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Greg Laurie

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Pastor
Greg Laurie
Laurie in 2019
Born (1952-12-10) December 10, 1952 (age 72)
Long Beach, California, U.S.
Occupation(s)Christian pastor, evangelist, author, law enforcement chaplain
EmployerHarvest Christian Fellowship
Known forHarvest Crusades
TitleSenior Pastor
Spouse
Cathe Martin
​
(m. 1974)​
Children2
Websitewww.harvest.org

Greg Laurie (born December 10, 1952) is an American evangelical pastor, evangelist, and Christian author who serves as the senior pastor of Harvest Christian Fellowship, based in Riverside, California. He also is the founder of Harvest Crusades. Laurie is also the subject of the 2023 film Jesus Revolution, which tells the story of how he converted to Christianity and got his start in ministry in the midst of the Jesus movement.

Early life and education

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Greg Laurie was born in Long Beach, California. He was raised by a single mother married seven times total; they moved often, sometimes to vastly different locations such as New Jersey and Hawaii.[1] He worked as a newspaper boy for the Daily Pilot in Orange County, California.[2] Laurie was not raised in the Christian faith or a church environment. In 1970, when Laurie was 17 years old, he became a devout Christian while attending Newport Harbor High School under the ministry of evangelist Lonnie Frisbee, as the Jesus Movement was exploding in Southern California.[3][2]

Ministry

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In 1973, at the age of 20, under the mentorship of Calvary Chapel pastor Chuck Smith, Laurie was given the opportunity to lead a Bible study of 30 people in Riverside, California.[4] The group quickly grew in size, and that same year, Laurie founded the Harvest Christian Fellowship in Riverside, where he still serves as senior pastor.[4]

In 1990, Laurie founded the Harvest Crusades, an organization that hosts large-scale evangelistic events around the U.S.[5]

Laurie serves on the board of directors for the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association.[6] He is also a chaplain for the Newport Beach Police Department.[2] In 2013, Laurie served as the Honorary Chairman of the National Day of Prayer Task Force. President Donald Trump selected Pastor Laurie as one of several evangelical church leaders to participate in the National Prayer Service hosted at the Washington National Cathedral following the presidential inauguration of 2017.[7]

In 2017, Greg Laurie organized a movement titled "The Year of Good News". Multiple church leaders signed the letter he penned to initiate the movement.[8] One paragraph of the letter reads, "In a time of fake news, distracting news, divisive news, disorderly news, and, sometimes, depressing news, we—as Christians and as leaders—want to recommit ourselves to making sure that the Good News of Jesus cuts through it all. We call upon Christians in America to make 2017 'The Year of Good News.'"[9]

In 2017, Harvest Christian Fellowship became a member of the Southern Baptist Convention, at the request of Laurie, who considered that the latter has important national and international evangelistic programs. The church maintains its ties with Calvary Chapel.[10]

Harvest at Home and COVID-19

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When all California churches were forced temporarily to shut their doors because of COVID-19,[11] Harvest Christian Fellowship and Greg Laurie started the online church program "Harvest at Home", which swiftly became one of the most-watched internet worship services in America, averaging over 200,000 viewers weekly during the pandemic.

On Palm Sunday 2020, then-president Trump tweeted that he would be watching Harvest at Home, and the webcast saw record viewership that week, with over 1,300,000 people tuning in to watch.[12]

On October 5, 2020, Laurie revealed that he had contracted COVID-19, and released a statement saying, "Unfortunately, the coronavirus has become very politicized. I wish we could all set aside our partisan ideas and pull together to do everything we can to defeat this virus and bring our nation back."[13]

Harvest at Home continues to be one of the most widely watched online church services in America since the pandemic, with average viewership of over 100,000 in 2023.[citation needed]

Publishing and media

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Laurie has written more than 70 books, including The Upside-Down Church (1999, co-authored with David Kopp); this book won a Gold Medallion Book Award in the "Christian ministry" category in 2000.[14]

Laurie's sermons are featured on the syndicated half-hour daily program A New Beginning,[15] broadcast on over 1,100 radio stations worldwide.[16] A New Beginning is also featured as a Christian podcast, available on iTunes.[17] Laurie is also a guest commentator at WorldNetDaily and appears regularly in a weekly television program called GregLaurie.tv on the Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN).

