After 30 years, the annual Harvest Crusade at Angels Stadium in Anaheim, California is being pushed to a new, smaller location.
Harvest Christian Fellowship’s senior Pastor Greg Laurie said he was informed it’s due to a new Major League Baseball rule not allowing any event to take place on the playing field during the regular season.
In particular, the Angels organization reportedly does not want hundreds of people walking on the grass as they come down from their seats in the stadium during an altar call to declare their faith in Jesus Christ.
The decision means roughly 17,000 attendees will be able to hear the gospel each night at the new location, the Honda Center, whereas the Angel Stadium allowed for a much bigger audience with a seating capacity of 45,000.
Greg Laurie will still be hosting the July 1-2 event as usual. He has preached the gospel to millions of people in his nearly 50 years of corporate ministry.
Laurie told The Washington Times on Monday that the news is not a setback for the Crusade, but another “pivot moment.”
“Throughout the years, we have learned to pivot. …This is another pivot moment,” he stated. “We are excited to do our event in a more intimate setting. This year’s Crusade will be a bit of a ‘throw-back’ to the Crusades of the 90s that had more of a worship focus,” he said.
“We will have some of the nation’s finest worship leaders joining us, including Chris Tomlin, Phil Wickham, Passion, Taya and the legendary Michael W. Smith. It will be an immersive worship experience with evangelism,” Laurie added.
The Harvest Crusade has seen more than half a million people make a public profession of faith since its inception in 1990. It’s the longest-running evangelistic outreach in American history.
In a statement to The Times, the Angels explained the decision not to allow attendees on the field was due to abnormal weather this year.
“Angel Stadium has been host to the Harvest Crusades for nearly 30 years and has a great relationship with Pastor Laurie and his entire team. Given the timing and the unusually cool and wet weather taking place in California this year, the added foot traffic on the field could significantly impact the playing surface for future baseball games. We look forward to working with the Harvest Crusades to be the Southern California home in the future,” the statement read.
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