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And this past weekend (August 6–8, 2010), “Hope” was the central message of the 21st annual Southern California Harvest Crusade with Greg Laurie and the theme clearly struck a chord with Southland residents as more than 118,000 people packed out Angel Stadium of Anaheim, home of baseball’s Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, over three nights, many of whom came seeking spiritual answers. Greg Laurie has been a mainstay in Southern California since 1990, and his crusades around the world have drawn more than 4.1 million people to evangelistic outreach events. The 2010 Southern California Harvest Crusade was hosted by more than 300 local churches and supported by more than 6,000 volunteers. Drawing from his own experience of grief and loss over the death of his son Christopher in 2008, the Riverside, California, pastor and evangelist Greg Laurie told the audience gathered at the Harvest Crusades each night about the hope they could find in a relationship with Jesus Christ.
So I decided to discover more about how this extraordinary event started and so I turned to John Collins, Executive Director for Harvest Ministries, who has been at Greg Laurie’s side since the beginnning. I began my interview in the press box of Angel Stadium by asking Collins how it all started. “It began clear back in 1999, some 21 years ago, and it was an idea that Pastor Chuck Smith, senior pastor of Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa, California, had,” said Collins. “Greg was doing Bible studies on Monday nights at the church and Chuck had observed them and saw that there were a 100 or so people come forward to make professions of faith at every service. So Chuck suggested that we get the rest of the church community involved in this, and added, ‘Let’s get a big venue.’” Collins said that Smith suggested that the “big venue” be the Pacific Amphitheater in Costa Mesa, a well-known rock venue. At first, Greg was concerned about how they could fill the place, but Chuck Smith pressed on believing that God was behind this huge step of faith. “That first year, we had 90,000 people attend and some 6,500 of them made professions of faith,” he told me. “We’d never done something like this before and the churches in Orange County hadn’t worked together in some time and never had rallied around Greg for that purpose. So it was a lot of risk, but as it all turned out, on the last night we actually had to turn people away.” He then said that they began holding the annual Harvest crusades at what is now called Angel Stadium. “We’ve been going there year after year in ever since,” Collins said. “And it’s opened doors for us to go around the country to be doing Harvest Crusades. In fact, we’ve been to Australia and New Zealand and maybe one day London,” he added with a smile, knowing that that was my home for many years. I then asked John Collins to talk about some of the challenges that Greg Laurie has faced over the past three years, beginning with the time in 2007 that he suffered from Vertigo, and wasn’t sure if he would be able to speak. “When Greg got here to the stadium, he said that the room was ‘spinning around in circles’ and it’s pretty hard to get your bearings when that occurs,” Collins recalled. “But the Lord had grace and Greg was able to get up to speak each night. We had a preacher on standby just in case we needed some help that was Raul Ries. So Raul had a message in his back pocket just in case, but fortunately, Greg was able to finish the whole weekend and it was a great weekend.
“The following year, 2008 — just three weeks prior to the crusade — Pastor Greg’s son Christopher was suddenly taken to heaven through a car accident. That was a trying and stressful time yet, when it came time to the crusade, Greg felt that this was something he still needed to do. “In fact, I remember him calling me one day and saying, ‘Look, I’ve got a job to do despite all that I’m going through and all the hurt and tremendous grief that I am experiencing.’ He just felt that tremendous call on his life, which was to continue to do what God had initially called him to do and he knew that his son Christopher would want it to be that way also because Chris had a heart for young people and a heart for the Gospel. So as hard as it was, we moved through the process in that weekend and God blessed in a tremendous way. “Then, last year, it was our twentieth anniversary. So again it was just another kind of a milestone for all of us on the team, including Pastor Greg, to mark, but not what we’ve accomplished, but what God has done. It’s all due to His faithfulness; using flawed and imperfect people, but with a message that is changing lives and is absolutely perfect and absolutely right and relevant for the times.” I then asked Collins about whose idea it was for the special “Hope” night that was held last Sunday. “That also came out of Greg’s experience and the suffering and the grieving that he’d gone through,” he said. “I think what happened was that Steven Curtis Chapman had also experienced the loss of his daughter and Greg thought that having them both on the platform sharing their stories, would produce a powerful message that would help so many other people going through tragedy in their lives. “Initially, Greg had called Steven and invited him to come to our church {Harvest Christian Fellowship in Riverside, California] and the two of them did an evening together that we called ‘A Night of Hope.’ From that we could see that there were great elements that could be brought into the crusade ministry.”
