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 Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...

and got his start in ministry in the midst of the Jesus movement.

Early life and education

Greg Laurie was born in

Long Beach, California Long Beach is a coastal city in southeastern Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is the list of United States cities by population, 44th-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 451,307 as of 2022. A charter ci ...

. 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. He worked as a newspaper boy for the ''Daily Pilot'' in Orange County, California. 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.

Ministry

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.Alex Murashko
Greg Laurie, Harvest to Celebrate 40 Years of 'Knowing God and Making Him Known'
christianpost.com, USA, March 14, 2013 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. In 1990, Laurie founded the Harvest Crusades, an organization that hosts large-scale evangelistic events around the U.S. Laurie serves on the board of directors for the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. He is also a chaplain for the Newport Beach Police Department. 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. 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. 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.'" 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.

Harvest at Home and COVID-19

When all California churches were forced temporarily to shut their doors because of

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

, 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. 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." 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.

Publishing and media

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. Laurie's sermons are featured on the syndicated half-hour daily program ''A New Beginning'', broadcast on over 1,100 radio stations worldwide. ''A New Beginning'' is also featured as a Christian podcast, available on iTunes. 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. 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.

Personal life

Laurie resides in Newport Beach with his wife, Catherine (Cathe). The couple had two sons, Christopher and Jonathan, as well as five grandchildren. 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

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

Films

Greg Laurie has produced or written six films: * ''Lost Boy'' * ''Hope for Hurting Hearts'' * ''A Rush of Hope'' * ''Steve McQueen: American Icon'' * ''

Johnny Cash John R. Cash (born J. R. Cash; February 26, 1932 – September 12, 2003) was an American singer-songwriter. Most of his music contains themes of sorrow, moral tribulation, and redemption, especially songs from the later stages of his career. ...

: The Redemption of an American Icon'' * '' Jesus Revolution'' (2023) He is working on a seventh documentary, about fame and faith.

Publications

* * * * * * *''As It Is in Heaven: How Eternity Brings Focus to What Really Matters.'' 2014 * * *''Johnny Cash: The Redemption of An American Icon''. Terrill Marshall. Washington, DC: Salem Books. 2019. . *''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. . *''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

External links

Harvest.org

Harvest Christian Fellowship

Greg Laurie bio

Article: Harvest America: Christians Celebrate Changed Lives at History-Making Event

Harvest Crusades: New app for nationwide event
{{DEFAULTSORT:Laurie, Greg 1952 births Living people 20th-century Baptist ministers from the United States 20th-century evangelicals 21st-century American male writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century Baptist ministers from the United States 21st-century evangelicals American anti-abortion activists American Christian creationists American Evangelical writers American male non-fiction writers American religious writers Baptist writers Christian nationalists Charismatics pastors Jesus movement Members of the Calvary Chapel Newport Harbor High School alumni People from Long Beach, California Southern Baptist ministers Trinity Broadcasting Network people