The mass wedding in 2023 where more than 800 members of the church took their wedding vows at the International Pentecost Holiness Church under the leadership of Comforter Michael Sandlana.
Image: Supplied/IPHC Media Unit
As part of its longstanding Easter festivities and tradition, the International Pentecost Holiness Church (IPHC), under the leadership of Comforter Michael Sandlana, will be hosting a mass wedding where over 1,500 couples will tie the knot.
IPHC spokesperson, Priest Vusi Ndala told IOL that the 1,500 couples will be ushered into “holy matrimony of marriage” on Easter Sunday.
“This record number of the wedded couple surpasses by far the mass weddings in the same period where 400 couples wedded (in 2023). So, the IPHC under the spiritual leadership of Tau, a name affectionately accorded to Successor MG Sandlana by the congregants, broke its own record on the number of couples getting married in a single occasion,” said Ndala.
“This is the largest number in the history of IPHC, if not the world record, since the church was established in 1962.”
Ndala told IOL that the event on Sunday will be “rare, monumental and a glittering occasion” which he said has attracted keen interest by local and international media.
Spokesperson of the IPHC, Priest Vusi Ndala during the 2023 mass wedding ceremony.
Image: IPHC Media Unit
He added that for decades, the IPHC has been known for these colourful and glittering mass weddings.
Among those that will be wedded on the day, are polygamous marriages that see men marrying more than one wife - “a longstanding African tradition which has been co-opted in our church”.
“With the numbers having soared more than three times from the previous mass weddings, this can largely be attributed to a large number of men marrying more than one wife at a go,” said Ndala.
“During the grand occasion, some of the grooms will be marrying their second wives, while a few others will be marrying two to three wives at the same event.”
He said in line with the church tradition, there will be a few men in the congregation who will be “extending their families” by marrying their sixth or seventh wives.
“With the IPHC, polygamy is not only embraced but held in high regard. The inspiration of polygamy is drawn from the biblical scripture of Isaiah 4: 1 that says ‘and in that day seven women shall hold on one man, saying, we will eat our own bread, and wear our own apparel: only let us be called by his (man’s) name, to take away our reproach’,” said Ndala.
Priest Vusi Ndala told IOL that with the IPHC, polygamy is not only embraced but held in high regard.
Image: IPHC Media Unit
“The highlight of the mass wedding event this year is that it will be held for the first time at the newly built The Dome, the largest congregational Dome in the Southern Hemisphere that has a sitting capacity of approximately 60,000.
“The Dome is at IPHC Kanana City, a mixed-used development in Heidelberg spearheaded by the IPHC,” he added.
In 2023, IOL reported that it was a glitz and fanfare extravaganza on Easter Sunday when more than 800 people took part in a mass wedding at the IPHC's at Rabokala premises in North West province.
More than 400 couples tied the knot during the Easter mass wedding at IPHC in 2023.
Image: IPHC Media Unit
Priest Nicodemus Morabe told local and international media at the venue that the mass weddings were a traditional ritual in the church, characterised by polygamous weddings.
At the time, Morabe said there were about 900 people who tied the knot in the mass wedding procession, as some of the grooms were marrying more than one wife.
In the vast church, wives of the groom play a critical role in welcoming the bride into the family unit.
jonisayi.maromo@iol.co.za
IOL
