30,000 Spirited Fans

Kimberly Lowry felt as if her heart were melting Friday as she watched people at the Harvest Crusade gather to accept God.

As someone who gave up drugs and an abusive relationship three years ago to live a faithful life, Lowry, 27, of Lake Elsinore, said she was overjoyed to share that moment with others: “I get tears in my eyes when I see it all, because I know where they’ve come from.”

Lowry was among the estimated 30,000 people who gathered at Edison International Field for the 10th annual Harvest Crusade, a revival meeting blending Scripture with pop culture. They weren’t the only ones participating: Thousands more joined in Friday night by logging onto the Internet, where a $30,000 system broadcast the event live in six languages.

Watching over it all was Lori Albee, whose job it was Friday to stand alongside the computers and pray that it all went without a hitch.

“I was overwhelmed when I was asked to pray for the smooth running of all these machines,” said Albee, 29, of Riverside. “I feel unworthy of it all.”

As Christian bands played, the young men and women and families that made up most of the audience rocked in their chairs, clapped and watched the celebration on the main stage and on three big screen TVs.

One of the highlights of the night was when Riverside pastor Greg Laurie, co-founder of Harvest Crusade, addressed one of the most sought-after answers in life.

What happens when we die?

“There’s more to life than the physical,” Laurie told the crowd. “Our souls live on for eternity.”

He said he had one message over all else that he wanted people to take home with them: “There is a meaning to life, and you can find peace in your heart through a relationship with God.”

Harvest Crusade has hosted more than 2 million people in stadiums across the country. It was started in 1990 by Laurie, a self-described “culture current evangelist” who spices his sermons with quotations from Hollywood stars and sports celebrities.

A minister of Harvest Christian Fellowship in Riverside, Laurie also uses prayer, song and sermon to explore the meaning of life and the afterlife.

In attendance Friday were congregants from more than 1,000 local churches, representing a variety of Christian denominations.

Students were a strong presence at the event. In the crowd was Brittany Washington, 13, of Long Beach, who was at the Harvest Crusade for the first time. Brittany, who said she struggles with some doubts about her faith, still made it for the night’s altar call, a chance for nonbelievers and skeptics to rededicate themselves to the Lord.

“You feel the power inside you,” Brittany said afterward, comparing the feeling of it all to an electric shock. “But it doesn’t go away.”

The event, which has grown by tens of thousands each year, is expected to draw 180,000 people by the end of its three-day run, with an additional 50,000 logging on from the Internet. The program is set to go international for the first time next May with a trip to Australia.

As the group of 30 technicians took over the stadium’s press box, working to provide clear access for Web watchers, Laurie said it was fitting to see religion and technology melded in this way.

“Though the culture has changed and technology has exploded in the last decade, the essential need for Christ hasn’t changed,” Laurie said. “I’m still preaching the same message.”

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Times staff writer Elaine Gale contributed to this report.