REPORT: Joel Osteen’s megachurch has been closed down

REPORT: Joel Osteen’s megachurch has been closed down

Joel Osteen’s megachurch was derided during Hurricane Beryl—years after it was closed during a prior hurricane.

The jokes come after the pastor was accused of not opening the doors to his 16,8000-capacity church in Houston after Hurricane Harvey crashed into the state.

As Hurricane Beryl wreaked havoc on Houston, social media users attacked Joel Osteen’s megachurch for failing to provide adequate relief.

A barrage of X users chastised the megachurch pastor for his church’s delayed response to providing refuge to victims of Hurricane Harvey, which wreaked havoc in 2017.

Osteen’s Lakewood Church, which used to be the Houston Rockets’ arena, can accommodate roughly 17,000 people, making it an air-conditioned safe haven for thousands affected by the disaster.

“We’re praying for everyone in the Gulf Coast. Lakewood is cooperating with the Office of Emergency Management and is ready to assist people affected by the storm. Please stay safe!” the Texas church tweeted at 11:30 p.m. Sunday. The Category 1 hurricane made landfall hours later, early Monday.

When discussing the most recent storm, social media users made memes implying that the megachurch leader was scrambling to close and lock doors, alluding to the church’s response in 2017. There were also manipulated images of Osteen, whose net fortune is estimated to be in the tens of millions, adjacent to his enormous property, claiming he didn’t have enough capacity to shelter anyone.

“Joel Osteen when he hears another hurricane is about to hit Houston,” one post said, alongside a set of enormous double doors secured by two dozen locks.

Another person sent a cartoon of Piglet quickly nailing wood planks to windows, captioned “Joel Osteen once Hurricane Beryl hits Houston.”

In 2017, Osteen originally offered “prayers” while Houston was devastated by severe flooding. He defended himself against criticism, claiming that the chapel had become “inaccessible” owing to flooding. “We’ve never closed our doors. “We will continue to be a distribution center for those in need,” he stated at the time.

After Beryl moved beyond Houston on Monday afternoon, the church issued a statement: “Local authorities are requesting that people remain off the roadways today. Lakewood will act as a cooling and water distribution hub, as well as a safe haven, starting tomorrow, Tuesday, at 8:00 a.m.

The cool shelter will most likely be appreciated by the more than 2 million Houston residents who have lost power and air conditioning, as temperatures are anticipated to reach the 90s but feel far hotter.

While Texans clean up in Beryl’s wake, the storm has been downgraded to a tropical depression and will move north on Tuesday.

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