Joel Osteen, best-selling author and pastor of the 47,000-member Lakewood Church in Houston, has a strict policy of not allowing any politician or government office holder to speak in his church about politics. Osteen also does not endorse any political candidate, although he does not mind putting in a good word for the person if he or she happens to visit the church.
"Part of it is how I was raised," Osteen explained in a Newsweek interview this week. "My father...kept it out of the pulpit."
The no-politics-in-pulpit policy stems from back in the days of John Osteen, founder of Lakewood Church. The then 6,000-member congregation would see local candidates swing by for a visit every time the city council race would get close in hopes of appealing to the voting flock.
"It just got to the point where it didn't seem right," the younger Osteen said. "Now that we've grown it's the same thing."
He noted, however, that he is a "strong believer" in honouring the people who serve the country through public office, but with only a brief introduction and a thank you for their service during worship time.
"If one of the presidential candidates were to attend, they certainly deserve honour," Osteen said. "[But] I think we say we don't let them speak because, well, who wouldn't want to come to speak to 40,000 people here? We would introduce them and I would always put in a good word, whether they are Democrat or Republican."
His view contrasts those of many pastors who have allowed or even invited the 2008 presidential candidates to speak in their pulpit. Mike Huckabee, himself an ordained pastor, has spoken at dozens of churches across America while on the campaign trail.
