New York, June 23- 26 – Just like big box retailers, evangelists are discovering the urban market. Yes, in big cities there are many souls needing salve, and the big guns descended on New York City this weekend.

Tom Cruise, Scientology poster boy, kicked off the weekend on Thursday with an appearance on Letterman, followed by a big red carpet crusade that evening, where he paraded around one of his most recent converts, actress Katie Holmes, who has seen the light. Early the next morning, Tom defended his beliefs on television, clashing with Matt Lauer on the Today show.

But famous as Tom Cruise may be, many, many more people packed into Flushing Meadows to hear the Reverend Billy Graham over the weekend. Meanwhile, The Rev. Sun Myung Moon and other leaders rallied at the Javits Center on Saturday, calling for a “peace bridge” to be built across the Bering Strait to connect the U.S. and Russia.

Our hearts stood still momentarily when, at the Moon rally, a spokesman told the several thousand attendees to open the bags they were handed when they entered, take out the “holy juice” inside, and to drink it. Virtually all of the people in the room took out the orange-colored liquid and drank, as commanded.

Surprisingly, none of these religious leaders attempted to save souls at New York's gay pride parade on Sunday.