San Antonio Express-News (Sunday)
Osteen’s church repaying $4.4M PPP loan
HOUSTON — Joel Osteen’s Lakewood Church is repaying millions of dollars it received in COVID-19 disaster funds that prompted a backlash from church-state separation groups and others last year.
Lakewood received about $4.4 million through the Paycheck Protection Program to cover payroll and other expenses as it shuttered in-person services for seven months last year. The loan, first reported by the Houston Chronicle, sparked criticism of Osteen and Lakewood on social media as well as concerns that using federal funds to support a religious institution violated the constitutional principle of separation of church and state.
The megachurch defended the loan, saying that none of the money went to Osteen or his wife, neither of whom receive a salary from Lakewood. In a statement last week, Lakewood said the PPP loan was crucial for them “during such a time of need.”
“Like many organizations temporarily shuttered by the pandemic, this loan provided Lakewood Church short-term financial assistance in 2020 ensuring that its approximately 350 employees and their families would continue to receive a paycheck and full health care benefits,” the church said through a spokesperson.
Lakewood provided a bank statement showing it has made payments on the loan since January.
The megachurch was among at least 60 religious institutions in Texas that received more than $1 million in loans through the CARES Act, the first stimulus package passed by lawmakers in response to the pandemic, according to data released by the Small Business Administration.
The program was unprecedented — and controversial.
Before the CARES Act, federal money had gone to some religious programs such as chaplaincies, but never had the government extended a direct financial lifeline to religious and nonprofit institutions exempt from taxation.
Under the legislation, churches and nonprofits with fewer than 500 employees were eligible for loans that would be forgiven if they were used on costs such as payroll or utilities.
Church-state separation groups said that because the loans were forgivable, they were effectively a grant — and the government was thus subsidizing religious operations and running afoul of the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause.
Rob Boston, senior adviser for the Washingtonbased Americans United for Separation of Church and State, said he was pleased Osteen is repaying the loan, for which Boston said Osteen was “rightfully” criticized.
“But there’s a larger issue here,” he said. “Religious freedom is a core promise of our Constitution, and that means that no one should be forced to pay for someone else’s religious beliefs or practices Historically, the practice in the United States has been for congregations to support houses of worship and not rely on taxpayer money — and to be free from the inevitable entangling forms of oversight that brings.”
His group is among many who’ve called for more oversight of PPP loans, particularly those received by religious groups.
They point to cases such as that of Daystar Television Network, a massive Christian broadcaster based in Dallas, which said last year it was returning a $3.9 million PPP loan following questions about whether some of it was used to purchase a luxury Gulfstream jet.