His father asked him “hundreds” of times throughout his life, but he only agreed to fill in once his dad was on dialysis. Less than a week after Joel ministered for the first time, his father passed away, leaving him with a lasting purpose.“It was several days after he died — after the shock of that — I had that same desire to step up and address the church. It didn’t really make sense,” he told the publication. “I hadn’t gone to seminary. I had only ministered one time. I never dreamed the ministry would grow but 14 years later, here we are today.”Joel Osteen, the pastor of Lakewood Church in Houston, took over his father’s ministry, stepping out from the church media room, where he edited broadcasts. Since then, he’s driven it to become the largest megachurch in the U.S., with some 43,500 people attending services each week in what used to be an NBA arena. The nondenominational church that preaches optimism operates on a $70 million budget. Forbes recently talked to Osteen about his dreams, his wealth, and his life as a mega pastor.In a later interview with getting Up! In the mornings with Erica Campbell, Victoria revealed that becoming a pastor was “a whole new ballgame” and “something [she] didn’t expect when [she] got married,” but it doesn’t seem like the pair has ever looked back. “Nothing’s a surprise to God, is it?” she quipped.Joel said: “My dad had a church of 90 people when I was born. It was just, over the years it continued to grow. Maybe it’s just where we are in America today, and it’s just an outgrowth of 30 years of people being faithful to their faith … Sometimes we get criticized, “Joel, why did you want to build a church like this?” But we never set out to have a big church, we just never wanted to turn people away.”Joel added: “Hopefully, we will continue to grow and help more people … When I was growing up, a church of 1,000 was a big deal, but you know what, it’s just a different day today. I don’t know where we will be in 30 years. Will there be churches of 100,000, or will we be meeting in big stadiums? I can’t fathom that now, but I don’t know.”
