Victoria Osteen

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Victoria Iloff Osteen
Born	March 28, 1961 (1961-03-28) (age 48)
Residence	Houston, Texas
Nationality	American
Occupation	Co-Pastor
Known for	Spouse to Joel Osteen
Religious beliefs	Non-denominational Christianity
Spouse(s)	Joel Osteen
Children	2

Victoria Iloff Osteen born March 28, 1961 in Huntsville, Alabama is the co-pastor of Lakewood Church in Houston, Texas, and is the wife of Joel Osteen.

Contents 1 History 2 Current activities 3 Book publishing 4 In the news 5 References

[edit] History

Victoria lived near Marshall Space Flight Center where her father, Donald Iloff – a mathematician with General Electric – was a member of G.E.’s Saturn rocket project team led by German rocket scientist, Werner Von Braun. In 1963, at the age of two, Victoria moved with her family to Houston, Texas when her father took a position with the National Aeronautical and Space Administration (NASA). She grew up in a southern suburb of Houston, near the Manned Spacecraft Center (now known as the Johnson Spacecraft Center).

Victoria grew up in a Christian home, attending the Church of Christ, a protestant fundamentalist non-denominational church, where her mother, Georgine Iloff, taught Sunday school and her father served as a deacon. Victoria attended the University of Houston where she studied psychology while working in her mother’s jewelry business. It was while working in the jewelry store that she met Joel Osteen in 1985 when he came in to buy a new watch battery.

[edit] Current activities

Victoria Osteen’s spiritual philosophy is exclusively Christian, strongly espousing that salvation is found only through a relationship with Jesus Christ. As the co-Pastor of Lakewood Church, Victoria teaches and participates in every worship service. Her part of the service is not broadcast throughout most of the world; however, she can be seen on the special one-hour program broadcast on the Daystar Television Network and on the live internet feed available on Lakewood.cc and JoelOsteen.com. Victoria founded the Lakewood Church Women’s Ministry in 2003.

[edit] Book publishing

Victoria’s first book, entitled Love Your Life: Living Happy, Healthy, and Whole was published by Simon & Schuster and released for sale on October 14, 2008. It debuted at number 2 on the New York Times Bestsellers list. At 750,000 copies, the initial first printing of Love Your Life was one of the largest by any publisher in 2008.^[1]

In January 2009, Victoria will release a line of children’s books published by Simon & Schuster (Little Simon). Her five-year agreement with Simon & Schuster allows her to publish 13 children’s works in all, including a Bible for children.

[edit] In the news

This section has been nominated to be checked for its neutrality. Discussion of this nomination can be found on the talk page. (April 2009)

Victoria Osteen was accused by a Continental Airlines flight attendant, Sharon Brown, of assault before a December 19, 2005 flight from Houston, Texas to Vail, Colorado. The flight attendant sued Victoria Osteen in a Harris County civil court asking for 10% of Osteen’s net worth.^[2] On August 13, 2008, a Houston jury took three hours to reach a verdict and sided unanimously in favor of Victoria Osteen. The jurors rejected the claims in a lawsuit filed by Brown, who had been seeking at least $405,000 for actual damages.^[3][4]

Rusty Hardin, Osteen's attorney, questioned Brown's motives for filing the lawsuit, telling jurors if an assault had taken place and the flight attendant had truly wanted Victoria Osteen to be held accountable, she would have sought criminal charges. Hardin stated: "If your motives are pure, that's where you go first. If you want to hold her responsible and not look to line your pockets and hit the lottery then you go to law enforcement. She didn't do that."^[5] During the trial, several witnesses aboard the aircraft, including the captain and two Continental Airlines gate employees, contradicted the flight attendant’s claims, testifying that Osteen did not raise her voice or assault the flight attendant. According to sworn testimony, the jury learned that the flight attendant had a history of making false claims and had made the identical accusations against a former Continental Airlines gate agent a few years earlier.^[6] Though Victoria Osteen did not countersue the flight attendant, Judge Patricia Hancock ordered the flight attendant to pay Victoria Osteen’s court costs.

Osteen discussed these incidents in an interview episode of Larry King Live.

In early 2006, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) fined Victoria Osteen $3,000 for “interfering with a crew member". ^[7] Victoria Osteen paid the fine, “in order to put the incident behind her.” During the trial, Victoria Osteen’s attorney Rusty Hardin called the FAA order “sloppy and incomplete.” Testimony at the trial established that the FAA never interviewed the captain or the relevant passengers, but chose instead to rely on the statements of two flight attendants (one of whom later filed suit against Victoria Osteen). The official FAA Order incorrectly describes the event as taking place at Dallas - Ft. Worth airport (DFW) instead of Houston Intercontinental (IAH).

The Greater Southwest Houston Chamber of Commerce named Victoria Osteen a Community Impact Award winner in 2006. Her activities include a regular feature on 89.3 KSBJ—Houston's afternoon drive show with Chuck Pryor and Amanda Carroll. She also supports the organizations Feed the Children and The Bridge, a shelter for battered women.^[8] Victoria and Joel were the featured cover story of the May–June 2006 issue of Texas Family.^[9] She was also on the cover of Houston Pet Talk magazine, October 2006.

[edit] References