A Proposal on Ministerial Experiences in Divorce: A Case Study of Some Selected Clergy
Chapter One
Objective of the study
The following objectives will be ascertained;
- To find out the biblical view of marriage and divorce
- To assess the rate of divorce among clergies in Redeemed church of God
- To analyze the effects of divorce among clergies in redeemed church of God.
- To examine the church’s response to divorce among clergies in Redeemed church of God
CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW
INTRODUCTION
The society today is experiencing the rise of divorce cases in which the church is part of it. An increase statistic is indicating its rise and facts relating to the decrease of stability of the nuclear family. Divorce rates have greatly increased in the past few years making many to fear the institution of marriage. With rising divorce rates and alternative family forms, marriage has increasingly lost its unique position as the only accepted unit to establish an intimate relationship (Das 2016, 3). Nicholas in his book indicates that “Many people view divorce as unfortunate but sometimes necessary. There are segments of the population, however, who have intense feelings about it. Some people applaud the availability of divorce, regarding it as a basic freedom, while others deplore it. Each group has its political advocates. In the last fifteen years, more than thirty state legislatures have deliberated legislation that would toughen divorce laws; language urging reconsideration of no-fault divorce appeared in the 2000 Republican Party platform. Even among academics who study divorce, there are some who believe it inflict little or no harm on children, while others regard it as a source of deep and lasting trauma” (Wolfinger 2005, 1). Divorce has gained momentum in recent days but traditionally it was highly discouraged because of the effects that come with it. Casey Whitaker in his book indicates that “23% of born-again Christians have divorced 2 or more times. For every 100 new marriages, end in divorce. 33% of born-again Christians have divorced their spouses, a rate statistically equal to our non-Christian and pagan counter parts”. 90% of all divorces among Christians occurred after they came to Christ. “In the late 1800s, when the majority of churches believed marriage was permanent while a spouse was living, 1 in 10 marriage relationships ended in divorce and it was considered an epidemic. In 1920, 1 in 7 couples divorced: in 1960, 1 in 4 couples divorced; in 1974, 1 in 3 couples divorced: and today, on average 1in 2 couples believe marriage is not a covenant with God and each other” (Whitaker 2009, 46). In Biblical perspectives in the Holy Bible, when the Pharisees came up to Jesus to test him by asking, is it lawful to divorce one’s wife for any cause? He answered, “Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? So, they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined, let not man separate.” They said to him, “Why then did Moses command one to give a certificate of divorce and to send her away?” He said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning, it was not so. And I say to you: whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery.” (Matthew 19:3–9 ESV). Whitaker indicates that “the marriage of God the Father with Israel (including Israel and Judah) under the Old Testament (Covenant) took the death of Jesus.
CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY
The researcher used descriptive research survey design in building up this project work. The choice of this research design was considered appropriate because of its advantages of identifying attributes of a large population from a group of individuals. The design was suitable for the study as the study sought to Ministerial experience in divorce; A case study of selected clergy
CHAPTER FOUR
METHOD OF DATA ANALYSIS
The researcher will employ oral and direct interview in administering this research questions. Responses from the respondents were needed unlike questionnaires, which is less rewarding due to late receipt and loss of responses from respondents. The method of data analysis that will be used by the researcher is score and grand mean was used to answer the research questions
References
- Ackah-Heman, D. Marriage problems in Ghana. London: Hazell Watson and Viney Ltd., 2004.
- Ambert, A. M.Divorce: Facts, causes and consequences 3rd ed. Ottawa, Canada: Vanier Institute of the Family, 2009.
- Avotri, J. Y., Walters, V. “We women worry a lot about our husbands”: Ghanaian women talking about their health and their relationships with men.Journal of Gender Studies, vol.10(2001): 197–211.
- Bacchiocchi, Samuele. The Marriage Covenant: A Biblical Study on Marriage, Divorce and Remarrage.Michigan: Biblical Perspective, 2001. Benyah, Francis. “Because Your Hearts Were Hard: An Examination of Jesus’ discourse on divorce in Mark 10:2-12”,Trinity Journal of Church and Theologyvol. 18, No 1, March 2014.
- Bourgeault, I., Dingwall, R. and de Vries, R, eds.The SAGE Handbook of Qualitative Methods inHealth Research. London: SAGE Publications, 2010.
- Braun, V., and Clarke, V.Using thematic analysis in psychology: Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3(2).
- Ciampa, E. Roy and Brian S. Rosner.The First Letter to the Corinthians. The Pillar New Testament Commentary. Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans, 2010. David Instone-Brewer, Divorce and Remarriage in the Bible: The Social and Literary Contex.t Grand Rapids: William B.
