Kumuyi Clarifies: Deeper Life’s Six-Month Courtship Rule Isn’t Biblical
Many people grew up believing that a six-month courtship was a sacred decree. Turns out, it was more of an office policy than a heavenly commandment. Pastor William Kumuyi, the General Superintendent of Deeper Christian Life Ministry, recently revealed that some long-held marriage practices in the church were actually leadership decisions rather than biblical mandates.
Speaking at the 2025 Global Family and Marriage Conference, Kumuyi shared that rules like forbidding a woman from visiting her fiancé and insisting on a fixed six-month courtship were created to guide members but were never meant to be taken as divine law. He explained that the six-month period was designed to give couples time to get acquainted but stressed that this timeline wasn’t drawn from scripture.
“We thought couples needed time to understand each other. One month felt too short, two months also too brief, so six months became the norm. But this isn’t found anywhere in the Bible,” he said with a chuckle. The pastor urged believers to be wise enough to differentiate between God’s commandments and church traditions, cautioning against treating administrative guidelines as sacred doctrine.
“Six months is fine if it works for you, but it’s flexible. If we shorten it to three months, it doesn’t mean we’ve rewritten scripture because six months isn’t in the Bible,” he added. Kumuyi went on to emphasize that marriage committees within the church were established purely for guidance and support rather than to replace scriptural authority.
“You won’t find a marriage committee mentioned in the New Testament. We introduced it to help members, not because there’s a specific verse that requires it. It’s simply part of church organization,” he clarified, highlighting the importance of separating faith-based principles from administrative decisions.
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