Greg Laurie, lead pastor of the US megachurch Harvest Christian Fellowship, has undergone successful hip replacement surgery.
His wife, Cathe, and son Jonathan shared on Facebook earlier this week that the procedure had gone very well and was “fast”.
Yesterday, Laurie updated his Instagram followers, revealing that many of the medical staff caring for him were fellow Christians.
“From the moment I walked into the hospital, God surrounded me with believers — the receptionist, the nurses, even my doctor, who asked me to pray for him before his surgeries that day," he wrote. "My anaesthetist was also a Christian. What a blessing!”
The 72-year-old had previously admitted on social media that he had delayed the operation, but increasing pain forced him to agree to a surgery date. Joking about the ageing process, he wrote on Facebook:
“I guess I’ve gone from being a hippie to needing a hip replacement. I’ve gone from acid rock to acid reflux.”
Laurie has served as senior pastor of Harvest Christian Fellowship since its founding in 1973, when it began as a Bible study with just 30 people. It is now a multi-site church attracting 15,000 people weekly across California and Hawaii, with a virtual congregation of 100,000.
A film based on Laurie’s early life is available on Netflix, charting his beginnings as a free-spirited street preacher in the 1970s. It stars Jonathan Roumie and Kelsey Grammer.