Harvest Crusades
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Harvest Crusades were founded in 1990 by Greg Laurie. They promote the Gospel and are held at the invitation of unified local churches.
General
In 1990 Greg Laurie started holding his first public evangelistic event, soon to 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.[citation needed]
A typical Harvest Crusade begins with worship. After opening worship, songs from the Harvest Crusade Band (sometimes called "praise teams") and featured guest musicians perform and share stories of how 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.[citation needed]
Harvest Crusades are free and open to the public. The organization is supported by private donations.[citation needed]
Harvest has hosted large-scale evangelistic outreaches throughout the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. In addition to radio and TV broadcasts, viewers around the world can connect via live webcasts, apps, podcasts, and social media.[citation needed]
Harvest Crusades shifted to an online-only format in 2020 in response to the COVID-19 outbreak.[1]
Harvest America
In 2012, an annual nationwide simulcast event called "Harvest America" extended the audience of Harvest events. This began with a broadcast of an Angel Stadium Harvest Crusade event in 2012. The next year, the Harvest America ministry came to Philadelphia. In 2014, Harvest America travelled to Dallas, Texas, gaining an overall in-person attendance of 25,00 and an online attendance of 100,000 from various host sites.[citation needed]