A Cleveland pastor is standing by his decision to take a second wife after the arrangement was announced to his own congregation from the pulpit.

Israel Ford leads LifeWorks Church. His story spread fast online after his wife Lydia stood before worshippers during a service and presented Shakayla, a woman members already knew from the church, as the pastor's second wife.

"Y'all know her, y'all love her," Lydia told the room as she made the introduction.

The reaction was swift. Ford and both women then sat down for an interview on "Larry Reid Live" to explain a relationship they say began nearly three years ago.

How the marriage began

Ford said Shakayla grew close to the family while she helped Lydia heal after surgery. Their friendship later turned romantic, he said, but he insisted he would not marry her unless his first wife agreed.

He told the host that gaining a second wife was never worth losing the first one.

Lydia said her first answer was a flat no. She said she changed her mind only after a season of prayer, fasting and Bible study.

The three describe their home as a polygynous marriage, a form of plural marriage in which one man has more than one wife. Several figures in the Bible had multiple wives, yet Christians have long read those passages in different ways and the practice is far from widely accepted in the faith.

Ford said his beliefs pushed him to go public. A preacher should live what he preaches, he told Reid. "I think transparency is everything."

Shakayla struck a different note. She said she would rather have kept the relationship private.

Who holds the power

The three live under one roof and pool their money. Ford acknowledged that Lydia gets more say in some decisions because the two of them have been together longer.

Lydia admitted she felt jealous when Shakayla joined the marriage. She said open conversations helped her get past it.

The sharpest moment came when Reid asked whether either wife could take another husband. Ford said no. If they wanted another husband, he said, they would not want him.

That answer gets at the heart of polygyny: one man may have several spouses while the women do not get the same freedom. It also raises the question of whether agreeing to an unusual marriage is the same as having an equal voice inside it.

A past conviction

The marriage is not the only issue trailing the pastor. Court records reported by Complex show Ford was convicted of misdemeanor domestic violence in 2019 over an incident involving his stepdaughter, who was 17 at the time.

The teen testified that he hit her with a belt and left bruises. Ford argued he was disciplining her. An appeals court upheld the conviction in 2020.

Ford and Lydia also pleaded guilty earlier to offenses tied to a different episode that involved another woman, the same report said.

There is a legal question too. Ohio bans bigamy. It is not clear whether Ford's union with Shakayla is a second legal marriage or a religious commitment with no standing in law.

Ford has not backed down. "When the Lord tells me something, I move on what he says," he told Reid.