Joel Osteen's 16,800-seat megachurch in Houston has been criticized for closing its doors during Hurricane Harvey, the New York Post reported Monday.
Harvey hit Texas over the weekend, bringing torrential rains, deadly flooding and catastrophic damage to some southeastern areas of the state. At least 300,000 people were without power and roughly 30,000 displaced to temporary shelters since Harvey made landfall Friday evening.
Lakewood Church, where Osteen is the senior pastor, posted on its Facebook page it was "inaccessible due to severe flooding," but social media posters said that was not true and slammed the church for not opening its doors to those who have been displaced.
Dozens of Houston-area churches opened their doors to offer shelter, and some organized volunteer teams to help with relief efforts.
The church later issued this response:
"We have never closed our doors. We will continue to be a distribution center for those in need. We are prepared to house people once shelters reach capacity. Lakewood will be a value to the community in the aftermath of this storm in helping our fellow citizens rebuild their lives."
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