‘You Need To Go To Church’: Utah Turns Out For Crusade At Site Of Kirk Assassination
OREM, Utah — People were already standing in the wintry-wet rain outside the Utah Valley University Events Center at 1:30 p.m. Sunday (Nov. 16).
The doors to Harvest Utah-Hope for America crusade didn’t open until 4 p.m.
“No place I’d rather be,” said Josh Taylor of Provo, Utah, near the head of the line.
A bit further down, “We came together,” said Marcie, turning to speak with several other female UVU students.
Still further down the line, Jeff Millerton of Layton, Utah, rain dripping off his graying beard, said he’d heard Greg Laurie speak in California once and wanted to hear him again.
Despite the weather that hinted of the winter to come, nearly 8,000 people streamed inside the Wolverines’ basketball court that had been transformed after Friday night’s game into a “theater-in-the-round” with the stage at center court. Still more people were said to be in a nearby overflow room, and 67 Utah churches live-screened the 2 1/2-hour event.
“We’ve got people here from Tremonton in the north to St. George in the south, and from Tukwila to Vernal,” Daniel Olinger, pastor of Calvary Chapel in Salt Lake City, told Baptist Press, listing towns several hours away from the event site. Olinger was among those that helped bring evangelist Greg Laurie’s Harvest Crusade to Utah. “We knew we wouldn’t have room for them all here so we asked churches to live-stream.”
Greg Laurie is a California evangelist who leads Harvest.org, which for 35 years has produced large-scale evangelistic events. He is pastor of Harvest Christian Fellowship in Southern California.
Laurie led in a crusade in Boise, Idaho, in 2019. Utahns started asking when he could come to Salt Lake City, Olinger continued. By 2022 they’d come up with a date: 2027, if enough churches would band together for such an event.
Then Charlie Kirk was killed on the UVU campus, and Laurie called them asking, “What can we do now?”
“With his organization, about 100 churches and the 500 to 1,000 volunteers we’ve lined up, tonight has come together in six weeks,” Olinger said.
The evening started at precisely 6 p.m. with six short clips of Charlie Kirk sharing his faith. Laurie’s son, Jonathan, welcomed the crowd.
Artist Phil Wickham led in worship before evangelist Greg Laurie got up to preach at the Nov. 16 Hope for America event. Harvest photo
“This is a very special night,” the younger Laurie said. “We want to talk about hope for America. Charlie Kirk was an amazing young man.
He’s a big part of the reason we’re here tonight. Sixty-seven days ago, tragedy struck just feet from where we are now. I believe even before Charlie knew what happened, he was in the arms of his Savior, and he heard Him say, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant.’
“We want to talk about the hope that comes from a relationship with Jesus Christ,” Jonathan Laurie continued. “It’s a message from my dad, Greg Laurie, that could literally change your life. Pay special attention to hear what the Lord is saying to you.”
Security was evident every dozen feet or so around the court, with men facing away from the stage, carefully eying every movement made in the bleachers. Uniformed police officers patrolled the hallways. Several men stood close by the stairs to the stage.
Not that the audience seemed to notice them. Their attention was drawn to the exuberant energy and soul-searching worship Phil Wickham displayed in his 30-minute mini-concert as he sang several well-known singles, such as “Battle Belongs,” “Living Hope,” “What an Awesome God”and several more.
Chris Tomlin sang (after Greg Laurie spoke) songs of serious contemplation and exultant rejoicing, with the audience joining in at times to songs like “Our God,” “Amazing Grace (My Chains Are Gone),” “Holy Forever” and several others.
Laurie brought a straight-forward message — “Home before dark” — of his childhood and youth, confessing he was a prodigal who came home to his father’s welcoming arms. “It’s all about a relationship with God through Jesus Christ,” Laurie preached. “Christ entered in and changed my story.” A clip from 2023’s “Jesus Revolution,” a movie about Laurie’s life, showed how it happened.
“It’s not so much what he [Laurie] said,” said Steve Randles of Victory Worship in Brigham City, Utah. “It’s what God said through him.”
Laurie talked about the second prodigal son, the “good one,” whose heart wasn’t right no matter how good his actions.
“In Utah, many are like the second son, following all the rules, but they still need to repent of their sins and turn to God,” Utah Idaho Southern Baptist Convention Executive Director Rob Lee told Baptist Press. “Great music too on a cold and wet evening in Northern Utah. It’s incredible that the crusade came together in six weeks. To see the UCCU center packed out to hear the Gospel and so many respond to the Lord is so powerful.
“God is moving in Utah,” Lee continued. “I have heard from one of the community groups in the church I attend, ValleyLight Church, that watched it live, one man accepted Christ tonight. I look forward to hearing about what happened at the 67 host sites, including 20 in our Utah-Idaho SBC churches.”
The attendees included Chaplain Danny Ater, a member at Calvary Chapel Orange County, Calif. He had flown in to “support the revival,” he told Baptist Press. “Every person matters to Jesus,” Ater said. “I came to be available. The revival’s already started. In the two years since the Jesus Revolution film came out, there have been 10,000 baptisms. I baptized 100 of the 1,200 baptized in one day at Pirate’s Cove.”
Each person who responded to the altar call received a New Believers Bible, which includes study notes by Greg Laurie, who had given four instructions to those who responded.
“You need to go to church,” Laurie told them. “Read your Bible every day. Keep praying. Share your faith with others.”
This article has been republished with permission from Baptist Press.
Karen L. Willoughby is a national correspondent for Baptist Press.