So they went ahead with what was called “An Evening of Hope,” on Sunday evening, which was a first-of-its-kind program called where a capacity crowd of 48,000 people gathered at Angel Stadium to hear Laurie discuss issues of pain, suffering, and loss with psychologist and author Dr. James Dobson and Grammy Award-winning musician Steven Curtis Chapman, who experienced the death of his youngest daughter, Maria Sue, two years ago. Addressing the pain of loss that eventually everyone will go through, Laurie asked the crowd, “Why do bad things happen? The answer is this.” After a pause he said, “I don’t know. But as Christians, we do not sorrow as those who have no hope because we will see our loved ones again. If you are a Christian, you are reassured by that hope.” Chapman later added, “God restores and redeems what he takes away. There are no words for the pain of loss, but our hope is in the resurrection. Emmanuel, God is with us.” Chapman and MercyMe took the stage to perform music that reflected the theme of the weekend, and as he did each night of the Harvest Crusade, Laurie concluded the Sunday evening program with an invitation for those in attendance to walk onto the outfield of Angel Stadium to put their faith in Christ. Over the course of the weekend, 11,789 people did just that. I then asked John Collins about the regular gaggle of protestors who seemed to appear, most years, like clockwork outside Angel Stadium, with their slogans such as “Laurie Leads to Hell,” and a new one for me, “God Caused 9/11.” They have become such a regular feature at the Southern California Harvest Crusades that Laurie has even featured them in a video that began the first night and was shown on a big screen. Collins said, “They weren’t at the last two crusades, but they’ve come back this year again. I think people like them want to use the platform that we’ve developed — with all the people coming and the spotlight — and they want to grab it for their own little hobby horse. The message that most of these groups have is kind of wacky or strange and in some ways, theologically off. As they can’t apparently gather people on the merits of what they believe, they try to hone in on somebody else’s territory and make their statements.” He added, “They’re very aggressive and obnoxious in their methods and that’s unfortunate because it just gives the church a black eye and makes our job a little harder. But we do what we do and I think that most people realize that these types of distractions are just that.” I concluded by asking Collins if, looking back over the last 21 years, if he would have done anything different? “Maybe I would probably have done a lot of things different, and I could probably write a book on it but, in the end, it’s not about our methods or our strategies; it’s just God’s favor. “I wish at times that I could have built a bigger platform for Greg; given him a bigger opportunity to present the Gospel to more people; but that requires God’s unique ability to open doors for us and His provision. So I think we’ve used the tools that we have and the provisions and resources that we have been given, as best we possibly can. Looking back, I’m happy to know that God’s been with us every step of the way.” During the past 21 years, the Harvest Crusades have drawn some 4.1 million people to events in the U.S., Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. Laurie also serves on the board of directors for the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and Samaritan’s Purse. 2010 Harvest Crusade events are also scheduled for Chicago (Allstate Arena, Sept. 24 –26) and Seattle (Key Arena, Nov. 5 – 7). Note: I would like to thank Robin Frost for transcribing this interview.
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Thankyou for your transcript. I live in Australia & was saved 5 & half years ago & my sister Mary told me about Greg Laurie. I have been reading his daily devotions for over 2 years & I have told many friends about Greg Harvest Ministries. This transcript has encouraged me & it great to see Greg has so much support.