Straight Outta COZA Marriages

I’ve heard quite a number of couples talk about how their marriage counseling class was a monotonous and boring one. A lot of them have had to learn a number of things themselves which should be all encompassing in the marriage class. Now, I’m not ruling out the place of self-discovery and responsibility, especially where marriage is concerned, but in the age where most individuals see institutions as a place of authority, it is important for these institutions, especially religious, to be aware of the necessary topics to be discussed in a marriage counseling class for would be couples.

 

I am so happy a lot of churches have now fully aware of this necessity and have taken time out to beef up their classes to equip couples to face the 21^st century marital challenges. The Commonwealth of Zion Assembly (COZA) is one of such and I’ll share some of the process flow I'm familiar with.

As a pre-requisite for getting married, the first step is you must register your engagement with the Personnel in charge of the marriage classes, who is also a married person. With this, you have indicated your readiness to be prepared for a lifetime journey.

Step Two: Your engagement must be known to everyone, especially the Senior Pastors, so that there is no case of mistaken identity...lolzzz. If you are a worker, your HOD must be VERY aware about your engagement. With this you are taught to be Accountable

Step Three: Marriage class starts way before six months to the chosen wedding date and you and your spouse must be consistent in the classes. The classes are taken by delegated ministers by the Senior Pastor and they teach Bible standard topics relating to marriage, ranging from Finance, Authority, Prayers, Sex, Food, Health etc and most importantly that JESUS is the highest authority in your home.

Step Four: (This is the part that trips me most) Before classes starts, you and your spouse must be in church about 30mins ahead praying together, with this you are taught the importance of bonding together in prayers as a couple.

After marriage, you are then welcomed to another level called “Touch and Agree“...where you meet other married couples, pray together, praise together, break bread and work the walk together. It is indeed a delight to be part of a moving train such as COZA. It is worthy to note that when institutions put structure in place, there is an automatic flow; it is called the Law of Structure and Flow! So if you are yet to be married, ensure you are part of a structure that critically follows the process of marriage, that way you are helped to build structure in your marriage too and you both will turn out stronger against any storm!

I celebrate you! 

Photo Credit goes to all photographers who took the different pictures!