[07.25.08] The eldest son of renowned evangelist Greg Laurie, senior pastor of the 15,000-member Harvest Christian Fellowship in Riverside, Calif., died Thursday morning after a car accident on a Southern California freeway. He was 33.
Christopher Laurie had been the art director for 3 years at the megachurch his father and mother, Cathe, founded in the late 1970s.
”Though I know he is right now with Jesus in heaven, I will deeply miss this talented and sweet young man,” Skip Heitzig, a pastor and friend of Laurie, told Assist News Service.
Many congregants and friends of the family have posted their condolences on Harvest’s Web site.
“He was a genuine guy with a great laugh, a lot of creativity, a lot of passion and a joy to be around,” said one statement posted by Justine. “I’m so glad I got to just be able to know him and work around him. I will really miss him, and I am feeling the hurt of his passing but I know Chris must be seeing heaven and thinking, ‘Whoa, this is really beautiful.’”
Laurie is survived by his wife, Brittany, daughter, Stella, and his brother Jonathan. He and his wife are expecting another daughter in November.
His father, Greg Laurie, is a well-known pastor and crusader and has authored several books including The Upside-Down Church and The Best Is Yet to Come. He is also the host of a television program and a nationally syndicated radio program. Laurie is the founder and featured speaker for Harvest Crusades, in which local churches organize national and international outreaches.
Funeral arrangements for Christopher Laurie are yet to be announced.
