Greg Laurie to headline 'nation's largest one-day evangelistic outreach' in Arizona

Thousands are expected to hear Greg Laurie proclaim the Gospel as he headlines an event which has been billed as the "nation's largest one-day evangelistic outreach" in Arizona this Sunday.

Laurie, senior pastor at Harvest Christian Fellowship in Riverside, California, along with Harvest Crusades, will be hosting the annual Harvest America revival event which will be held at the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona.

The event will feature a Gospel message from Laurie, performances from well-known Christian musical talents and a sneak peek at an upcoming documentary on the faith of Hollywood icon Steve McQueen.

Laurie described the event as the "Super Bowl of evangelism" because he says it is somewhat similar to Super Bowl Sunday, which is watched by many people across the country.

"I use that as a picture to describe what Harvest America is," he said. "Yes, it happens in one place — Phoenix, Arizona — but the reason we call it Harvest America is there are thousands of host sites around the nation in places ranging from church sanctuaries to movie theaters to open fields to front rooms. We ask everyone simultaneously to watch this event as it happens live in Arizona," he added.

According to the Harvest America website, over 7.6 million have attended Harvest events in person or online since 1990, with 489,345 of the attendees making professions of faith.

Last year, more than 82,000 people attended the evangelistic outreach event at the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. An estimated 180,000 people all over the world watched the event at 7,000 simulcast hosting locations. According to The Christian Post, about 25,000 people made professions of faith at the end of the event.

This year's event will be televised on the Trinity Broadcasting Network and live streamed on Harvest America's website. Laurie is calling on Christians to invite their friends and neighbors to their homes and churches to watch the event in fellowship with their communities.

"When I am calling people to Christ in the University of Phoenix Stadium, I will be calling them to Christ wherever you are," he said.

The free event on June 11 will feature performances from "The Voice" star Brennley Brown, "American Idol" winner Jordin Sparks, Christian bands MercyMe and NEEDTOBREATHE, contemporary Christian musician Phil Wickham and Christian rapper Trip Lee.

Harvest has partnered with Southern Baptist Convention's North American Mission Board's Crossover Phoenix 2017, an outreach event that trains believers to evangelize to the people on the streets of Phoenix.

Laurie said that it remains to be seen whether the Crossover outreach program would lead to an increased attendance at Harvest America, but he maintained that the partnershp will help Harvest have a greater impact on the Phoenix community.