Twitter Calls Joel Osteen ‘Religious Fraud': Other Rich Pastors in US

It's been a rough weekend for the Texans. Following its landfall Friday, Hurricane Harvey swept over parts of southeast Texas causing extensive damage. State officials Monday said at least nine people appear to have died due to the hurricane, according to reports.

Dozens of Houston-area churches, schools, and community centers offered help to the stranded locals; however, Pastor Joel Osteen's Houston-based Lakewood Church received widespread criticism when it announced on Facebook on Sunday that it was "inaccessible due to severe flooding."

Twitter users lashed out at Osteen, who has an estimated net worth of $40 million. He has also been listed as the fifth-richest pastor in the United States. While one user called him a "religious fraud," another user said he preached for money and not for the love of people. A user who also called him a fraud said North Korean missile that flew over Japan on Tuesday, triggering a reaction from Pentagon, should not shift the focus from Osteen.

Sharing a photo of the church with multiple mattresses, a Twitter user made a sarcastic remark saying: "Lakewood Church apparently bought countless air mattresses and are prepping to open their doors. Took a while but good news."

Responding to the backlash, Osteen issued a statement Monday, and stressed the church would continue to be a distribution center for the needy, ABC reported.

Osteen claimed his position at the Lakewood Church in 1991 after his father and former head pastor John Osteen died in 1991. In a 2012 interview with Oprah Winfrey, when he was asked about how he got so much money to lead a luxurious life, he said he did not take salary from the church. He also said he was living his life from the millions of money earned from his first book five years ago.

But Osteen is not the only rich pastor in the U.S. Here are some of them along with their net worth.

1. Kenneth Copeland, $760 million

Copeland leads the network "Believer's Voice of Victory," which is a 24x7 program on healing and finding peace. The focus of the program is how a solid foundation can be built on faith. Kenneth Copeland Ministries that specializes in teaching principles of bible faith runs on a 1,500-acre campus in Texas, according to Beliefnet, a website that publishes content related to faith and spirituality.

2. Marion Gordon "Pat" Robertson, $100 million

Robertson is the son of former Sen. A. Willis Robertson (D-Virginia). Pat served as a Southern Baptist minister for many years before making a successful career as a media mogul and executive chairman. In the late 80s, he also ran for president but did not win. He runs several organizations such as the Christian Coalition, a Christian right organization that raises money and public support for conservative political candidates.

3. Toufik Benedictus "Benny" Hinn, $42 million

Hinn was born in Israel and was raised in the Eastern Orthodox tradition. He claims he received a vision in 1974 when he saw people falling into a roaring inferno and a warning that if he did not preach the Gospel, every soul falling into the inferno will be Hinn's responsibility. Days after he turned 22, he preached his first sermon and has been an evangelist since. The pastor has worked in the field for 40 years through miracle services, conferences, TV broadcasts, the Internet, audio-video recordings, among others.

4. Creflo Dollar, $27 Million

The founder of the non-denominational World Changers Church International, Georgia, Atlanta. Dollar was raised in a Baptist church and received a Bachelor of Science degree in education after which he held his first sermon in an elementary school cafeteria, 1986. Within 20 years, he was preaching to a congregation of 30,000 members and earning $69 million in revenue.