After coming in third in his campaign for the GOP U.S. Senate nomination in North Carolina, Pastor Mark Harris has returned to the helm of First Baptist Charlotte, where he opened last weekend’s sermon with remarks objecting to marriage equality and abortion rights.

Harris told his congregation that the majority of Americans oppose the legalization of same-sex marriage and abortion but the media are shutting out such conservative views, while judges, such as the one who struck down North Carolina’s ban on gay marriage, are unilaterally “changing the will of the people.”

“Ladies and gentlemen, we cannot believe the lies that will be fed,” Harris said. “Listen, everybody else is coming out of the closet, maybe we need to come out of the closet.”