Ohio Pastor Reveals He Has Had 2 Wives for 3 Years Today

It was Lydia Ford who stood before the congregation and introduced her husband's second wife. She called the other woman her "sister in marriage", and said she had gained so much from the arrangement. Some worshippers applauded, others sat stunned, and a private family arrangement that had lasted almost three years became a public argument about marriage and the Bible.

Pastor Israel Ford, who co-founded LifeWorks Church in Cleveland, Ohio, with his wife Lydia Ford in 2009, told his congregation on Sunday 25 October 2026 that he has been living with two wives for the past three years and that God endorses it. Ford introduced his "second wife", Shakayla Ford, to the world on Facebook, with a video clip of the announcement to his church. He promised to explain why the teaching that "a man should have one wife only" is "unbiblical", in his words.

Reports differ on the exact town for the church. The Christian Post places LifeWorks Church in Cleveland, Ohio, while Naija TV and The News Chronicle place it in Wickliffe, Ohio, in the Cleveland area. This article therefore uses the Cleveland, Ohio, area, and does not treat either town name as settled.

It was Lydia Ford, Ford's first wife and co-pastor, who introduced Shakayla to the congregation, describing the family as living in a polygynous marriage and calling Shakayla her "sister in marriage". Lydia told congregants: "Y'all know her, y'all love her, y'all benefit from her ministry every week," as she introduced Minister Shakayla. Shakayla Ford, formerly Shakayla Talley, is a minister in the church.

Ohio Pastor Two Wives Announcement: What Lydia Ford Said

Lydia's introduction did most of the work in the announcement. She did not present herself as a woman who had been pushed aside, and she did not ask the congregation to pity her. She presented the arrangement as something she believes reflects what God wants to establish, and she spoke about gain, not loss.

I have not been slighted, not one bit, and I have gained so much.

That is Lydia Ford, speaking to the congregation as she introduced Shakayla Ford. She described the arrangement as a family dynamic she believes reflects what God wants to establish, according to the reporting. Shakayla said she felt completely valued and was walking in God's will, in the same accounts.

The two women were presented together, not as rivals, but as co-ministers in the same church. Lydia is Ford's first wife and co-pastor, and Shakayla is also a minister in the church, according to the Christian Post. The congregation already knew Shakayla, already benefited from her ministry, and was now being asked to see her in a new role in the family.

Some worshippers applauded and cheered as Shakayla joined the couple, while others sat stunned or looked surprised, according to Naija TV and The News Chronicle accounts of the congregation's split reaction. The split reaction is the clearest sign of how the announcement was recieved in the room. Applause and shock sat side by side, and neither response tells the whole story of what the congregation felt.

Pastor Israel Ford Biblical Claim on Polygyny Explained

Ford's biblical argument is his claim, and it must be presented as his claim. He wrote in his Facebook post that the nation has been taught a man should have one wife only, that this teaching is unbiblical in his view, and that he has no plans to choose pleasing people over what God has revealed.

Ford cited Exodus 21:10 to support his position. The verse says a man who marries another woman must not deprive his first wife of food, clothing or marital rights, according to The News Chronicle's account. Ford's reading of the verse is his own, and this article does not present polygyny as biblically endorsed as a settled fact.

Critics online countered with 1 Timothy 3:2, which states a church overseer must be "the husband of one wife." That counter-argument is reported as critics' argument, not as a settled ruling on Ford's case. The two verses now sit against each other in the public debate, and neither side's reading has been settled by any church court or ruling reported in the sources.

The Christian Post notes that polygyny, the practice of having more than one wife, is illegal in the United States. That legal framing is presented here as the outlet's statement, as the research requires. No legal proceedings against Ford are reported in the sources, and this article adds none.

LifeWorks Church Congregation Reaction to Second Wife Reveal

Ford said he accepted that some people might leave over the decision, writing that people may not accept it and choose to disconnect. The sentence accepts loss as a price of the announcement.

Ford did not respond to a request from The Christian Post for further comment on Monday 26 October. The sermon itself was to be uploaded later in the week, according to Ford's post.

Pastors facing public scrutiny and leadership questions have made headlines in other settings, as Andy Stanley stepping down as North Point senior pastor and a pastor stepping down after 45 years at Crossings Community Church show. Debates about who should lead, and on what terms, run through a fired pastor launching a new church in Noblesville and questions about who counts as a pastor in different ways.

The congregation that applauded and the congregation that sat stunned are still the same congregation, and they will have to decide, in the weeks ahead, whether they can worship together under an arrangement half of them cheered and half of them could not take in. Whether the church grows, shrinks, or splits over the next Sundays is the question the announcement left hanging.

But the most surprising part of this story is yet to come — keep reading.