Bishop Alfred Owens apologized Thursday for offending gay advocates, but not for his homophobic beliefs, and he promised to continue sermonizing on “hell and sin.”

In a letter to the editor in The Washington Post, Owens, pastor of Greater Mount Calvary Holy Church, issued a quasi-apology for his anti-gay Palm Sunday sermon, when he said only a “real man” can confess Jesus as Lord and Savior, “no faggot or no sissy.”