Pastor Chris: “Marriage without the church knowing is not right”

Over the years, Pastor Chris Oyakhilome has given many advice to LoveWorld members on everything from receiving healing to marriage and divorce.

Eunicia from South Africa once asked the pastor whether it is wrong to get married without one’s pastor’s blessing.

Pastor Chris Oyakhilome made it very clear that one’s marriage should be blessed by a pastor and God.

“Well, if you belong to a church, which you should, why would you want to get married without letting your pastor know? Even in a large church where it might be difficult for every member to get to the pastor, the are leaders, there are structures. If you use those structures, somehow, the pastor will get to know,” he explained.

“If he does not know personally, through the structure, the leadership will be aware. You can have God’s blessings on that. It is important. So do not go ahead and get married without the church knowing. It is not right,” Pastor Chris Oyakhilome stated.

“A successful marriage cannot be measured”

Pastor Chris Oyakhilome also believes that everything in a Christian’s life should be based on the word of God.

Therefore, Christians should follow Christian traditions when it comes to marriage and how a wedding is officiated.

Despite other people’s opinions, the married couple and God are the only ones who can judge whether a marriage is successful, according to Pastor Chris Oyakhilome.

He underlines that success in marriage cannot be measured, and therefore, it is very difficult to pinpoint what a successful marriage is.

What works for one couple might not work for another. Only the individual couple in companionship with God can assess whether that specific marriage is a success, the pastor believes.

He explains that the Bible does not mention much about what a happy marriage is, namely because it cannot be measured.

Furthermore, it is more important to God that people have successful lives, according to Pastor Chris Oyakhilome.

“If you have a successful life, then you are a candidate for a successful anything that you are involved in,” he explains.

The pastor adds that the Bible gives people all the information needed to become a successful person.

The outcome of Pastor Chris’ marriage

Pastor Chris Oyakhilome has been married himself. The marriage lasted from 1991 to 2016 and yielded two daughters: Carissa Sharon Oyakhilome and Charlene Oyakhilome.

While the younger one, Charlene Oyakhilome, lives a life outside the limelight, Carissa Sharon Oyakhilome is an active member of the LoveWorld Music and Arts Ministry (LMAM).

She writes and sings gospel songs, using the stage name CSO.

In October 2018, she herself got married. The groom was the businessman Phillip Frimpong, and the officiator of the wedding was Pastor Chris Oyakhilome’s friend Pastor Benny Hinn.

He has appeared on many LoveWorld broadcasts along with Carissa Sharon Oyakhilome’s father.

In April 2021, the pastor became a grandfather for the first time as Carissa Sharon Oyakhilome gave birth to her and Phillip Frimpong’s daughter, Arielle Rachelle-Marise.