LifeStyle of 2026-09-16

Dear GhanaWeb: I’m losing my fiancée because I no longer attend our church

Dear GhanaWeb, I started attending this church after a friend invited me there. I liked the place so much that I decided to make it my church. By God’s grace, that was also where I met my girlfriend, who was an usher. I approached her, and she agreed to date me. We have been together for four years, and our relationship became serious enough that we started planning our marriage late last year. I even went for the knocking rites and took the list. We have bought most of the things that could wait, and we were planning to get married next year. Initially, we wanted to marry this year, but our pastor advised us to wait because we are still young and should give ourselves another year to save more money. I am 30, and my girlfriend is 27. Earlier this year, I relocated because of work, and the distance made it difficult for me to continue attending the church. I could still go, but I felt it was not worth stressing myself every Sunday just to board cars all the way there. So, I joined another church close to where I now live. When I told my girlfriend, she was initially fine with it, but everything changed when I told our pastor. He did not like the idea at all. He said I needed to sacrifice my time for God and continue coming to his church. He was also against me joining another church because of differences in doctrine, even though both churches are charismatic churches and preach almost the same things. What shocked me was what happened afterwards. Somehow, the pastor convinced my girlfriend to break up with me if I refused to return to the church. I don't know exactly what he told her, but she suddenly became completely different towards me. She told me the pastor said I would pollute her spiritually if she stayed with me and that he did not want us to ever leave his church. He apparently told her to leave me and find someone else within the church. At first, I thought she would eventually change her mind because I believed our four years together and the plans we had made meant something to her. But it has been four months now, and she still refuses to let me get close to her unless I agree to start attending the church regularly again. The last time I spoke to the pastor, about two months ago, he told me that if I did not return to his church, his members would not come near me. The painful part is that I still love this woman. I also don't want to return to a church I have grown to hate just because I am afraid of losing my girlfriend. I feel trapped because I don't want to start all over with someone else, but I also don't want to spend the rest of my life in a church I no longer want to attend just to keep a relationship. Should I keep fighting for the woman I love and return to that church, or should I accept that our relationship is over because we no longer worship at the same place? I need your suggestions, please. FG/EB Zonda Tec Assembly Plant to Produce 12,000 Vehicles Annually, Create 800 Jobs – CEO