Joel Osteen opens his church to displaced Jewish congregation following Harvey criticism

Joel Osteen, the lead pastor of Lakewood Church in Houston, has offered to host a displaced Jewish congregation in his megachurch, just weeks after he drew criticism for not immediately offering the building as a shelter for victims of Hurricane Harvey.

Earlier this month, the staff at Lakewood Church offered the use of their building to Congregation Beth Yeshurun (CBY), which has been trying to find a place to hold their worship services for the upcoming Jewish holidays after their sanctuary and other areas of the building were damaged by severe flooding from last month's hurricane.

According to Religion News Service (RNS), CBY, one of the largest Jewish sanctuaries in the country with 2,000 member families, took on a foot of water in its main sanctuary.

Denis Braham, a CBY advisory board member who has served for years as a legal adviser for the Osteens and Lakewood Church, said that the leaders of the congregation initially looked elsewhere to hold their worship services for Rosh Hashanah (Sept. 22-23) and Yom Kippur (Sept. 30).

Lakewood staff offered the use of the building, which is housed inside of the former NBA arena known as the Compaq Center, after Braham spoke to the church leaders about the congregation's situation.

"Lakewood Church has an incredible venue and they were more than forthcoming in offering their church for the synagogue services," Braham told The Christian Post.

"Their generous offer was greatly appreciated by the synagogue clergy and the synagogue leadership. It was received as an astounding act of generosity and interfaith spiritual collaboration," he added.

Members of CBY were informed of the venue change via email sent by Rabbi David Rosen and the congregation's president, Arlene Staller.

"Lakewood, the Joel and Victoria Osteen Ministries and staff, in turn, have been extraordinarily gracious in allowing us the full use of their spacious facilities," the email stated, according to The Christian Post.

"They are working very collaboratively with us to ensure that their facilities provide us with a completely Jewish High Holy Days experience." it added.

The Jewish congregation will be holding regular services at another Houston synagogue after the Jewish High Holy Days, according to RNS.

Osteen, who received much criticism over the church's initial reaction to Hurricane Harvey, had opened up the 16,800-seat church as a shelter for 400 displaced victims after the flooding subsided around the church and the main shelter in the city became overcrowded.

The church also served as a donation and distribution center for much-needed supplies that were sent to other shelters throughout the city.