Greg Laurie Taking Harvest Crusades to Philadelphia

Now in its 24th year of leading national and international Christian revivals, Harvest Crusades with Pastor Greg Laurie will host an event in historic Philadelphia at the Wells Fargo Center on Sept. 28-29. This follows previous Harvest Crusades in Philadelphia in 1997, 1998 and 1999.

Harvest Crusades selected Philadelphia for this year’s event because of its history as the birthplace of our nation. Many believe the U.S. is at a historic crossroads and hope that events such as this can help bring a spiritual revival across the land.

With hundreds of local churches participating in the Wells Fargo Center event, thousands more will be joining in via satellite broadcast and live-streaming from venues across the nation as part of Harvest America, the national outreach being conducted in conjunction with Harvest Philadelphia. Last year’s national event from Harvest Anaheim saw 2,400 churches participate with 200,000 individuals gathered in venues around the country, in addition to 106,000 in Anaheim and online.

“With all that is going on in our country right now, people are searching for answers. Many feel helpless, but they should never feel hopeless,” Laurie says. “It’s been said man can live 40 days without food, about three days without water, about eight minutes without air, but only for one second without hope. I believe Jesus Christ can bring us that hope and the answers we are all looking for. That’s what I want to talk about.”

As someone who did not grow up with a personal faith, Laurie can attest to the difference it has made in his life. Because of his background, he identifies with those in need of hope and peace in their personal lives and is able to present simply and clearly how individuals can begin their own spiritual journey. Top Christian recording artists MercyMe, Jeremy Camp, NEEDTOBREATHE, Kirk Franklin and Lecrae will share hope through music in advance of Laurie’s message.

Since beginning Harvest Crusades in Orange County in 1990, Laurie has preached to more than 4.7 million individuals and has seen nearly 400,000 make a faith decision. In addition, Harvest Crusades have been webcast online since 1997 and have seen 1.4 million individuals tune in via their computers.

It became an easy transition to incorporate satellite broadcast technology to connect with host sites around the nation, and Harvest America crusades, in which events could occur simultaneously in venues across the country, were launched last year.

Those gathered in Philadelphia Sept. 28-29 will be joined by hundreds of host sites across the U.S. receiving the entire event, including special guest musicians and Laurie’s message, via HD-quality video available through Internet streaming and satellite. These locations include churches, gymnasiums, theaters, businesses and living rooms.

Several hundred Philadelphia-area churches have already committed to participate in the live event, and training for pastors and volunteers is underway. A schedule of upcoming events and a volunteer registration form are available online at harvestamerica.com/philadelphia-2013.html.

Besides conducting evangelistic outreaches, Harvest Ministries produces A New Beginning, an international radio program with messages by Greg Laurie. In addition, television specials featuring past Harvest Crusade events air internationally on the Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN), and a weekly television program, greglaurie.tv, is available online at harvest.org and airing every Friday evening on both TBN and the Church Channel, as well as on ROKU and the greglaurie.tv app.