Joel Osteen Dedicates Elevate Life's New Cathedral as a 'Place of Destiny'
Joel Osteen, senior pastor of America's fastest growing megachurch, has helped dedicate a new cathedral affiliated with Elevate Life Church, telling those in attendance that the new worship center "is a place of destiny."
The Cathedral of Frisco, situated on 27 acres of land in eastern Denton County, extends nearly 100,000 square feet and stretches about 10 stories high. The Gothic-inspired church also sports state-of-the-art technology that allows stadium-style seating for up to 3,000 people.
Osteen told the Elevate life congregation Sunday to expect great things and to be faithful churchgoers, WFAA-TV reported.
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"I hoped tonight you'll be inspired to say, 'Hey – this is a place of destiny, and I'm a person of destiny.' You know, we didn't just happen to show up in the year of 2012," the Lakewood Church pastor said.
According to Dallas News, church members were in awe of Cathedral Frisco – which features a bookstore, coffee shop, and a large children's ministry space.
The dedication service saw a 3,000-pound pipe organ lowered from the ceiling and a 100-person choir perform. "I'm in total awe – to just watch from the very beginning as the vision was cast," said Angela Shaffer, 49. "It's more than what we ever could have imagined."
"We really wanted to bring the old to the new," David Stroud, one of the church's pastors, said of the cathedral's design, Dallas News reported.
Keith Craft, co-pastor of Elevate Life Church, who led the first dedication service Saturday evening, said, "It's a very amazing, surreal day that it's finally here" during service the following day.
Pastor Craft had relayed in a Dallas News interview that his hope for the cathedral was to be "the pinnacle building in [the] community to point people toward Christ."
Elevate Life Church, a non-denominational community, will continue dedication services – which has a slated attendance of over 70 pastors from across the U.S. – through Wednesday, Feb. 15.
The dedication schedule is as follows, with events beginning at 7 p.m. local time:
- Monday: Ed Young, founder and senior pastor of Fellowship Church in Grapevine
- Tuesday: Stovall Weems, founder and lead pastor of Celebration Church in Jacksonville, Fla.
- Wednesday: Denny Duron, chancellor of Evangel Christian Academy and pastor of First Assembly of God in Shreveport, La.
