John Osteen
John Osteen | |
---|---|
Title | Founder and senior pastor, Lakewood Church in Houston, Texas |
Personal | |
Born | John Hillery Osteen August 21, 1921 Non-denominational Christianity (Word of God movement) |
Spouse | Emma Jean Shaffer (divorced) Dolores (Dodie) Pilgrim
(m. 1954) |
Children | 6, including televangelist |
Church | Lakewood Church |
Senior posting | |
Period in office | 1959–1999 |
Website | lakewood |
John Hillery Osteen (August 21, 1921 – January 23, 1999) was an American pastor who founded Lakewood Church in Houston, Texas. His television program ran for 16 years and was broadcast to millions in the U.S. and nearly 50 countries weekly.
Life and work
Osteen was born in
In his biography, Osteen said he did not begin thinking seriously about God until 1939, after leaving a nightclub he frequented. Within a couple of months, he began preaching in Paris, Texas, and was apparently ordained to the gospel ministry shortly before his 18th birthday by a church affiliated with the
During his pastorate of Central Baptist Church, Osteen and his first wife, Emma Jean Shaffer, began to experience marital unrest and subsequently divorced. He married Dolores "Dodie" Pilgrim on September 17, 1954, and the following year resigned his pastorate. Before long, Osteen again entered pastoral ministry at Hibbard Memorial Baptist Church, Houston, Texas, but left in 1958.
That same year, John and Dodie's first daughter Lisa was born with severe health issues. As he wrestled with her circumstance, his theological beliefs began to shift and he had ecstatic religious experiences, based on the baptism of the Holy Ghost. A year later, on Mother's Day, May 10, 1959, he and Dodie started Lakewood Baptist Church in "a dusty, abandoned feed store" in northeast Houston as a church for charismatic Baptists.[5] The church soon dropped "Baptist" from its name and became nondenominational.
In the mid-1980s, Osteen launched the Lakewood Bible Institute (LBI), an "unaccredited school devoted to biblical training from a charismatic perspective." LBI offered a variety of classes including principles of Bible study, healing, conversion, and prayer. Osteen served as LBI's president until its closure in the late-1980s.[6]
Lakewood Church
Osteen founded
References
- ^ "John Osteen's Biography". The John Osteen Television Program. Archived from the original on December 21, 2021. Retrieved June 12, 2014.
- ^ "From the Oasis of Love to Your Best Life Now: A Brief History of Lakewood Church" (PDF). Houston History Magazine. Retrieved June 12, 2014.
- ISBN 978-0-88368-975-2. Retrieved April 20, 2024.
- ^ "Rev. John Osteen Passes First Year With First Baptist". The Hamlin Herald. March 14, 1947. p. 6. Retrieved April 20, 2024.
- ^ "A Tribute to Pastor John Osteen". Daystarchristian.com. Archived from the original on June 23, 2012. Retrieved July 4, 2012.
- ^ "From the Oasis of Love to Your Best Life Now: A Brief History of Lakewood Church" (PDF). Houston History Magazine. Retrieved June 12, 2014.
- ^ "Popular Texas evangelist John Osteen dies". Lubbock Avalanche-Journal. Retrieved June 12, 2014.