Ministerial Experiences in Divorce. A Case Study of Some Selected Clergy
CHAPTER ONE
Objective of the study
The objective of the study is to find out ministerial experiences in divorce among clergies in Redeemed church of God. The specific objectives are;
- 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.
CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Research design
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 experiences in divorce. A cases study of selected clergies in Redeemed Christian Church of God.
Sources of data collection
Data were collected from two main sources namely:
- Primary source and
- Secondary source
Primary source:
These are materials of statistical investigation which were collected by the research for a particular purpose. They can be obtained through a survey, observation questionnaire or as experiment; the researcher has adopted the questionnaire method for this study.
Secondary source:
These are data from textbook Journal handset etc. they arise as byproducts of the same other purposes. Example administration, various other unpublished works and write ups were also used.
Population of the study
Population of a study is a group of persons or aggregate items, things the researcher is interested in gathering information relevant to ministerial experiences in divorce. Two hundred (200) members of redeemed Christian church of God in Ikorodu, Lagos State were selected randomly by the researcher as the population of the study.
CHAPTER FOUR
ANALYSIS AND PRESENTATION OF DATA
One hundred and sixty (160) questionnaires were distributed and one hundred and forty (133) were returned. This figure was the sample size. Out of the one hundred and thirty-three, only one hundred and twenty (120) were properly responded to. As a result, the researcher used one hundred and twenty for this study when more than 50% of the respondents agree to the questions, the answer is taken as valid for the purpose of this study. In analyzing the data, the approach that will be adopted is to find out the percentage and positive and negative answers to the question posed.
CHAPTER FIVE
SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
Introduction
It is important to ascertain that the objective of this study was to ascertain ministerial experiences in divorce. A case study of clergies in Redeemed Christian church of God
In the preceding chapter, the relevant data collected for this study were presented, critically analyzed and appropriate interpretation given. In this chapter, certain recommendations made which in the opinion of the researcher will be of benefits in addressing the challenges of ministerial experiences in divorce
Summary
This study was on ministerial experiences in divorce. A case study of clergies in Redeemed Christian church of God. Four objectives were raised which included: 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 and to examine the church’s response to divorce among clergies in Redeemed church of God. The researcher used questionnaires as the instrument for the data collection. Descriptive Survey research design was adopted for this study. A total of 133 respondents made up of pastors, elders, deacons and members were used for the study. The data collected were presented in tables and analyzed using simple percentages and frequencies
Conclusion
It can be concluded that the divorce rate is on the ascendency. Divorce rate is prevalent among the young clergy couples (those who marry in their early ages). It can also be concluded that more and more young people are getting married from the Pentecostal, Charismatic and Evangelical churches. The higher rate of divorce can be attributed to western cultural lifestyle and peer pressure. For instance some follow the soap operas which give wrong picture about marriage and the young people think what they see in these films are real, and as such when these expectations are not met their marriages lead to divorce. The other factors that cause divorce include challenges in communication, bitterness, barrenness or childlessness, adultery, desertion or abandonment, persistent conflicts and abuse. From the researcher’s findings it has come to light that the selected church does not have laid down plans and procedures in responding and dealing with the issue of divorce. Moreover, it is sad to say that a lot of pastors and marriage counselors are ill equipped to handle the issue of divorce in their congregations.
Recommendation
- Pastors and church leaders should be well trained in the Word of God as marriage counselors. Pastors who have not had formal training should be encouraged to attend Bible Schools. The researcher believes that this will contribute to their knowledge and broaden their horizon in the teaching of marriage. It will further help them to develop better understanding on certain key marital issues so that they can offer good counseling to people who find themselves in marital crisis. Church leaders should pursue courses in exegesis and hermeneutics in order to be well equipped for better and accurate interpretation of the Word of God, especially Scripture texts that deal with the issue of divorce.
- Churches must devote time to teach on marriage as they teach on topics such as salvation, transformation, blessing and so on. Most sermons on marriage are preached during wedding ceremonies and special marriage seminars. The subject of marriage and divorce should be taught more frequently in churches
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.
- Eerdmans, 2002. Fee, Gordon D.The First Epistle to the Corinthians. New International Commentary on the New Testament. Grand Rapids: William B.
