Countywide : Harvest Crusade Is This Weekend

Using Gospel messages and Christian rock and pop music to entertain and convert, Christian evangelist Greg Laurie will present his fifth annual Harvest Crusade in the county this weekend.

Organizers of the nondenominational crusade expect 150,000 people to attend the three-day event at Anaheim Stadium.

“We’re very excited,” said Richard Cathers, an assistant pastor at Calvary Chapel in Anaheim, who has attended every Harvest Crusade in the county. “It’s always a great time.”

The evangelical crusade begins Friday night at 7:30.

The program, which includes music by country singer Ricky Skaggs and a biblical address by Laurie, the pastor of Harvest Christian Fellowship in Riverside, will end at 9 p.m. The event is free.

The program will be repeated Saturday and Sunday, also at 7:30 p.m.

At the end of each night’s sermon, Laurie, 41, will invite participants onto the stage.

“People can bring their friends to hear the Gospel and some great music,” Cathers said. “It’s good to have the opportunity to see people get saved.”

This year’s crusade will include a Kids’ Crusade, aimed at children age 5 through 12. It will be Saturday at 11 a.m.

The children’s program will star children’s character “Psalty, the Singing Songbook,” a man who sings biblical hymns while dressed as a large, blue book.