(UPDATE: My apologies: I just discovered that the link to the article discussed in this post now requires a subscription to view. There was no indication of that earlier today when I clicked on it and then included the link here. Sorry for the inconvenience. I've left the post below as written.)
Because I live in the Houston area and pass the former arena of the Houston Rockets basketball team which is now the Lakewood Church (the Oasis of Love), I have been following the phenomenal growth of this non-denominational group with interest.
This congergation is the most diverse in town: almost equally black, Hispanic, Asian and Caucasian. Attendance averages 30,000 (yes, thirty thousand, you read that right) each weekend. Joel Osteen, the young pastor of the church has no formal seminary training, but inherited the position from his late father, the church's founder.
A British reporter attended the church this last weekend and posted this article, "Jesus Inc. Welcome to the World's Largest Church" here. It's interesting to get a more international perspective on Lakewood, and especially from the United Kingdom, where organized Christianity is in steep decline. Thanks to Will Spotts for sending this on to me.
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