$600K stolen from Lakewood Church

Cash and checks - along with written credit card information – were stolen from Houston's Lakewood Church on Sunday, according to an email sent by church leaders to members on Monday.

Victor Senties, spokesman for the Houston Police Department, said $200,000 in cash and $400,000 in checks were stolen from the church's safe sometime between early afternoon Sunday and Monday morning, when a church employee first discovered the money missing.

Senties declined to release further details about the robbery.

Lakewood said in a statement to its more than 40,000 church members Monday that cash, checks and envelopes containing written credit card information had been stolen.

Lakewood, which is led by Pastor Joel Osteen, encouraged those who made contributions to the church on March 8 and 9 to monitor their bank and credit card accounts closely for fraudulent charges.

The statement reiterated that this was not an electronic data breach, and was only limited to donations made during those services. Further, if a church member put their offering in a drop box, gave online or through other electronic means, they are not affected by the robbery.

"The funds were fully insured, and we are working with our insurance company to restore the stolen funds to the church," according to the Lakewood statement.

Lakewood Church is a nondenominational Christian megachurch along Houston's Southwest Freeway. It hosts the largest congregation in the U.S. and its pastor, Joel Osteen, is a national celebrity. (Eric Kayne / Houston Chronicle) less Lakewood Church is a nondenominational Christian megachurch along Houston's Southwest Freeway. It hosts the largest congregation in the U.S. and its pastor, Joel Osteen, is a national celebrity. (Eric Kayne / ... more Photo: Eric Kayne, For The Chronicle Photo: Eric Kayne, For The Chronicle Image 1 of / 86 Caption Close $600K stolen from Lakewood Church 1 / 86 Back to Gallery

Donald Iloff, Jr., a church spokesman, said Tuesday that he couldn't comment further on the theft.

"Lakewood Church is working in conjunction with the Houston Police Department to investigate this matter. We do not want to compromise the investigation by commenting at this time," he said.

Church members worried about their donations are asked to call Lakewood's customer service line at 713-491-1506.