The Harvest Crusades were founded in 1990 by Greg Laurie. Harvest Crusades are designed for Christians to invite others to hear the gospel in a nonthreatening environment, and are held at the invitation of unified local churches wanting to impact their communities.
Contents
General
In 1990 Greg Laurie started holding his first public evangelistic event which would soon be called the Harvest Crusades. Since the first Crusade it has been estimated that nearly 4 million people have attended in stadiums, amphitheaters, and like venues.
A typical Harvest Crusade begins with worship—a foundation that Laurie believes to be very important. After opening worship, songs from the Harvest Crusade Band (or local "praise teams" depending on the venue) and featured guest musicians perform and share stories of how they believe God has changed their lives. Since all Harvest Crusades are held at the invitation of local churches, it is not uncommon for local pastors and other special guests to offer prayers between musical performances. After the music is finished, Laurie presents a simple evangelical gospel message from the Bible, often advertised as a "down to earth talk about heaven." At the end of this message, Laurie invites the attendees to come forward toward the stage and publicly repent from their sins, profess their trust in Jesus Christ, and ask for salvation. After coming forward, each individual is greeted by a trained volunteer "decision follow-up counselor" from a local church. These counselors pray with the supplicants, answer questions, and provide them with free materials including a Bible.
Harvest Crusades are always free and open to the public. Some venues the organization has used charge for parking, but Harvest Crusades receives no compensation from these venues. Instead, the organization is supported by private donations.
Harvest has hosted large-scale evangelistic outreaches throughout the United States and in Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. More than 5.3 million people have attended, with over 450,600 making professions of faith in Christ.
In addition to music from top Christian artists, each event features a biblical and culturally relevant gospel message from Pastor Greg Laurie, including an invitation to accept Jesus Christ. With a vision to reach even further using technology, viewers around the world can connect via live webcasts, apps, podcasts, and social media in addition to radio and TV broadcasts.
Harvest America
In 2012, an annual nationwide simulcast event called "Harvest America" extended Harvest events into churches, theaters, and living rooms across the country. With thousands of host locations, over 429,500 have attended one and more than 33,300 responding to the gospel invitation. They began these events at a Harvest Crusade event in 2012, which was broadcast live from Angel Stadium to host sites around the world. The next year, the Harvest America ministry went to Philadelphia. In 2014, Harvest America went to Dallas, Texas and had an overall in person attendance of 25,00 and an online attendance of 100,000 in many host sites around the world. In March of 2016, Greg Laurie will be taking Harvest America to AT&T Stadium in Dallas, Texas. This event is said to be one of the largest evangelical events ever.