Houston megachurch holds healing and thanksgiving service a week after deadly shooting
Houston, US AP Celebrity pastor Joel Osteen’s Houston megachurch held a special service Sunday dedicated to healing and thanksgiving, a week after a woman opened fire in one of its hallways before being gunned down by security officers. Osteen’s Lakewood Church has not had services since the 11th February shooting that sent worshippers scrambling for safety. On Sunday, […]
Court documents identify Houston megachurch shooter and say AR-style rifle was used in attack
Houston, US AP The shooter who opened fire at a Texas megachurch before they were killed by security officers over the weekend was carrying an AR-style rifle, according to search warrant documents released by a prosecutor’s office on Monday. The shooter was identified as 36-year-old Genesse Ivonne Moreno in an affidavit seeking a search warrant for a […]
Woman firing long gun in Joel Osteen’s church killed by two off-duty officers; young boy with her hurt
Houston, US AP A woman in a trenchcoat opened fire with a long gun inside celebrity pastor Joel Osteen’s megachurch in Texas before being gunned down by two off-duty officers who confronted her, sending worshippers rushing from the building between busy Sunday services, authorities said. The woman entered the Houston church with a five-year-old boy […]
Plumber’s find possibly tied to 2014 Texas megachurch theft
Houston, Texas, US AP For more than seven years, no-one has known what happened to $US600,000 in cheques and cash that was stolen from a safe at Pastor Joel Osteen’s Houston megachurch, which has one of the largest congregations in the country. Now, there’s a possible plot twist in the case: The money might never […]
Essay: Amid calls to #TaxTheChurches – what and how much do US religious organisations not pay the taxman?
In an article first published on The Conversation, RYAN CRAGUN, a professor of sociology at the University of Tampa, looks at the issue of tax exemptions for churches in the US…
New eight part series on Jesus to air in US in lead-up to Easter
The story of Jesus Christ is being explored in an eight episode series airing on the US TV channel HISTORY in the lead-up to Easter. Jesus: His Life is told from the perspective of different Biblical figures, including his parents Mary and Joseph, John the Baptist, the High Priest Caiaphas, Jesus’ betrayer Judas Iscariot, Pontius Pilate, […]
After Harvey criticism, US televangelist Joel Osteen opens church to Jews for High Holy Days
RNS Pastor Joel Osteen gives an interview at his Lakewood Church in Houston on 29th August. Osteen and his congregation have set up their church as a shelter for evacuees from the flooding by Tropical Storm Harvey. PICTURE: AP Photo/LM Otero L’Shanah Tovah, y’all. Joel and Victoria Osteen, leaders of Houston’s Lakewood Church, are offering […]
Essay: A faith to weather the storm
Against the backdrop of unprecedented flooding in southern Texas in the wake of former Hurricane Harvey, JACOB LUPFER, a contributing editor at Religion News Service, says now is the time to put aside criticism and love our neighbour…