In 2018, he published the autobiographical book Jesus Revolution, which was adapted for the cinema in 2023.[18][19] The film, also titled Jesus Revolution, is produced by Kingdom Story Company and Lionsgate. It depicts the story of how Laurie and his wife Cathe came to faith during the Jesus Movement in Southern California.[20][21]

Personal life

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Laurie resides in Newport Beach with his wife, Catherine. The couple had two sons, Christopher and Jonathan, as well as five grandchildren.[22] On July 24, 2008, Christopher was killed at the scene of a 9 a.m. car accident on the eastbound Riverside Freeway west of Serfas Club Drive in Corona, California. He was 33 years old.

Recognition

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Laurie holds two honorary doctorates, from Biola University and from Azusa Pacific University.[23]

Films

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Greg Laurie has produced or written six films:

He is working on a seventh documentary, about fame and faith.

Publications

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  • The Seeker's Bible: New Testament: New Living Translation. Wheaton, Ill: Tyndale House Publishers. 2000. ISBN 0-8423-3928-0.
  • Every Day with Jesus: First Steps for New Believers. Wheaton, Ill: Tyndale House Publishers. 2004. ISBN 1-4143-0075-1.
  • Losers and Winners, Saints and Sinners: How to Finish Strong in the Spiritual Race. New York: Warner Faith. 2005. ISBN 0-446-50015-1.
  • Wrestling with God. S.l: Multnomah Pub. 2006. ISBN 1-59052-894-8.
  • Lost Boy: My Story. Allen David / Kerygma;b. 2008. ISBN 978-1-942090-21-2.
  • Let God Change Your Life: How to Know and Follow Jesus. U.K.: David C. Cook. 2011. ISBN 978-1-4347-0207-4.
  • As It Is in Heaven: How Eternity Brings Focus to What Really Matters. 2014
  • Steve McQueen: The Salvation of an American Icon. American Icon Press. 2017. ISBN 978-1-946891-05-1.
  • Jesus Revolution: How God transformed an unlikely generation and how he can do it again today. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Books. 2018. ISBN 978-0-8010-7594-0.
  • Johnny Cash: The Redemption of An American Icon. Terrill Marshall. Washington, DC: Salem Books. 2019. ISBN 978-1-62157-974-8.
  • World Changers: How God Uses Ordinary People to do Extraordinary Things. Larry Libby. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Books, a division of Baker Publishing Group. 2020. ISBN 978-0-8010-7595-7.
  • Lennon, Dylan, Alice and Jesus. 2022.
  • Heaven's Light Breaking: A 25 Day Advent Devotional. K-Love Books (2023) ISBN 1-397-81954-201484

