Ohio pastor reveals he’s had 2 wives for 3 years: Having only 1 wife is 'unbiblical'

By Leonardo Blair, Senior Reporter Monday, October 26, 2026

Even though polygyny, the practice of having more than one wife, is illegal in the United States, Pastor Israel Ford, who co-founded LifeWorks Church in Cleveland, Ohio, with his wife, Lydia Ford, in 2009, told his congregation on Sunday 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 in the post that he would explain why the teaching that “a man should have one wife only” is “unbiblical.”

“I would like to introduce to the world my second wife, Shakayla Ford!!!” the pastor began in his announcement.

“As a nation we have been taught that a man should have one wife only. This is unbiblical. I encourage you to watch today’s sermon in its entirety (uploaded later this week). I understand that this is an unpopular truth that we have gotten away from and many Pastors will not preach. I have no plans to choose pleasing man over what God has revealed,” he insisted. “People may not accept this and choose to disconnect, and that is ok! This life will be over soon, and we can all laugh about it in Heaven.”

Ford did not respond to a request from The Christian Post for further comment on Monday, but his first wife said Shakayla Ford is also a minister in the church.

“And I wanna share that prophet and I, we are living, even right now, in what we would call a polygynous marriage. My husband, our prophet, he has a second wife. Y’all know her, y’all love her, y’all benefit from her ministry every week, and so I just want to take this time as a pleasure of mine to introduce prophet’s wife and my sister in marriage, Minister Shakayla,” Lydia Ford declared in the announcement to applause from the congregation.

In her comments to the congregation, Shakayla Ford praised God for leading them into the relationship.

“First, I wanna just give honor to God who is leading us and guiding us, and then [to my] husband and also my sister in marriage. I want to speak to the fact that I know people have questions, people have comments and concerns, and one thing that I want to address is that it is amazing to know that this is the will of God and to live it,” she said.

“I have not been slighted not one bit, and I have gained so much. I mean, I have gained so much, and I’ve learned so much from pastor. I mean, he’s poured so much into me, into our family, and we are a family. We don’t walk around like individuals fighting, beefing, but it is a family dynamic in the image of what God wants to put in the Earth,” she insisted.

The pastor’s newest wife further stated that there were some people in the church who were aware of their unorthodox relationship and supported them privately with prayers. Shakayla Ford also stated that the experience of being a sister wife “keeps getting better,” and she sees them as trailblazers in the church.

“There’s been people who’ve been kicked out of churches because they live this life and they don’t have anywhere to worship, they don’t have anywhere to be vulnerable, they don’t have anywhere to go and pray and talk to God because people will shun them … but God’s word is real. God’s word is true, we are a strong family,” Shakayla Ford said.

“We benefit from her worship, we benefit from the revelation in the word, we benefit because it is a house of prayer. God uses us to pray, uses me to pray. I mean it is just an amazing thing to be a light and it has to start somewhere,” she continued. “We’re blazing a trail, and it’s starting to catch on fire.”