Churches on divorce

Danisa Masuku
As with their different doctrines and contrasting teachings that give rise to various beliefs, churches handle the sensitive matter of divorce differently.

Speaking to B-Metro, church leaders explained how they handle issues when love fails.

Presiding elder of the African Methodist Episcopal Church Eustice Ginya said it was not their place to blacklist people who separate.

a�?a�?Thou shall not judgea��, because the same way that you judge somebody that is the measure that will be used against you. At our church, we do not have a prescribed time that one should spend before he remarries after divorce. But we believe a person can spend almost a year to recover from stress,a�? he said.

Given that his church does not judge, the presiding elder added that the divorced congregant can stop doing his or her duties at the church for a short time and resume after recovering from stress.

Ginya pointed out that after one has divorced he or she could remarry at any time.

A senior Pastor with Brethren In Christ Church (BICC)a��s Lobengula branch, Albert Ndlovu, said the stance at BICC on such matters was anchored in the teachings of Matthew 5v31-32, which states that a person should not marry after divorcing unless he or she divorced the partner due to adultery.

a�?If a person divorces he must not marry again unless the person he or she divorced dies. If a divorced congregant marries another person while his or her partner is still alive, the person would render himself an ordinary member of the church. We will not entrust him or her with any task or duty,a�? he said.

Ndlovu further said if a person divorced her husband or wife due to adultery, as a church, they encourage that he or she forgives the person and re-marries again.

International Pentecostal Holiness Church Pastor Siphiwe Muderere said if a congregant divorces due to reasons besides unfaithfulness, the congregant would be suspended for six months, after which the suspension would be lifted.

a�?After six months the congregant can re-marry and start doing his or her duties,a�? said Pastor Muderere.

Apostolic Faith Madzibaba WeChishanua��s Bishop Mathias Moyo said they had a lax approach in dealing with congregants who have divorced.

a�?We dona��t mete out any punishment to a congregant, but we counsel her or him so that the person wona��t defect to another church or he or she stops going to church altogether,a�? he said.