Unspecified/General

In a striking former arena complex just south-west of downtown Houston, Lakewood Church is one of the largest single-congregation churches in the United States and the home base of the celebrated televangelist Joel Osteen. The non-denominational evangelical Christian congregation traces its founding to May 1959, when Joel's father John Osteen began a small church in a converted feed store on the city's east side, growing the congregation steadily over the following four decades before his death in 1999. The church's current building is one of the most architecturally distinctive religious complexes in the country. The 16,800-seat sanctuary occupies the former Compaq Center, originally built as the Summit in 1975 and home to the Houston Rockets NBA basketball team for nearly thirty years. Following the Rockets' move to the Toyota Center in 2003, the City of Houston leased the building to Lakewood Church on a long-term lease, with the church spending nearly 95 million dollars converting the arena into an elegantly modern worship space. The interior is striking. The vast curved ceiling soars over three tiers of seats arranged around a large central stage backed by two massive curved video walls and a celebrated golden three-dimensional globe motif. The conversion preserved much of the arena's original structure while adding extensive new lobbies, classrooms, a 700-seat youth chapel, a Spanish-language sanctuary and a bookstore. The Sunday services are broadcast worldwide and draw audiences of more than seven million weekly viewers through television and online platforms, making Joel Osteen's motivational sermons among the most widely distributed Christian content in the world. Spanish-language services are led by Joel's wife Victoria Osteen and add a particularly Houston dimension to the congregation. Visitors are welcome at all weekly services and at the popular Hope at Lakewood evening services. Free guided tours of the building can be arranged in advance.

Type: Tourist Attraction

Address: 3700 Southwest Freeway, Houston, TX, United States

Telephone: 713-635-4154

Website: lakewoodchurch.com

Capacity: 16800

Opening Date: 10/05/1959