The ministry of Pastor Greg Laurie, one of the most well-known evangelists in America, has been thriving ever since the coronavirus lockdown began.

With a heavily digitalised presence prior to viral outbreak, for Pastor Laurie, it was simply a matter of scaling up the operation.

This weekend, Laurie revealed to the Wall Street Journal that an astonishing 45,000 people have made professions of faith through his online ministry since the pandemic began. 

"I want to bring Christ into the crisis," the church leader, who leads California megachurch Harvest Christian Fellowship, said in a recent interview with Fox News. "I want to help people understand that God is there for them."

Laurie noted that "over a million people" had watched his church services over just one weekend last month, resulting in thousands of salvation prayers.

"Those are some good things in the midst of the bad things," he added.

Studies are showing that since the coronavirus pandemic began, there has been a marked uptick in those seeking out a church online along with a surge in the number of people googling things like "prayer" and "Jesus." 

Clearly, the crisis is provoking a deep spiritual hunger. 

"I think we finally are beginning to realise we need God," Pastor Laurie wrote in a recent column at Christianity Today, before suggesting that all the signs may be pointing towards a revival comparable to the "Jesus movement" of the '60s and '70s, which brought Laurie himself to faith in Christ as a young man. 

"Is he doing it again?" the pastor asked. "Let's pray so."