“There were a few people in our church who, man, that joke, it may have just landed on you wrong,” he told his congregation during a sermon on April 7. “And listen, I just, I’m a pastor, I love my sheep.”
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“So honestly, like, with a very sincere heart, I just want to say this: Dude, if that joke fell on you the wrong way, I need you to hear…I love you,” he went on to say. “I’m sorry for something that felt like careless words…actually…I’m sorry for careless words.”
He nevertheless later added that “if, like, any little joke is going to offend you, I’m probably not your preacher.”
Following the apology, Howerton received another wave of criticism when it was discovered that his apology had been apparently lifted, nearly verbatim, from an apology made by Joby Martin, lead pastor of The Church of Eleven22 in Jacksonville, Florida.
Martin’s apology came after he said during a sermon that breastfeeding is “gross” and suggested that nursing mothers “get a room.”
Howerton again responded to the criticism, this time with a social media post in which he posed for a picture alongside Martin.
“Breakfast with ‘my preacher’ @jobymartin,” Howerton wrote. “We both said goodbye to each other, but I said it 2nd, thus plagiarizing his farewell.”
Explaining the joke, Howerton added, “Someone accused me of ‘plagiarizing’ part of a Joby sermon last week, not knowing Joby called me to encourage me, help [with the] sermon, gave me language, and that we frequently help each other [with] sermons.”
“If you ever hear anything of mine in one of Joby’s sermons,” Howerton continued, “YUP, he’s got my permission and we probably texted about it.”
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This article has been updated to include a statement from Lakepointe Church.
