A Member of the National Executive Council of the Ghana Pentecostal and Charismatic Council (GPCC), Rev. Prof. Paul Frimpong–Manso has called on Christian Counselors to continually upgrade and expand their knowledge to address the rise of divorce in the country.
According to him, the current divorce rate in the country is set over 4,000 every year, adding that, the Ghana News Agency on 14th July 2016 reported that 600,000 cases of divorces were recorded in the country in 2014.
“Statistically, this is not something to write home about if the Ghanaian population is anything to go by. However, high rates of divorce in Ghana can be mitigated with the right counseling being provided by properly trained and registered professional counselors,” Rev. Prof. Frimpong-Manso pointed out.
Rev. Prof. Frimpong-Manso who is also the General Superintendent of Assemblies of God said this at a workshop organized by the Holistic Counseling and Training Consult Limited dubbed “Pre and Post marital counseling” in Accra. The workshop brought together over 100 counselors across the region.
Expressing worry over the situation, the Reverend Minister noted that, currently, the rate at which couples are divorcing is alarming leaving many to question the existence of the marriage agreement in the first place.
“We are living in an era of disposables; disposal plates, syringes and even disposable marriages. This unconscious conditioning of our minds has been the leading cause of many divorces in Ghana and the sad part is that we do not know that this is even happening in the first place. As sad as this, the good news is that we can salvage this situation once we are aware of the causative factors,” he said.
He said traditionally, it was a taboo in any community for anyone who weds to divorce regardless of the causative reason but not anymore in recent times.
Highlighting on marriage, Prof. Frimpong-Manso explained that marriage is a legal institution in Ghana governed by the Marriage Act, 1884-1985 CAP127 of the Laws of Ghana with social, cultural and religious dimensions.
The Reverend Professor therefore called for a collaborated effort to quickly curb this unfortunate situation of a rise in divorce which he described as unimaginable.
Marriage, he said is a gift from God and a sacred institution; having a sound Christian perspective on marriage is vitally important today as many in the society were trying to redefine marriage to fit their particular social or political agendas.
“Christian marriages derive their essence from God’s faithful covenant with his people, which are modeled again through Christ’s commitment to the church. For the Christian, marriage gains its meaning from God’s grace in Jesus Christ, and is to be seen as part of the new creation in him. Marriage and the family must be put in the context of the covenant,” he noted.
Touching on the role of the Church in Marriage, Rev. Prof. Frimpong-Manso stressed that, the church is extremely important, therefore there is a need for the church is see to the proper registration and continuous resourcing of in–house Marriage Counselors.
“I entreat all counselors to take the workshop seriously and to the general public, I say let us hold our counselors to the highest ethical codes, let us leave no room for mediocrity,” he noted.
The Reverend Minister prayed that God helps Ghanaians as they strive to protect and perfect the marriage institution in the country.
SOURCE: GPCC NEWS
www.gpccghana.org
