Home Christian News Matt Hagee Issues Apology After Video Reveals He Welcomed Controversial Event

Matt Hagee Issues Apology After Video Reveals He Welcomed Controversial Event

Matt Hagee
Photo from Twitter: @BrianKaylor

Matt Hagee, who is the lead pastor of Cornerstone Church in San Antonio, released a statement on November 18, 2021 regarding the controversial ReAwaken America Tour event that took place at his church last week.

During the event, footage revealed that a crowd in the church’s main worship space was chanting, “Let’s go Brandon,” which is coded language for an expletive directed at President Joe Biden. The event also featured Trump’s former security advisor General Michael Flynn, who called for “one religion” in America.

Cornerstone is a 22,000 member megachurch, which was founded in 1966 by Hagee’s father and popular author, John Hagee. Matt took over as lead pastor in 2018 after his father celebrated 60 years in ministry.

Since video clips of the event began circulating, many have been questioning why a church would host such an event.

On Tuesday, Cornerstone Church issued a statement on Facebook saying, “This past week, Cornerstone Church facilities were used by an outside organization. Cornerstone Church is not associated with this organization and does not endorse their views.”

Although the statement seemed to imply that the church’s leadership had nothing to do with the ReAwaken America Tour, a video later surfaced where Hagee could be seen welcoming the crowd after being introduced by host Clay Clark.

RELATED: Event at John Hagee’s Church Calls for One National Religion, Chants of ‘Let’s Go Brandon’

In his introduction, Clark said, “We wouldn’t be able to host this event here if we didn’t have a senior pastor that had critical thinking skills, a senior pastor who believed in the Bible, the Constitution…So ladies and gentlemen please welcome the host and lead pastor of this church — Pastor Matt Hagee.”

Hagee told the crowd, “Hello, God bless you, and thank you for choosing to join us on this wonderful occasion here at Cornerstone. I first and foremost want to honor and recognize individuals who have served our nation on this Veteran’s Day — those of you who have given us the freedoms that we enjoy — God bless you, and thank you for all that you have done.”

“I also want to tell each and everyone of you who are here how proud I am of the individual decision that you have made today. The Bible says to choose life. ‘I’ve set before you life and death — choose life.’ And by being here, you have made the conscious decision to live in your faith rather than die in your fear. And I want to tell you how proud I am of that decision. God bless you. Have a wonderful day. Welcome to Cornerstone Church.”