The Senior Pastor of the Tema Community Four branch of the Central Assemblies of God Church, Reverend David Nabegmado, says divorce rates in churches are becoming alarming and need urgent attention.
He, therefore, urged the churches to counsel couples regularly, especially after marriage, to ensure that divorce cases were reduced.
Rev. Nabegmado, who was speaking at a vows renewal ceremony in Tema, said much attention was given to counselling on courtship, but that ended right after the couples had taken their marriage vows.
He also said limiting counselling to only courtship had contributed to the increased divorce cases in the church.
Rev. Nabegmado did not give figures to support his assertion, but the Ghana Statistical Service is reported to have indicated that about 600,000 marriages contracted in the country in 2014 collapsed. The number of divorce cases was said to be three times the number of divorce cases which occurred in England and Wales in 2012.
Renewal of marriage vows
The programme, dubbed ‘Renewal of Marriage Vows’, was organised by the Tema Community Four Central Assemblies of God Church with the aim of encouraging couples to be committed to their spouses at all times.
According to the church, the programme, the first of its kind, was meant to underscore the need to sustain marriages and for the couples to keep to the vows they made, to help reduce the high rate of divorce cases.
About 200 couples renewed their vows at the ceremony.
Commitment
Rev. Nabegmado stated that the church, which was committed to ensuring that marriages were strengthened, taught the couples how to be patient and committed in their relationship.
He, however, debunked the notion that church members were forced into marriages, adding that in his local church, leaders taught and counselled members the right way to make marriages simple and ensure that the high divorce rates were reduced.
Rev. Nabegmado urged the youth to imbibe the value of chastity to ensure that their marriages were strengthened and lasted till death.
