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Amid heightened safety measures, Pastor Joel Osteen‘s Lakewood Church welcomed again its congregation right now within the first companies since a lady opened fireplace contained in the Houston megachurch on Super Bowl Sunday.
In a video posted to X forward of the companies, Osteen mentioned right now’s two companies marked a time of therapeutic and restoration for his church’s neighborhood. “This Sunday, we’re gonna have special services- time of healing and restoration, time of praise and thanksgiving, just thanking God for his angels for watching after us,” Osteen mentioned.
“Hello Lakewood family, we want to tell you how much we love you and how much we been praying for you,” Osteen mentioned. “Yes, it’s been a difficult week, something we never dreamed we would have to deal with, but we look back now and we see the faithfulness of God- how he protected and watched over us.”
“So we hope you and your family will come out, and you know, forces that would like for us to shrink back and live in fear- afraid of what might happen at the school, the grocery store, at work, or even at church. But we are not people of fear, we are people of faith,” the pastor added.
Police officers had been stationed right now contained in the constructing and had been checking luggage as folks entered.
Meanwhile, a boy wounded within the capturing stays in important situation in a hospital. He was shot within the mind, officers mentioned, however it stays unclear as to who shot him.
In the capturing, Associated Press reported a lady in a trench coat opened fireplace with a protracted gun contained in the megachurch earlier than being gunned down by two off-duty officers who confronted her.
The incident despatched worshippers dashing from the constructing between busy Sunday companies, authorities mentioned.
Police mentioned the girl entered the church with a 5-year-old boy shortly earlier than 2 p.m. The girl started capturing, as officers on the scene “engaged” her and the girl was killed. The 5-year-old was hit within the change of gunfire and critically injured.
Houston Police Chief Troy Finner mentioned a 57-year-old man additionally was shot within the hip and wounded. His situation is unknown.
The capturing occurred between companies on the megachurch that’s commonly attended by 45,000 folks each week, making it the third-largest megachurch within the U.S., in keeping with the Hartford Institute for Religion Research. Osteen’s televised sermons attain about 100 international locations.
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