Joel Osteen
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Joel Osteen is known as an American preacher and televangelist. He is most famous for being the Senior Pastor of Lakewood Church. Joel Osteen was born on March 5, 1963, in Houston, Texas. Joel's father was a former Southern Baptist pastor and the founder of Lakewood Church. He grew up in a large family with five siblings. Joel attended Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, Oklahoma, for one year, where he studied radio and television communications. After leaving college, he returned to Houston and began Lakewood Church's televised programming in 1982.
Quick Facts
- Date of Birth
- 05-03-1963
- Wife
- Victoria Osteen
- Children
- Jonathan Osteen, Alexandra Osteen
Show all facts
- Nationality
- American
- Marriage Date
- 04-04-1987
- Birth Sign
- Pisces
- Birth Place
- Houston, Texas, U.S.
- Height
- Height: 1.82m
- Alma Mater
- Oral Roberts University
- Profession
- Senior pastor
- Marital Status
- Married
- Net Worth
- $40 million
- Ethnicity
- White
- Birth Date
- 5 Mar, 1963
- Age
- 57 yrs
- Occupations
- Minister
Writer
Politician - Citizenship
- United States of America
- Birth Place
- Houston
- Education
- Oral Roberts University
- Gender
- Male
- Description
- American televangelist and author
- Twitter Id
- Joelosteen
- Spouse
- Victoria Osteen
- Net Worth 2020
- 60 million
- Net Worth 2021
- 100 million
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Marriage with wife Victoria
Joel married his wife, Victoria, in 1987. Together, they have had a son, Jonathan, and a daughter, Alexandra. Due to his negative stance on gay marriage, he has received public backlash. He believes that being gay is a sin and being straight is natural. Victoria has also been dragged into many public issues, and the public perceives her as rude and arrogant. Joel and Victoria do not receive a salary for working as pastors at the Lakewood Church; most of their income comes from donations and publications. Joel is worth a total of $60 million, and his home is estimated to be around $11 million. His wealth, earnings from his books, media appearances, and donations enable him to preach as a pastor without a salary. A report estimated that one of his books had made a whopping $13 million.
Preaching Career
On January 17, 1999, Joel began his career as a preacher after finally accepting his father's long-standing offer. Six days later, tragedy struck when his father suffered a heart attack and died. This spurred Joel to preach full-time, and two weeks after his father's death, he began preaching frequently. By the end of that year, the church had inaugurated him as the senior pastor of Lakewood Church.
Under Joel's leadership, Lakewood Church's attendance grew nearly fivefold, reaching more than 43,000 weekly by 2018. In 2003, the church took over the Compaq Center, the former home of the NBA team Houston Rockets, under a long-term lease from the city of Houston (it bought the building outright in 2010), and reportedly spent around $95 million on its renovation. The renovation spanned 15 months and added five additional stories to expand capacity. An estimated 16,000 people attended the first service in the new building in July 2005.
