Greg Laurie: Seattle Harvest Outreach at Key Arena to Bring Message of Hope to Seattle-Tacoma Area, Nov 5 - 7
More than 270 Churches Join Together to Host Area-Wide Outreach, Featuring Message from Greg Laurie and Music from MercyMe, Jars of Clay, Jeremy Camp, Kutless, More
RIVERSIDE, Calif., October 7, 2010—More than 270 churches from a variety of denominations in the Seattle-Tacoma area are working together like never before as they prepare to host a community-wide evangelistic outreach called the Greg Laurie: Seattle Harvest. The Greg Laurie: Seattle Harvest will take place at Key Arena, November 5 – 7, and will feature a message of hope from Southern California pastor and evangelist Greg Laurie and music from top Christian recording artists. Laurie last visited Seattle in 1992 for a Harvest Crusade outreach event at the Seattle Center's Memorial Stadium.The Greg Laurie: Seattle Harvest has been more than a year in the making, joining local congregations together in a common goal to share a life-changing Gospel message with the people of Seattle and its surrounding communities. Preparation for the three-night event has been an undertaking of great proportions with more than 390,000 event invitations and 40,000 bumper stickers being distributed, and more than 2,800 volunteers lending their time to assist before and during the event.
"The pastors in our region are excited to welcome Greg Laurie for the Seattle Harvest, and we're grateful for his willingness to visit our city to share an eternity-changing Gospel message," said local organizer Mark Driscoll, Senior Pastor of Mars Hill Church in Seattle. "The Seattle Harvest outreach has helped pull hundreds of churches together to work as one church, for the one cause of Jesus Christ."
The Greg Laurie: Seattle Harvest will feature a nightly message from Laurie, as well as music from top recording artists MercyMe, Jars of Clay, Jeremy Camp, Kutless, Hawk Nelson, Revive, and The Katinas. All three nights of the Harvest outreach are free and open to the public.
The theme of "hope" will run throughout the three-night Greg Laurie: Seattle Harvest, culminating with a special Sunday evening program called, "An Evening of Hope," where Laurie will address issues of sorrow and the hope we have in Christ in the midst of crisis. Laurie lost his son, Christopher, in an automobile accident in 2008, and has a desire to offer encouragement to people who are suffering loss of any kind. Nick Vujicic, a man born with no arms and no legs who founded the organization Life Without Limbs, will also join Laurie on Sunday to discuss both suffering and the source of his joy and zeal for life.
Founded in 1990, the Harvest with Greg Laurie events have drawn more than 4.1 million people to stadiums and arenas around the world, and are known for relating to audiences through contemporary means like top notch music, live Internet webcasts and hosted video podcasts. But, the crux of each event is the nightly message presented by Laurie. Called the "evangelist of the future" by Billy Graham, Laurie draws on Scripture, flavored with personal and cultural examples, to describe the relevance of faith in today's world. Laurie's talks encompass topics that appeal to people of any age and answer questions like: Why am I here? Is God real? What happens when I die?
Greg Laurie: Seattle Harvest Facts & Figures
- Youth play a significant role in "getting the word out" about the Greg Laurie: Seattle Harvest, and Harvest is making youth evangelism training available for local teens and young adults through a program called G3. G3 training is provided by the SWAT Team (Students With A Testimony)—a team of youth and pastoral staff from Greg Laurie's church in Southern California. SWAT Team members pay their own way to cities where Harvest events are held to join with local G3 groups in sharing the life-transforming message of the Gospel with people on the streets and in various locations throughout Seattle.
Some 200 local youth from some 50 churches are currently registered to attend G3 training, Oct. 15 - 16, at locations in downtown Seattle. - More than 270 churches throughout the Seattle area are working together to host the Greg Laurie: Seattle Harvest, and 2,800 people are expected to volunteer at the three-night event—including 100 people coming from Laurie's church in Riverside, Calif., who will pay their own way to Seattle to serve as volunteers.
- Some 40,000 bumper stickers and 390,000 invitations to the Harvest outreach are being distributed locally. Some 5,000 Bibles will be available to distribute throughout the Greg Laurie: Seattle Harvest.
Greg Laurie: Seattle Harvest Schedule of Events
All events will take place at Key Arena and are free and open to the public
Friday, November 5 7:30 p.m.The Greg Laurie: Seattle Harvest begins at 7:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday and at 6 p.m. on Sunday (gates open 90 minutes in advance). Each night of the event will be interpreted in Spanish, and signing for the deaf will be provided. Key Arena charges a fee for parking.
Friday evening will feature a message from evangelist Greg Laurie and music from Jeremy Camp and The Katinas.
Saturday, November 6 7:30 p.m.
Saturday evening will feature a message from evangelist Greg Laurie and music from Kutless, Hawk Nelson, Revive, and The Katinas.
Sunday, November 7 6 p.m.
Sunday evening will feature a message from evangelist Greg Laurie and music from MercyMe, Jars of Clay, and The Katinas.
All three evenings of the Harvest outreach are free of charge and will be broadcast live on the internet at www.harvest.org. Video podcasts and blog accounts of each message will also be available at blog.greglaurie.com, and "behind the scenes" updates from Greg Laurie leading up to each Harvest event will also be available on Twitter at twitter.com/greglaurie or on Facebook.
With a trademark ability to present a straightforward gospel message in a culturally relevant format, drawing on the latest in current events, contemporary Christian music, and technology, Greg Laurie's Harvest events have drawn more than 4.1 million people to stadiums and arenas around the world since 1990. Laurie also serves as senior pastor of Harvest Christian Fellowship in Riverside, Calif., one of the largest churches in the U.S., and serves on the board of directors for the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and Samaritan's Purse.