Marriage is sacred and it is a holy communion between a man and a woman, said Methodist Church general secretary, Reverend Epineri Vakadewavosa.

He made the comment during the Methodist Church annual conference at the Centenary Church, Suva, yesterday.

He said the conference included a workshop conducted by the Registrar General’s Office to help ministers become marriage celebrants.

“It is a great opportunity for the Methodist Church in Fiji to be able to have a workshop by the Registrar General’s Office under the Ministry of Justice to be part of the Methodist Church annual conference programme,” Rev Vakadewavosa said.

Registrar General’s Office acting administration officer Kalesi Senikavika said the purpose of their workshop was to help educate the church ministers on such matters.

There are 430 church ministers who are active marriage celebrants on service.

“It is important for all ministers to know what to do and what they need to know before proceeding with any marriage and we not only do this workshop to the Methodists, but other religion too,” Ms Senikavika  said.

She said on one of their recent visits to maritime islands, they found a lot of couples who are married, but were not registered with the Registrar General’s Office.

“This sort of problem arises when couples want to get their children registered on the Vola ni Kawa Bula, but only to find out that they are not registered at the Registrar General’s Office as legally married couple.

This is because most Reverends go ahead with the marriage without any licence because of the distance and the challenges faced in certain areas they serve in,” she said.

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