Model Marriage
- Customary Marriage
(This is for the involvement of the families.)
(a) Families get together and traditionally hand over their daughter after customary
rites are performed.
(b) The rites vary depending on the family and tribe.
(c) Some families consider this to be a full and proper marriage and expect the couple
to live together afterwards.
(d) Some families consider this as merely an engagement, that is, an agreement to
marry.
(e) This church does not recognize customary marriage as marriage unless it is
blessed by the pastors. Customary marriage is a polygamous arrangement. (This
means a man can marry as many wives as he wants.) The church believes that it
is important for its members to marry under the Marriage Ordinance because legal
marriage under the Ordinance does not permit polygamy.- Spiritual Marriage
(This is so that the couple vow to obey God’s law in relation to marriage and also to have
the marriage sealed by God.)
(a) The church conducts the vows and blesses the couple.^2
(b) As far as the church is concerned, you are not married unless this is done.
(c) The church also publishes the names of all couples getting married, on its
noticeboard for at least three weeks, so that if there is any objection to the
marriage it may be voiced.
We require all couples to fulfil all 3 forms of marriage to avoid confusion and dispute later on,
as to whether they were or have indeed been married.^3
Notes- Al Janssen, The Marriage Masterpiece(Wheaton, Illinois: Tyndale, 2001),3 - 4; Evans
A. Laryea, Joining of Lives(Accra, Ghana: PAL International, 2002), 33 - 38; Derek and Ruth
Prince, God Is a Matchmaker (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Chosen Books, 2003), 51-52.;
Christopher Ash, Marriage Sex in the Service of God(Leicester, England: InterVarsity Press,
2003), 66 - 69. - Marva J. Dawn, Sexual Character: Beyond Technique to Intimacy(Grand Rapids,
Michigan: William B. Eerdman Publishing, 2001), 207. - Christopher Clulow, ed., Women, Men and Marriage(London: Sheldon Press, 1995),
40 - 43; Joshua Adjabeng, Before You Marry(Accra, Ghana: Olive Publications, 1999),63-67.