Marriage preparation practices in black South African churches: Experiences of married Christians

The alarming disparity between South Africa’s marriage and divorce rates highlights a critical need for effective premarital counselling (PMC), especially given the research gap concerning the specific approaches used within the South African church context. The latest marriage and divorce statistics reveal that the divorce rate in South Africa is two times higher than the marriage rate. This study addresses this by exploring the lived experiences of African Christians regarding marriage preparation. The study employed a qualitative, phenomenological design, gathering data from 13 participants (n = 13) through semi-structured interviews. Osmer’s practical theological guiding approach was employed. The Covenant Attachment Theory was utilised as a theoretical framework. Findings indicated that while PMC is generally perceived positively, ukuyalwa [traditional marriage instruction] is the prevalent form of preparation in black churches, underscoring the communal role in marriage preparation. Participants’ views ranged from finding ukuyalwa helpful to being critical of its practicality, reflecting a desire among contemporary African Christians for the contextualisation of traditional practices to better meet modern needs. The results offer critical insights to enhance pastoral PMC in South Africa and advance the contextualisation of pastoral care. The study proposes practical theology as a framework for PMC and offers a model that could be used in designing PMC programmes in an African Christian setting. Contribution: The article employs an integrated literature and empirical study to contribute to understanding lived experiences of African Christians regarding PMC and insights to enhance pastoral PMC in South Africa.