Rock of Ages

Joseph Padilla personifies the audience that organizers of the Harvest Crusade hope to reach.

“I was about as evil as it gets,” said Padilla, 18, who drove on Thursday from Crestline in the San Bernardino Mountains to be at the opening night of the four-day evangelical event at Anaheim’s Edison International Field.

“I was into drugs, and other stuff. I was locked up quite a few times,” said Padilla, clad in surfer-style ultra-baggy wide-wale corduroys, sunglasses and a T-shirt that read: “Jesus Christ. Period.”

Padilla, who says he found salvation through his own church, said he plans to attend all four evenings of the crusade, which appeals to teens and young adults with the same type of merchandising, marketing and concert-caliber technology that has proven successful for rock ‘n’ roll musicians and professional wrestling. That approach has turned the annual Harvest Crusade into an evangelical stadium event.

The fact that it is in the stadium helps to make the event memorable, Padilla said.

“A baseball game is so worldly, but we gather people here to praise God and hear Greg Laurie. It’s totally awesome.”

Laurie, the headline preacher for the event and pastor of the 12,000-member Harvest Christian Fellowship church in Riverside, said, “The Edison International Field is going to really rock for the next two nights.”

Thursday’s crowd of 22,000 half filled the stands. Organizers say they expect to draw a capacity crowd of 45,000 tonight and through the weekend.

The Anaheim crusade is the third this year for Laurie’s organization. The pastor said more than 6,500 people made a commitment of faith during the first two, in Visalia and Honolulu.

Started by Laurie and other ministers in 1990 in Orange County as a contemporary ministry, Harvest Crusade has grown into an annual happening, with a concert-style sound system, professional rock musicians and other concert-style trappings that draw throngs of young worshipers.

“I’ve never been to Harvest before,” said Kristal Garcia, a Lake Arrowhead 17-year-old wearing a long black skirt and platform shoes. “But I’ve heard about it year after year, that it’s a totally awesome event and the experience of your life.”

The clothing sales alone rival those at a major rock concert. There are 11 styles of shirts and jackets in different colors, ranging from $10 for the basic T-shirt to $290 for the leather jacket. There are three styles of head gear, a special Bible for $35 and several books by pastor Laurie.

In the stands, merchandise salespeople circulate as they do at ballgames, so no potential buyer has to spend time standing in line.

But the sales will have to raise nearly $150,000 in four days to pay for their share of the crusade’s cost, estimated by organizers at nearly $580,000. The proceeds come from three other sources: nightly offerings, supporting churches and private Christian business owners.

Michael Brazeal, a director of the Anaheim crusade, said its 3,000 volunteers enable the event organizers to limit paid staff to three, keeping costs well under half that for comparable crusades drawing 10,000 or more people a night.

The crusade makes no profit from the stadium’s parking fees and food and beverage sales, Brazeal said.

Some of the supporting business owners also provide volunteers. Rodney Couch, 36, owner of Market Broiler seafood restaurants in Huntington Beach, Tarzana, Glendale, Fremont and, soon, in Orange, said he takes time off from work to travel with the Harvest Crusade and has been involved since he was in his 20s.

“I’m the president of the company, so if anyone can take the time off, it’s me,” Couch said.

He said he considers the time he donates as a portion of his return for having been successful in business.

While services tonight and Saturday will be aimed at the younger crowd, Thursday’s opener was devoted to a more diverse group.

A heavily bearded Paul Maciel rolled up his shirt sleeve to reveal an arm that served as some tattoo artist’s canvas. Images of helmets, women and ominous designs ran from his wrists to his biceps. “That was a different world, just a different life,” he said, talking as he clapped in time to the music.

The crowd Thursday included activists for certain causes, and they found an audience. People outside the stadium circulating petitions seeking a ban on gay marriages found crusade goers willing to sign.

A few dissidents were on hand, too.

“Greg Laurie is a false teacher,” said Darwin Fish of Lake Hughes as he distributed fliers. “He downplays sin.