Abstract:
Although God intended marriage to be a lifelong relationship, the tragic fact is that divorce has become common occurrence in our society. Sadly, the dramatic rise in divorce rates in recent years has also affected the Christian community. Pastors and others providing counsel have become increasingly burdened with problems of divorce and remarriage, even among those regarded as active members of their congregations. This study seeks to highlight not only the perspectives of divorcees in charismatic churches but also on what policies charismatic churches hold on the subject matter and the kind of support given to divorcees in the churches.
A qualitative study approach was employed to facilitate the development of an in-depth understanding on issues of divorce and remarriage. One main research question and four sub questions were posed to direct the study. Interviews and focused group discussions were used to gather data from divorcees, some of which have remarried, Pastors and church leaders in selected charismatic churches.
The results indicated that divorce is an issue of concern in charismatic churches because most of their active members are getting divorced without informing their pastors due to the stigma attached to divorce. Again most charismatic churches do not have an official written document on the subject matter and therefore do not teach their members on the dangers and warning signals that could lead to divorce.
It is recommended that Charismatic Churches should have a written policy that will guide their members on issues bothering on marriage, divorce and remarriage. Members should be informed about the details of the policy and finally divorcees should be accepted by the church and given the necessary support as well as pre- marital counselling on marriage enrichment.
