Joel Osteen
American televangelist, businessman, and author (born 1963)
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Key Takeaways
- Joel Scott Osteen ( OH -steen ; born March 5, 1963) is an American pastor, televangelist, businessman, and author based in Houston, Texas, United States.
- Biography Osteen was born in Houston, and is one of six children of John Osteen and Dolores ("Dodie") Pilgrim.
- He graduated from Humble High School, a public high school in the city of Humble, Texas, in 1981, and attended Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where he studied radio and television communications but did not graduate.
- He founded Lakewood's television program, later becoming ordained through his father's church in 1983.
- He would preach his first sermon on January 17, 1999.
Joel Scott Osteen ( OH-steen; born March 5, 1963) is an American pastor, televangelist, businessman, and author based in Houston, Texas, United States. Known for his weekly televised services and several best-selling books, Osteen is one of the more prominent figures associated with prosperity theology and the Word of Faith movement.
Biography
Osteen was born in Houston, and is one of six children of John Osteen and Dolores ("Dodie") Pilgrim. His father, a former Southern Baptist pastor, founded Lakewood Church (of which Osteen is the current senior pastor) in the back of an old feed store.
He graduated from Humble High School, a public high school in the city of Humble, Texas, in 1981, and attended Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where he studied radio and television communications but did not graduate.
Career
In 1982, Osteen returned to Houston after leaving Oral Roberts University. He founded Lakewood's television program, later becoming ordained through his father's church in 1983. Osteen produced his father's televised sermons for 17 years until January 1999, when his father died of a heart attack. He would preach his first sermon on January 17, 1999. By October 3, he was the new senior pastor of Lakewood Church.
In 2003, Lakewood Church acquired the Compaq Center, former home of the NBA Houston Rockets and the AHL Houston Aeros, and subsequently renovated it.
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