Calling it the “most devastating day of my life,” a sometimes-tearful Laurie told his congregation that his faith was still strong. At the same time, he said, constant reminders — like driving past the site of the fatal crash on the way to church — made him feel the loss deeply.
Christopher Laurie’s brother, Jonathan, also took to the stage, saying his brother had a strong commitment to his faith.
“He had been growing deeper in his faith this past year, more than ever before,” he said.
According to those who knew and worked with him, Laurie was a talented graphic artist who left numerous reminders of his commitment to his father’s ministry: the bumper stickers he designed for the annual Harvest Crusade; the church website he built; even large parts of “Lost Boy,” a documentary on the life of his father, a Newport Beach resident.
“He designed the bumper sticker this year, he designed the overall look of the Crusade, and has for the past several years,” said his supervisor, Paul Eaton, administrative pastor over media at the Riverside-based church. “He was touching just about everything that came out of the ministry.”
But beyond his talents as an artist, friends and colleagues remembered Laurie as light-hearted and fun-loving, deeply devoted to his work and his father’s ministry. By Wednesday morning, there were a little more than 19,000 comments on Greg Laurie’s blog from supporters offering condolences and prayers.
“There are so many phone calls coming in, and people are bringing flowers to the church,” Associate Pastor John Collins said of the outpouring of support. “Typically we get 6,000 hits a day on our website. [July 24] it was 60,000.”
