The Lakewood Church in Houston, a megachurch with a 16,800-seat arena where Joel Osteen serves as pastor, on Monday denied that it closed its doors to residents displaced by massive flooding after Hurricane Harvey made landfall last week.
“We have never closed our doors. We will continue to be a distribution center for those in need,” church spokesman Donald Iloff told CNN. “We are prepared to shelter people once the cities and county shelters reach capacity.”
The church provided CNN with photographs of standing water in hallways and a parking lot.
BUT….
Front of @JoelOsteen‘s huge Lakewood Church in Houston at 11 am. Closed due to “flooding”. Person who took it asked to be anonymous.
Image: Twitter
Iloff, who is televangelist pastor Joel Osteen’s father-in-law, said the church is scheduled to open around noon and will also serve as a donation center.
The church on Sunday posted on Facebook that it was “inaccessible due to severe flooding” and included a list of “safe shelters” in Houston as well as the National Guard rescue hotline.
Posted by Libergirl