Founder and General Superintendent of the Deeper Christian Life Ministry, Pastor William Kumuyi, said he modified the church’s marriage rules because they were not scriptural.
Kumuyi, 84, disclosed this while speaking at the 2025 Global Family and Marriage Conference, which was recently held.
The long-standing marriage rules prevented a lady from visiting a man she intended to marry. It also mandated the intending couple to have six months of courtship.
Kumuyi said the rule regarding visits was relaxed because it was not scriptural but merely administrative. He said that intending couples may now visit each other during the courtship period, provided they are accompanied by an elder of the church.
Speaking on the period of courtship, he said it was a human arrangement, not a biblical command.
“We just felt you needed some time to know one another. And then we said one month will be too short, two months too short. So, why not six months? But it is not from the Bible,” he said.
The revered clergyman said there is a need for Christians to differentiate between commandments from God and church traditions, warning that human regulations should not be treated as divine rules.
“As a Christian, you need to be so mature that you know the difference between the law of God and the principles in the church. Six months is all right, but it’s not something inflexible. If we change it to three months, we’re not changing the Bible, because six months is not in the Bible,” he added.
Kumuyi explained that the church’s marriage committees were created only to provide guidance, and not to replace biblical authority.
“There’s no marriage committee in the New Testament. We created it to help you, not because we can give you a chapter and a verse. It is church administration,” he said.
The general superintendent warned leaders not to overstep their limits, adding that marriage committees should not exercise authority beyond what is written in the scriptures.