As part of measures to educate church members on marriage as well as the legal issues pertaining to it, the Counselling Unit of The Church of Pentecost, Headquarters (COP-HQ), in conjunction with the Afram Plains Area, has held a day’s seminar on marriage at Donkorkrom in the Eastern Region.

The exercise, which took place on Tuesday, June 12, 2018, was attended by 97 participants from the various Districts within the Afram Plains Area.

Present at the seminar were Apostle William Boakye Agyarko (Afram Plains Area Head), Apostle Philip Osei-Korsah (Head of Counselling Unit of The Church of Pentecost), Lawyer Oladele Kwaku Aribike (Marriage Officer at Registrar General Department, Accra), Mr. David Nartey Adittah (Marriage Registrar at the Registrar General Department, Accra), the Afram Plains pastorate and their wives as well as some selected participants from the various districts in the Area.

In his presentation, Apostle Philip Osei Korsah intimated that many couples declared their marriage vows without understanding the implications of what they were saying. He stated that the significance of the marital vow is “to demonstrate our whole commitment to the marriage decision taken.” Unfortunately, some couples find it difficult to abide by the vows they make to each other.

Apostle Osei Korsah’s interaction with the participants revealed unfulfilled expectations, family pressure, unhealthy comparison with other married couples, misunderstanding of vows and temperamental differences as some of the reasons why many people fail to fulfil their marital vows.

He stated that very soon, portions on marriage vows in the Church’s ministerial handbook shall be incorporated into the Church’s pre-marital handbook so that members can have access to the details of material content.

On his part, Lawyer Oladele Kwaku Aribike took participants through the various types of marriages and how the laws of Ghana affect them. He advised those who have not yet registered their marriages to do so because marriage under the ordinance is monogamous, thus, unless the man or woman dies, or the marriage is legally dissolved, neither party can marry another person.

Mr David Nartey, who spoke extensively on the procedure for marriage under the ordinance in Ghana, advised participants to follow due processes in the registering of their marriages. He stated that until a minister has a Marriage Licence, he or she cannot bless marriages. He gave practical instances where many people have come to his office seeking legal rights only to realise after cross-checking their documents, that due processes were not followed. He added that since such marriages are not legally binding, there was no way he could help the affected parties.

In his closing remarks, Apostle Willliam Boakye Agyarko expressed gratitude to Apostle Philip Osei Korsah and his team for taking participants the marriage exercise. He advised participants to go and put into practice the knowledge they have gained from the seminar.

Report by: Pastor Francis Lamptey, Afram Plains Area Reporter