Free Republic

The city is poised to sell the former Compaq Center to Lakewood Church for $7.5 million, one of a string of real estate sales city officials hope to realize to help close a lingering budget shortfall. City Council is scheduled to vote on the proposed sale Wednesday, which would end a 30-year lease signed in 2001 by the megachurch's leader and television paster Joel Osteen. Lakewood... made a lump sum $11.8 million pre-payment for the lease to use the 606,000-square-foot building — former home to the Houston Rockets — which sits on seven acres in Greenway Plaza area along the...

As my regular readers know, I have blogged in the past two weeks about my visit to Lakewood Church. I issued an open letter to Joel Osteen asking him to embrace the gay community by responding to Soulforce's request for Lakewood Church to participate in the American Family Outing. I also blogged about the press conference that Soulforce held last week. You can read these previous entries on this blog. Unfortunately, I was unable to attend the picnic on Saturday because of other family and church obligations, but Soulforce issued the following press release just moments ago. Jay Bakker and...

HOUSTON — The wife of the pastor of the nation's largest church was asked to leave a plane after she failed to comply with a flight attendant's instructions, the FBI said Tuesday. Houston Lakewood Church pastor Joel Osteen, his wife, Victoria, and their two children boarded a Continental Airlines flight from Houston to Vail, Colo., Monday. The plane's door had been closed when Victoria Osteen and a flight attendant had a disagreement. "She failed to comply with the flight attendant's instructions, and they were asked to leave the flight," FBI spokeswoman Luz Garcia said without elaborating on the disagreement. The...

A dispute involving the wife of Lakewood Church pastor Joel Osteen delayed holiday travel plans for a planeload of passengers, but few details were released Tuesday. At least some people aboard the Continental Airlines flight were less than pleased after waiting about two hours at Bush Intercontinental Airport while the Osteens left the plane and their luggage was removed, said a woman who witnessed the incident. "She was just abusive," said Sheila Steele, who said she was sitting behind Victoria Osteen. "She was just like one of those divas." A church spokesman said the couple and their children left the...

HOUSTON — The wife of the pastor of the nation's largest church was asked to leave a plane after she failed to comply with a flight attendant's instructions, the FBI said Tuesday. Houston Lakewood Church pastor Joel Osteen, his wife, Victoria, and their two children boarded a Continental Airlines flight from Houston to Vail, Colo., Monday. The plane's door had been closed when Victoria Osteen and a flight attendant had a disagreement. "She failed to comply with the flight attendant's instructions, and they were asked to leave the flight," FBI spokeswoman Luz Garcia said without elaborating on the disagreement. The...

A dispute that involved the wife of Houston's most famous pastor, Joel Osteen, and a Continental Airlines flight attendant ended up delaying a flight for hours Monday. And now, Victoria Osteen's actions on that flight are in the spotlight. Also on ABC13.com: Send us a news tip | RSS feeds | ABC13 E-lert | Info mentioned on air Statements from Lakewood and Continental Following the incident on Continental flight 1602 Monday, both Lakewood Church and Continental Airlines released these statements. The Osteens run the largest church in the nation, so passengers on a Continental flight were shocked Monday when Mrs....

'Megachurches' draw big U.S. crowds By Joyce Kelly and Michael Conlon CHICAGO (Reuters) - On a recent Sunday at Willow Creek Community Church, a Christian rock band joined by dancing children powered up in the cavernous main hall, their images ablaze on several gigantic screens. Thousands of worshipers from the main floor to the balcony and mezzanine levels were on their feet rocking to a powerful sound system. Outside cars filled a parking lot fit for a shopping mall. Inside some people drifted into small Bible study groups or a bookstore and Internet cafe for lattes, cappuccinos and seats by...

With 300 employees, a projection of $77 million in annual revenue and audited financial statements, Houston's Lakewood Church sounds a lot like a business. ADVERTISEMENT And in many ways, it is. "It would be naive to say, 'No, we're not a business,' " Senior Pastor Joel Osteen said in an interview. "We obviously are a business because we're dealing with millions of dollars. And I say that because we don't take that lightly." According to a copy of the church's most recent audited financial statement obtained by the Chronicle and a review of public records including court documents, Lakewood is...

Top 50 Most Influential Churches The 2005 survey was sent to 2,000 church leaders with the goal of ranking the nation’s fastest growing churches and churches with more than 2,000 weekend attendance. The 127 churches nominated for the 50 Most Influential Churches survey were located in 32 states and represented 27 affiliation groups and/or denominations. The term affiliation is used to include networks of unaffiliated, independent churches.

'This is a dream come true' Lights, music, people and applause fill Lakewood Church as the sanctuary celebrates the first service in its new home By TARA DOOLEY and RICHARD VARA Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle The building was first called The Summit and that name seemed to be echoed by the spirit that filled the revamped arena Saturday night as thousands of worshippers celebrated Lakewood Church's first service in its new home. The Rev. Joel Osteen told the audience that the church's growth from its humble beginnings demonstrated that anyone could accomplish "everything God has put in your heart." In...

HOUSTON, July 17 - Where the Beers of the World kiosk once dispensed suds to rowdy N.B.A. fans, volunteers were handing out church literature on Sunday. And where Patricia Davis, 38, once saw ZZ Top in concert, she now plans to worship. Skip to next paragraph Enlarge This Image Jessica Kourkounis/Associated Press Members of the Lakewood Church, the nation's largest, Saturday night at the first service in their new home. "I was saved from that," Ms. Davis said last week, sitting near the old three-point line at the 16,000-seat arena here that is now her church's new home. "With the...

HOUSTON (AP) - America's largest church celebrated its move into the former arena for the Houston Rockets with a capacity crowd of 16,000, an upbeat sermon from its televangelist pastor and a spirited welcome from the governor of Texas. "How do you like our new home?" Lakewood Church pastor Joel Osteen asked to thunderous applause. "It looks pretty good doesn't it? This is a dream come true." The new home for the nondenominational Christian church is the former Compaq Center, once home to the Rockets. There were no vacant spots in the arena as Lakewood, which recently became the first...

HOUSTON -- The pastor once startled his own mother by exhorting the women in his congregation to shop at Victoria's Secret to improve their marriages. Last weekend, his glamorous musical director led four services in a hot pink coat and black spiky boots, stomping around the stage and singing the praises of Jesus in rousing, original rock sounds. No one needed to know the words. The lyrics scrolled high above, across three gigantic screens, as a dynamic 10-piece orchestra and 100-person choir shook the church. The captivated flock of 8,000 stood singing for 30 minutes. And then, not unlike in...

Lakewood Church in Houston has been named the largest and fastest-growing church in America, according to the 2004 Church Growth Today Study/Outreach magazine report published exclusively in the May/June issue of Outreach. Lakewood Church, founded by the late John Osteen in a feed store in 1959, is pastored by his son Joel Osteen. The congregation recently purchased and is renovating the Compaq Center, former home of the NBA's Houston Rockets, to house its services. However, Lakewood is only one of 100 churches, which made each of the two lists: The 100 Largest Churches in America and The 100 Fastest-Growing U.S....