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Harvest: One Church, Many Locations
Harvest: Orange County to launch in October with Sunday morning services.
Some thirty-five years ago, the Lord led me to begin a church in Riverside, California. Out of what began as a little Bible study of thirty people, the Lord has built into one of the largest churches in the nation. God has allowed us to impact people all around the world through radio, television, the Internet, and the Harvest Crusades. I rejoice daily for what the Lord has done!
During that time I have continued to minister in Orange County, teaching various Bible studies from the Monday night services at Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa, to studies at Mariners Church in Irvine and also the Grove of Anaheim theater. For the past 15 months, we have been doing a Thursday night study using the facilities at Free Chapel in Irvine.
I say all this to make the point that I have always considered Orange County to be my "hometown" and to let you know I have always had a burden to minister to the people there.
We have approached the Thursday night study at Free Chapel a little differently. It hasn’t been so much a special event type service, but more of a Bible study and time of worship. We have seen 1,350 come to Christ since we’ve started and we have seen individual lives changed, families healed, and much more. Many have told us that "Thursday Night" is their spiritual home.
In fact, not a Thursday goes by that I do not get asked the question, “Are you ever going to do a Sunday morning service in Orange County?”
Well, I am now prepared to answer that question and the answer is . . . YES!
We have found a facility that could accommodate our needs and it’s not far from where we are currently meeting at Free Chapel. This building would allow us to continue our Thursday night study, the men’s and women’s Bible studies and, finally, Sunday morning services.
We will call it “Harvest: Orange County.” I will continue to pastor Harvest Christian Fellowship in Riverside. Harvest: Orange County will be an extension of our Riverside campus. It will incorporate live worship and a pastoral support team.
I foresee being at both campuses on Sundays. Initially, for our launch, I will teach in person in OC at an 11:30 A.M. service after beginning the day in Riverside for 7:45 and 9:45 A.M. services. The 11:45 A.M. service in Riverside will be an HD quality video-feed, live from Orange County. Effectively we will be one church in two locations!
The target start date for this will be late September or early October, God willing. I’d love to hear your feedback on this new venture, so please feel free to email me at Greg@harvest.org. Most importantly, keep this in prayer as we have much work to do in the next several months as we begin to build a new work for God in Orange County.
In Jesus,
Greg Laurie