Joel Osteen’s Lakewood Church Received a $4.4M PPP Loan From the Federal Government

During the month of July, the church led by Joel Osteen received a $4.4M loan from the Paycheck Protection Plan first reported by the Houston Chronicle, U.S. Small Business Administration data released at the beginning of December showed that Lakewood Church’s PPP loan was created by Bank of America.

Osteen, who faced backlash a few years ago for having refused to open the Lakewood’s doors to the victims of Hurricane Harvey did not initially apply for the PPP assistance during the first half of the program, and is now facing backlash for receiving a million-dollar loan late in the year.

“It is important to note that, since 2004, Pastors Joel and Victoria Osteen have not received salaries from Lakewood Church, and the PPP funds do not provide any personal financial benefit to them, whatsoever,” said Lakewood’s spokesman David Iloff to the Houston Business Journal.

Lakewood Church, which stopped in-person services earlier in the year has been operating at 25% capacity since October.