The police are currently still investigating to find out who stole $600,000 from the Houston mega-church that Joel Osteen is the senior pastor of.
There are several really shocking facts about this story of theft from a church:
- It happened in a church - the last place you'd expect a theft to take place.
- The culprit was likely among the 45,000 people who attended Lakeland to worship that day.
- There are rumours the culprit must have had insider knowledge, as cheques and cash were stolen from a secure safe.
- $200,000 was stolen in cash, and $400,000 worth of signed cheques. Credit card information from contributors was also stolen from the safe.
- That $600,000 figure was raised in just two days. Between March 8th and March 9th.
This last figure is the one that shocks me most. How could church become such big business?
There are large companies out there that struggle to make $600,000 in two days... Personally I feel like we're losing the point a little bit if churches become "big industry" like this.
Anyway, the money was insured, so the Church will be paid back in full. And the police are offering a $20,000 reward to anyone that can provide information that leads to an arrest and prosecution.
