Obed Uchenna Chukwuka
Among Christians, marriage is one of the most important and extensively observed sacraments. Every faith, however, performs their marriage ceremony in a different way. As a result, the focus of this study will be the Church of Nigeria, Anglican Communion. A church wedding and a Christian marriage are not the same. Christian matrimony is a lifetime commitment that starts with a religious ceremony known as the wedding. The couple is required to swear to the Church's approved wedding vows throughout the ceremony. A crucial component that sets apart Christian marriage from other types of unions is the marriage vow. The purpose of the marital vow is to deepen the couple's devotion to one another. It is a declaration of the couple's love for one another. It reassures each other and offers a sense of indissolubility of the union. It is customary for a married pair to cohabitate until death. Experience, however, indicates that Christian couples are divorcing at an increasing rate. Members of the Anglican Church are not exempt from this difficulty. One is tempted to wonder what the purpose of a wedding is in light of this apparent rejection of the marital vows that a couple makes during their wedding. What is the purpose of wedding vows if they cannot prevent divorce? It is also noted that those who violate their wedding vows, regardless of gender, face no consequences. Therefore, the researcher believes that a ceremonial promise exchange at marriage is insufficient to ensure a happy union. The majority of churchgoers who attend weddings nowadays are not fully instructed on the significance, obligations, and implications of marriage vows. Many do it only for amusement, with no intention of sticking to their vows as their marriage develops. As a result, before getting married, prospective couples should be well aware of the responsibilities involved. Parents, friends, and coworkers interfering should also be avoided since it is still one of the things that fuels arguments, animosity, and the final breakdown of marriages that have already been linked by covenant and committed.
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