Pacific Amphitheatre to Host 5 Days of a Christian Crusade That Mixes Music With Prayer for Baby Boomers Who Are . . . : Finding Their Faith in Rock

Thousands of Southlanders are expected to jam the Pacific Amphitheatre tonight, kicking off a week of religious revivals that will mix evangelism and rock music in an effort to win converts to Christianity.

After five days in Costa Mesa, the Summer Harvest Crusade, which sponsors say is costing about $225,000, will move to Anaheim Stadium on Friday. Organizers hope word of mouth, church flyers, TV and radio ads will fill that 60,000-seat arena for a final dose of Christian pop music and gospel from preacher Greg Laurie.

“Our objective is to remove another barrier people put up as to why they don’t commit to Christ,” explained Laurie, pastor of Riverside’s Harvest Christian Fellowship, one of California’s largest Protestant churches.

“Our objective is not at all to get money,” said Laurie, 38. “It’s to give the hope of eternal life.”

No admission will be charged and no “offerings” will be requested by the event’s underwriter, Calvary Chapel of Costa Mesa. That, according to some observers, will help draw people in as well as overcome some of the skepticism associated with evangelical events.

“I’m a little astounded that they are going that far--not even asking for an offering,” said Benjamin J. Hubbard, a religious studies professor at Cal State Fullerton. “But they know that the baby boomers are turned off, not only by the fire and brimstone of traditional fundamentalist churches, but also by the hand always out for money.”

Entertainment from such artists as Richie Furay, founding member of the Buffalo Springfield and Poco bands, flat-picking guitarist Dennis Agajanian and others is seen as an effort to tap the 20-to-45 age bracket, experts say, since many young people are more comfortable with rock music than traditional gospel choirs and Southern tent-style revival meetings.

“It will be a sanitized Woodstock,” said Eddie Gibbs, who teaches evangelism and church renewal at the Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena.

Crusade director John Collins, an assistant pastor at Laurie’s Riverside church, agreed.

“They’re not going to see people rolling down the aisles or doing back-flips or any kind of strange behavior,” he said. “It’s going to be a very comfortable atmosphere. People will be challenged to think about the Bible, about what (Jesus) said.”

During the two-hour events, crusade-goers also will hear remarks from Smith and Billy Graham’s son, Franklin, as well as Laurie’s take on subjects ranging from what it means to be a Christian to a sober look at life after death.

For those who answer Laurie’s call to accept Christ as their savior, 5,000 trained counselors from more than 120 sponsoring churches will be standing by. Counselors will be ready to discuss the importance of commitment and the need for prayer, and they will be able to reassure converts that they have not made a blind leap of faith, Collins said.

Although the week of events represents a rare and ambitious effort to reach thousands of people in a relatively short time, Calvary Chapel has long been tuned into the baby-boom generation.

Pastor Smith first made his mark ministering to Orange County youth disillusioned with drugs and the hippie lifestyle, sparking what came to be called the “Jesus Movement” of the late 1960s and early ‘70s.

Greg Laurie was one of those youngsters, a product of a dysfunctional home who declared his commitment to Jesus on the lawn of Newport Beach’s Harbor High School at age 17. He soon found his way to Calvary Chapel, where he penned a cartoon strip called “Living Water.” At 19, he was invited to lead a Bible study group of a few dozen young people in Riverside. Before long, the sessions were 300 strong, and a church was born.

Today, the San Clemente father of two boys is the fulcrum of the Summer Harvest Crusade.

The crusade was launched with minimal mainstream fanfare last August as the brainchild of Smith, who was intrigued by Laurie’s potential. He had taken over a Monday night Bible study class of several hundred at Calvary Chapel, and in less than a year it was drawing nearly 4,000 people, most of them young, each week.

The 1990 summer crusade drew an estimated 90,000 people and 5,000 pledges for Christ, Collins said. On the final night, more than 22,000 jammed the amphitheater grounds, forcing city officials to close the parking lot and leaving nearly a mile-long stretch of would-be concert-goers tangled in traffic. A mass baptism of thousands followed in Corona del Mar.

Crusade organizers decided to do it again this year, and to take the event on the road. Three-day crusades in Sacramento and San Diego, and one-night stands at stadiums in Long Beach and Riverside earlier this summer drew about 70,000 people, Collins said.

For the Costa Mesa and Anaheim events, organizers expect at least 130,000 people from across California and as far away as Mexico, Canada and Japan. Most will be between 20 and 45.

What motivates people to attend such events? It’s a grab-bag of Angst, according to Laurie.

“Young people are looking for and finding answers to important questions,” he said, “as well as solutions to heart-wrenching problems such as suicide, drugs, sexual promiscuity, guilt, addictions, anxieties about the future, and hopelessness.”

Skeptics wonder about the depth of commitment at such gang conversions.

“There’s something about being in a crowd that gets people excited,” said the Rev. Petra Verwijs, minister of adult education for the Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove, a more traditional Protestant church.

“You see it in a football game as much as in a Christian rally,” Verwijs said. “But once they get back home and have a couple of nights’ sleep, do they wonder what is it they did?”

Still, she views the concert mode as a sound strategy for missionaries amid the cultural chaos and drift of Southern California.

“I think they’ve done their homework very well,” Verwijs said of the event’s organizers.

Pacific Amphitheatre officials are expecting capacity crowds--and strong hot dog and cola sales--each night. Costa Mesa police are adding 20% more manpower to the usual concert traffic control detail because of the large numbers anticipated.

“But it’s a good crowd,” said Officer Scott May, the department’s special events coordinator. “It’s not a drinking crowd so that really helps us out a lot.”

Well-known Christian radio talk show host John Stewart is also looking forward to the crusade.

“It’s kind of nice to go somewhere for a change and not be asked for money,” said Stewart, who plans to broadcast his 4 p.m. show on KKLA from Anaheim Stadium.

The Summer Harvest Crusade will be held at 7:30 p.m. Sunday through Thursday at the Pacific Amphitheatre, 100 Fair Drive, Costa Mesa. Admission and parking are free. The crusade will conclude at 7:30 p.m. on Friday at Anaheim Stadium, 2000 State College Blvd., Anaheim. Admission is free; parking is $4.