American pastor, TV host, and best-selling author Joel Osteen has accumulated a sizeable fortune. He’s well-known in the Houston, Texas, area as the pastor of Lakewood Church there. His wealth and promotion of the “prosperity gospel” have earned him both praise and criticism. Let’s investigate Joel Osteen’s wealth and see how he spends it.
Joel Osteen Net Worth
It’s estimated that Joel Osteen, an American pastor, televangelist, and author, is worth around $100 million. Joel Osteen is well-known as the pastor of Houston’s Lakewood Church.
He has gained notoriety as a divisive character due to his wealth and promotion of the “prosperity gospel.” Some have said that his messages put too much emphasis on the listener’s growth and development.
His Houston megachurch has a former sports stadium measuring 600,000 square feet and accommodating 17,000 worshipers.
Since 2005, Joel has foregone his church pay. The sales of his books, calendars, speeches, and other merchandise provide the bulk of his fortune and income.
Joel Osteen’s Early Life
On March 5, 1963, in Houston, Texas, the future pastor Joel Scott Osteen entered the world. He was born to John Osteen and Dolores Pilgrim and is one of their six children. A half-brother, the product of his father’s first marriage, lived with the Osteens while Joel was a kid.
After finishing high school in Humble, Oklahoma, in 1981, Joel enrolled at Oral Roberts University in Tulsa to major in radio and television communications. Osteen did not complete college.
Joel Osteen Career
His father, a Southern Baptist minister, left Joel the Lakewood Church and its television ministry. He started the Lakewood TV show and spent 17 years producing his dad’s TV lectures. John Sr. passed away from a heart attack in January of 1999.
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Joel, who had no religious background, succeeded his father, John, as a preacher and televangelist just two weeks following John’s death. The Compaq Center, formerly the home of the NBA Houston Rockets, was purchased by Lakewood in 2003.
It took 15 months and more than $105 million to complete the renovations. There were 56,000 attendees during its grand opening, including notables like Texas Governor Rick Perry and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Osteen was named one of Barbara Walters’ 10 Most Fascinating People in 2006. In 2008, people from over a hundred different nations were tuning in to see the church’s weekly service on television. In 2010, Joel and his family were invited to the White House for Easter breakfast given by President Barack Obama.
Since then, the reach of the Lakewood Church broadcast has skyrocketed to the point where it is now being viewed in over a hundred nations. Joel has globalized the church and the television ministry.
More than 50,000 people visit the church each week. Seven million people tune in to Osteen’s TV sermons each week and twenty million tunes in each month. Though he hasn’t completed any official education beyond high school, he learned everything he knows about preaching from his father.
Osteen listens to tapes of himself preaching to help him memorize his sermons. Osteen has said that he strives to teach the concepts of the Bible in an easy-to-understand manner, with an emphasis on the strength of love and optimism.
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Joel Osteen’s Personal Life
Osteen tied the knot with Victoria IIoff, a minister of Lakewood Church, on April 4, 1987. They raised two kids: a son and a girl. Both of Osteen’s older brothers and his younger sister are also ministers.
Pastor Osteen has indicated that the church can often overly focus on one subject to the detriment of others, despite his general avoidance of speaking about controversial and political topics like homosexual marriage and abortion. He has made it clear he opposes homophobia.
Osteen is also pro-Israel, as he has spoken so. Osteen and Lakewood Church were sued by the band The American Dollar in 2011 for alleged copyright violations. The judge sided with Osteen.
