Phillip Luke Sinitiere - Salvation with a Smile: Joel Osteen, Lakewood Church, and American Christianity

Phillip Luke Sinitiere

NEW YORK UNIVERSITY PRESS

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NEW YORK UNIVERSITY PRESS

New York and London

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2015 by New York University

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ISBN: 978-0-8147-2388-3

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To Jenni, Matt, Alex, Maddie, Nate, and Eli,

my oasis of love

Also, for my professor, mentor, and friend,

Terry D. Bilhartz (19502014)

I.1. John and Dodie Osteen bronze display

1.1. John Osteen, Northern Baptist Theological Seminary, ca. 1944

1.2. Central Baptist Church, Baytown, Texas, ca. 1950

1.3. Hibbard Memorial Baptist Church, Houston, ca. 1958

2.1. Lakewood Church billboard advertisement, ca. 1990s

4.1. Lakewood Church, ca. 2009

4.2. Lakewood Church auditorium, balcony view

4.3. Lakewood Church auditorium, panoramic stage view

8.1 and 8.2. Joel Osteen million-dollar gospel tract

8.3. After Eden Joel Osteen cartoon, 2013

4.1. Houstons Top-Tier Megachurches, 2015 (10,000+ members)

4.2. Prosperity Megachurches in Houston, ca. 2011

Studying Lakewood Church over the past decade, I heard Joel Osteen talk regularly about the concept of favor. If I understand it correctly, to have favor means that one has been exceptionally lucky and has much for which to be thankful. At every stage of researching and writing this book, I have had favorand with a smile, I gladly acknowledge the individuals and institutions that made it all possible. With a spirit of gratitude, I offer a Texas-sized thank you for the gifts of resources, labor, friendship, love, and time.

Without archivists and librarians, there would be no history. They are vital to keeping the past alive. I offer a word of thanks to archivists and librarians at the University of Houston; Sam Houston State University; College of Biblical Studies; Rice University; Houston Metropolitan Research Center; African American Library at the Gregory School; San Jacinto Baptist Association; General Baptist Convention of Texas; University of California, Santa Barbara; Regent University; Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center; University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Northern Baptist Theological Seminary; and Oral Roberts University. I especially want to thank Mark Roberts, director of the Holy Spirit Research Center at Oral Roberts University, for warmly welcoming me to Tulsa for research and for his enthusiastic support of this project. Most important, I thank Mark for his friendship.

Both Sam Houston State University and the College of Biblical Studies generously funded research trips during the course of this project, for which I am most grateful. I also thank Houston History, Palgrave Macmillan, and New York University Press for permission to include revised portions of previously published material.

I gladly recognize numerous individuals associated with Lakewood Church, past and present. Without them, this book would not exist. To those who chose to remain anonymous, I understand your reasons and respect your integrity. To those to whom I assigned a pseudonym, I appreciate your willingness to share your memories and experiences. To both the anonymous and the pseudonymous, I offer profound thanks for your time and, in some cases, the rare Lakewood materials you shared with me in the form of print and media sources. Also deserving of thanks are Saleim Kahleh and Teri Burrell.

A steady stream of friends, colleagues, journalists, and scholars either listened to me discuss the project, asked insightful questions about it, commented on portions of the manuscript, or otherwise supported my research and writing efforts in numerous ways. Please accept my gratitude, even those whom I inadvertently forgot: Julia Duin, Vinson Synan, James Beverly, Steve Bauer, Andrew Chesnut, Dan Lietha, Mara Einstein, Bob Sivigny, Ed Harrell, Matt Hedstrom, John G. Turner, Chuck Carpenter, Tommy Kidd, Scott Billingsly, Joe Parle, Bill Klages, Jarvis Taylor, Derek Hicks, Seth Dowland, France Brown, E. R. Haire, Jr., Marvin McNeese, Bernadette Pruitt, Jeff Littlejohn, Tom Cox, Jason Bivins, Ken Hendrickson, Nancy Baker, Artis Lovelady III, Ed Blum, Alex Hernandez, Paul Shockley, Susan Hill, Bart Marnitz, Tony Tripi, Gerardo Marti, Debbie Watkins, James Kirby Martin, Nic Ellen, Steve Sullivan, Darren Grem, Bill Blocker, Lance Waldie, Steve Shanklin, Jen Graber, Israel Loken, Rich Cozart, Guy Jackson, Harold Fisher, Justin Doran, Randall Stephens, Andy Woods, Virginia Garrard-Burnett, Terry Bilhartz, Sergio Estrada, David Daniels, Joel Goza, Elena Kravchenko, Miles Mullin, A. G. Miller, Edgar Serrano, Katharine Batlan, Rob Cooper, Joseph Williams, John Armstrong, Robert Crosby, Blaine Hamilton, Jessica Wilson, Mike McClymond, Mike Ayers, Todd Brenneman, Kristen Bullock, Derek Trevathan, Eddie Carson, Ty Cashion, Quentin Schultze, Doyen Blair, and Lee Bouldin.

I had the good fortune to present parts of this project to various audiences. My thanks for patient listening and thoughtful feedback: College of Biblical Studies, Society for Pentecostal Studies, American Academy of Religion Southwest Region (Southwest Commission on Religious Studies), and the University of Texas at Austin Religious Studies Colloquium. I especially thank Chad Seales for inviting me to Austin, for great food, and even better conversation.

As this book took shape, I had the pleasure to meet two students who completed research projects on Lakewood Church. Jillian Owens wrote an award-winning senior honors thesis on Lakewoods small groups in the University of Texas Religious Studies Department, and Matt Hendersons masters thesis for the University of Houstons Sociology Department examined Lakewoods racial and ethnic diversity. Thank you for inviting me to comment on your scholarship. I learned so much from the great research in each of these projects.

The original seeds for this project took root during the research for my first book, Holy Mavericks. In that regard, this project would not have been possible without Shayne Lee. Shayne is a good friend, and through the journey that became this book, he unfailingly encouraged my work, answered my questions, and responded to my meandering thoughts over the phone, in a text, through an email, or over a meal. Similarly, David Sehats friendship, wise counsel, probing questions, and delightful conversation has enriched my life for many years. Davids encouraging words, particularly over our coffee talks, sustained me throughout this project. Likewise, the regular conversations with Arlene Snchez-Walsh, Charity Carney, and Kate Bowler provided much laughter, much encouragement, and much insight as we navigated the conceptual, historical, archival, and cultural dimensions of religious history, megachurches, and the prosperity gospel. Arlene, Charity, Kate, and I shared with each other works in progress, and ideas and perspectives in process. I am most grateful for their friendship and their constructive feedback.