The story is from LifeWorks Church in Wickliffe, Ohio, near Cleveland. On Sunday, October 25, 2026, Pastor Lydia Ford introduced Minister Shakayla Ford to the congregation as her husband's second wife, and called the three a "polygynous marriage." Prophet Israel Ford then posted to Facebook and Instagram that "a man should have one wife only" is "unbiblical," and cited Exodus 21:10 in the New King James Version. That verse addresses a man who takes another wife and sets out his duties to the first: food, clothing and marital rights. It regulates a case; it doesn't command polygyny, and the Fords' reading depends on treating it as a general permission.
The texts that point the other way are in the New Testament. In 1 Timothy 3:2 and Titus 1:6, church overseers are to be the "husband of one wife." Some churches read that as a ban on polygamy for everyone, others as a ban for leaders only, and others as a ban on divorce. Christian scholars have argued over it for centuries, and the Fords' view is one position among them.
Two details are still open. Israel Ford has said a full sermon would follow, and at the time of reporting it hadn't been released. Church leaders haven't said whether the second marriage was legally recorded, and the reports note Ohio's bigamy laws. The sermon is the primary source to read before judging his argument.
🕒 As of October 2026
