"Even though we know what the newspapers said - we read 'Christopher Laurie died' - we know better. Christopher Laurie didn't die," said Hietzig on Friday. "He moved. He moved suddenly. But he is still ever more alive [and] he's taken into safest place - the loving arms of Jesus."
The memorial service was held just two weeks before Greg Laurie faces tens of thousands of people at Angel Stadium in Anaheim, California, where he will - for the 19th year - preach the Gospel and invite the crowds to let Jesus Christ into their lives.
Although grieving the loss of his son, Laurie had said earlier that he would "continue on" with his evangelistic work.
"I have a task to do and I want to do it," he assured.
Some believe this year's Southern California Harvest Crusade may draw record crowds.
"It's usually a pretty full event, but I imagine this year it will be even more full, if such a thing is possible," said Richard Flory, research associate at the Center for Religion and Civic Culture at USC, according to The Los Angeles Times.
"People are going to want to come and hear what he says" in the wake of his son's death, Flory said. "I think there's a resonance there that he'll be able to tap into between his recent family experience and evangelical theology - 'I miss Chris, I love him, but I know where he is: in heaven.'"
As Pastor Chuck Smith of Calvary Chapel mentioned at the memorial service, "Death is not a time of memories only. It's a time of questions ... questions about life, questions about death, questions about life after death."
Christopher Laurie will also resonate in another way at the event. As Harvest's art director, Christopher had designed this year's crusade bumper stickers, posters, invitations, fliers and the Harvest Web site.
Those who attended Friday's memorial service were asked to "continue to pay tribute" by taking with them the Harvest bumper stickers.
"I don't think there's anything more that we could do that would honour Christopher and honour God by making sure people know there's an opportunity to hear the Gospel," said John Collins, an administrative pastor at Harvest.
The 19th annual Southern California Harvest Crusade will be held August 15-17.
