Houston Megachurch: We ‘Never Closed Our Doors’ To Those Displaced By Harvey

** ADVANCE FOR FRIDAY AMS, JULY 15 **Flags fly in front of the Lakewood Church June 28, 2005 in Houston. The nation's largest church is moving into the 16,000-seat former home of the Houston Rockets with the first se... ** ADVANCE FOR FRIDAY AMS, JULY 15 **Flags fly in front of the Lakewood Church June 28, 2005 in Houston. The nation's largest church is moving into the 16,000-seat former home of the Houston Rockets with the first service Saturday, July 16. The facility took 15 months and about $75 million (euros 62 million) to complete and features two waterfalls, three gargantuan television screens and a lighting system that rivals one found at a rock concert. (AP Photo/Pat Sullivan) MORE LESS
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The Lakewood Church in Houston, a megachurch with a 16,800-seat arena where Joel Osteen serves as pastor, on Monday denied that it closed its doors to residents displaced by massive flooding after Hurricane Harvey made landfall last week.

“We have never closed our doors. We will continue to be a distribution center for those in need,” church spokesman Donald Iloff told CNN. “We are prepared to shelter people once the cities and county shelters reach capacity.”

The church provided CNN with photographs of standing water in hallways and a parking lot.

Iloff, who is televangelist pastor Joel Osteen’s father-in-law, said the church is scheduled to open around noon and will also serve as a donation center.

The church on Sunday posted on Facebook that it was “inaccessible due to severe flooding” and included a list of “safe shelters” in Houston as well as the National Guard rescue hotline.

Osteen faced criticism Monday for not opening the church as a shelter for those displaced by Harvey.

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