Key Takeaways
- LifeWorks Church pastor Israel Ford revealed during a Sunday service that he has been married to a second wife, Minister Shakayla, for nearly three years.
- Ford’s first wife, Lydia, introduced Shakayla as her “sister in marriage,” while Shakayla called the family dynamic “the will of God” and said she had gained from it.
- A video of the Ohio congregation’s surprise announcement has since gone viral on social media.
In a wild video circulating on social media, a pastor from Ohio and his wife surprised their congregation by revealing that he’s secretly been in a polygamous marriage for three years.
Pastor Israel Ford of the LifeWorks Church in Cleveland, Ohio, has gone viral after he and his wife, Lydia, revealed their non-traditional romantic life during a recent service. “I want to share that… Prophet and I, we are living in what we would call a polygynous marriage,” said Lydia. “Our prophet, he has a second wife. Y'all know her, y'all love her, y'all benefit from her ministry every week… [It’s] a pleasure of mine to introduce to y'all, prophet's wife, and my sister in marriage, Minister Shakayla.”
She then joined the married couple onstage and addressed the audience. “Cat’s out the bag,” she laughed. “First, I want to just give honor to God, you know, who is leading us and guiding us. And then my husband, and then also my sister in marriage. I want to speak to the fact that I know people have questions, people have comments. and concerns… This is the will of god, and to live it, I have not been slighted not one bit. I have gained so much.”
Shaquayla stressed that they have a happy “family dynamic in the image of what God wants to put in the Earth,” and that people reached out to them because they were allegedly kicked out of “I'm not a pastor… I'm not here to take any light from Pastor Lydia,” she continued. “I'm here to serve, to help to submit to… our husband.”
Israel then chimed in to reveal this isn’t a new development, either. “I just want to just say a few things… Me and Shakayla, it'll be, I think… In one more week, it'll be three years we've been married,” he shared.
It’s worth noting that polygamy is not legal in the state of Ohio, so it’s unclear if the pastor is actually married to two women at once. Violating the Ohio Revised Code Section 2919.01 would be classified as bigamy, a first-degree misdemeanor.
