The 60-year-old regularly preaches to about 45,000 people a week in a former basketball arena and he’s known to millions more through his television sermons.
Osteen inherited his calling from his father and increased the size of the congregation almost five-fold. His book, “Your Best Life Now: 7 Steps to Living Your Full Potential” sold nearly 3 million copies. In the mid-2000s, Osteen was viewed by more people than any preacher in the United States, reaching 95 percent of allOsteen had never preached — and never had the desire, he has said — until the Sunday before his father died in 1999. John Osteen had founded the charismatic Christian Lakewood Church in an abandoned feed store in 1959.
Osteen told The Associated Press in 2004 that as his father’s church grew he preferred to be behind the scenes. He had left his studies at Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, Okla., in 1982 and joined his father’s staff as a television producer.
households, according to Nielsen Media Research.
services over the years have drawn an almost equal mix of whites, Blacks and Hispanics — a diversity not seen in most churches across the nation.
Nicknamed the “smiling preacher,” Osteen told The Associated Press in 2004 that his message of hope and encouragement “resonates with people.”
But his laid-back preaching style has also drawn criticism for focusing on feel-good messaging over fiery sermons.
Osteen follows a thread of evangelical Christianity called the Prosperity Gospel, which believes that following God brings rewards to followers who devote themselves to him, said Mark Ward Sr., a professor of communication at the University of Houston-Victoria who writes about evangelical mass media.
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