More than 50 couples were married during a mass wedding ceremony earlier this month at Lakepointe Church in Rockwall, Texas.
Lakepointe Church is a multi-campus megachurch pastored by Josh Howerton with an average weekly attendance of more than 21,300.
On Feb. 22, Howerton concluded his sermon, “3 Things That Will Kill Your Marriage,” by issuing a challenge to unmarried couples who were cohabiting to get married.
“A lot of you didn’t know what you were supposed to do,” Howerton said. “So you’re living with somebody that’s not your spouse, you’re sleeping with somebody that’s not your spouse, or you’ve actually already started a family and had kids with somebody that’s not your spouse.”
“And you right now are coming under the loving conviction of the Holy Spirit that you need to honor God, bend your knee to Jesus, put a ring on it, and enter into a covenant with a person that you’re already acting like you’re in a covenant with,” Howerton continued. “What I want you to know is we want to help you do that.”
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Howerton said that Lakepointe Church has a saying: “The only time we look down on people is to give them a hand up.”
The pastor then shared that what he was about to offer had been planned.
“Here’s what we want to do. We got a whole team of pastors—they’re ready—we are ready to have a mass wedding ceremony across all the campuses of Lakepointe,” Howerton said.
“We got people going to walk with you, counsel you, help you, and then we’re going to get you married,” Howerton explained. “We’re going to throw a big party.”
“And guess what your church family is not going to be doing,” he said. “These people aren’t going to be judging you. They’re going to be cheering you on as you step forward into obedience to Jesus Christ.”
52 Couples Accept Pastor Howerton’s Challenge
On the night of Friday, March 6, 52 couples were married during a mass wedding on Lakepointe’s stage.
“If this doesn’t make your eyes sweat a little, check your pulse,” Howerton posted on social media.
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