man who insists that the library honor Christ and not a farm boy from Charlotte.

“A living crusade” is what Franklin Graham called the library due to open in 18 to 24 months – a $25 million building that’ll present what he called “the truth of the gospel.”

The Rev. Billy Graham, left, gets a hug from his youngest sister, Jean Graham Ford, after a groundbreaking ceremony Friday for the Billy Graham Library in Charlotte, N.C.

And yes, Franklin Graham said, acknowledging the buzz it’s already stirred, a talking cow will give kids something to see besides his father’s memorabilia.

The cow, he said, will even challenge kids to count how many times Billy Graham says “Jesus” during their library visit, with everyone who plays along getting a prize.

The ministry has raised $13 million of the $25 million sought to build the library. The front of the 40,000-square-foot building will resemble a barn, visitors will enter through a giant cross, and a theater will show footage of Graham’s half-century of crusades. Graham’s boyhood house will be moved to the ministry’s 63-acre site and opened to the public.

Organizers estimate that the library – which doesn’t plan to charge admission – will attract 200,000 people a year. In his remarks to ministry workers, friends and library donors, Franklin Graham predicted annual crowds of 200,000 to 400,000. He also said he hopes it will attract school field trips.

Mindful of the need to protect the religious freedom of all public school students, Charles Haynes of the First Amendment Center in Arlington, Va., believes it would be OK for public schools to take field trips to a Billy Graham Library. But the library would have to focus on educating people, not calling on them to make a faith commitment. And parents should have the right to sign up, or opt out.