A Houston megachurch led by celebrity pastor Joel Osteen will return all $4.4 million it received in a forgivable loan from the federal government last year through its Paycheck Protection Program, according to the Houston Chronicle, after Osteen and his church received widespread criticism from those who felt the loan was unnecessary.
Osteen’s Lakewood Church received the funding in late July of 2020 after going months without the “ability to collect substantial donations,” church spokesman Donald Iloff told the Houston Business Journal.
The money went toward paying the church’s 368 employees, with none reportedly going to Osteen, but the church and its lead pastor were nonetheless slammed for taking the loan.
Lakewood is the biggest megachurch in the U.S., with an average weekly attendance of 43,500 worshippers, according to a database from the Hartford Institute for Religion Research.
Lakewood started resuming in-person services by mid-October of 2020 after shutting down in March.
“Like many organizations temporarily shuttered by the pandemic, this loan provided Lakewood Church short-term financial assistance in 2020 ensuring that its approximately 350 employees and their families would continue to receive a paycheck and full health care benefits,” the church said in a statement to the Houston Chronicle.
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