References

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  1. ^ "Harvest Church – Greg's Blog: About Me". Harvest.org. Archived from the original on August 13, 2018. Retrieved February 15, 2018.
  2. ^ a b c Kandil, Caitlin Yoshiko (August 12, 2016). "'A delivery boy' for God: Greg Laurie and his Harvest Crusade are back for a 27th year". Los Angeles Times. ISSN 0458-3035. Retrieved March 28, 2017.
  3. ^ Frisbee, Lonnie; Sachs, Roger (2012). Not By Might Nor By Power. Santa Maria, CA: Freedom Publications. pp. 125–126. ISBN 978-0-9785433-1-0.
  4. ^ a b Alex Murashko, Greg Laurie, Harvest to Celebrate 40 Years of 'Knowing God and Making Him Known', christianpost.com, USA, March 14, 2013
  5. ^ David Olson, Harvest Crusades: Thousands pack Angel Stadium to hear the good word – and pass it on, ocregister.com, USA, August 16, 2014
  6. ^ Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. 2006 Annual Report Archived 2007-08-10 at the Wayback Machine, p. 18
  7. ^ "Trump Stacks Prayer Service Lineup with Evangelicals". Gleanings | ChristianityToday.com. Retrieved March 28, 2017.
  8. ^ "Evangelical Leaders: Make 2017 'The Year of Good News'". CBN.com (beta). March 3, 2017. Retrieved March 28, 2017.
  9. ^ "The Year of Good News". Harvest: Greg Laurie. Archived from the original on September 27, 2018. Retrieved March 28, 2017.
  10. ^ Samuel Smith, "Greg Laurie's Calif. Megachurch Joins Southern Baptist Convention", christianpost.com, USA, June 13, 2017
  11. ^ "California governor shuts churches, businesses as COVID-19 cases surge". Reuters. July 13, 2020. Retrieved January 11, 2023.
  12. ^ Smith, Samuel (April 6, 2020). "Greg Laurie's Palm Sunday webcast draws 1.3M viewers, Trump: People are open to the Gospel". The Christian Post. Retrieved January 11, 2023.
  13. ^ "Greg Laurie Tests Positive for COVID-19". News & Reporting. October 5, 2020. Retrieved January 11, 2023.
  14. ^ Evangelical Christian Publishers Association 2000 Gold Medallion Book Awards Winners
  15. ^ "Oneplace.com". Retrieved April 10, 2012.
  16. ^ "Broadcast Listings". Retrieved October 21, 2022.
  17. ^ "RightNow Media". RightNow Media. Retrieved March 29, 2017.
  18. ^ Maureen Mackey, 'Jesus Revolution' taps into today's hunger for faith, says Greg Laurie: 'People are getting scared', foxnews.com, USA, March 1, 2023
  19. ^ Martin, Stephanie (March 29, 2019). "Greg Laurie: Pray for a Millennial Jesus Movement". ChurchLeaders. Retrieved July 8, 2021.
  20. ^ "Erwin Bros., Lionsgate to release film 'Jesus Revolution' based on 1970s spiritual awakening". The Christian Post. July 2, 2020. Retrieved July 8, 2021.
  21. ^ Larsen, Peter (February 22, 2023). "'Jesus Revolution' tells the true story of Christian hippies and an Orange County church". Daily News. Retrieved February 23, 2023.
  22. ^ "Harvest Church – Greg Laurie Biography". Harvest Church. Archived from the original on December 8, 2015. Retrieved November 28, 2015.
  23. ^ The National Day of Prayer, 2013 Honorary Chairman, Pastor Greg Laurie, nationaldayofprayer.org, USA, 2013
  24. ^ Thompson, Dwight (November 5, 2009), Lost Boy (Documentary), New Revolution Entertainment, retrieved January 11, 2023
  25. ^ Thompson, Dwight, Hope for Hurting Hearts (Documentary, Drama, Family), retrieved January 11, 2023
  26. ^ Smallbone, Ben (September 4, 2020), A Rush of Hope: Find Answers to Life's Questions (Biography), Kingdom Story Company, retrieved January 11, 2023
  27. ^ Erwin, Jon; Smallbone, Ben (September 28, 2017), Steve McQueen: American Icon (Documentary, Biography), American Icon Films, retrieved January 11, 2023
  28. ^ Smallbone, Ben (December 5, 2022), Johnny Cash: The Redemption of an American Icon (Documentary, Biography, Music), Harvest Ministries, Kingdom Story Company, Radiate Films, retrieved January 11, 2023
  29. ^ Erwin, Jon; McCorkle, Brent (February 24, 2023), Jesus Revolution (Drama), Kingdom Story Company, Lionsgate, retrieved January 11, 2023
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