A phenomenological study of premarital counselling experiences and challenges among married Christians in Rubaga Division, Kampala, Uganda

Abstract

Premarital counselling is widely promoted in Christian communities as essential preparation for marriage. However, its ability to address the practical, emotional, and relational demands of modern married life remains underexplored, especially within the Ugandan context. This study examined the premarital counselling experiences and challenges among married Christians in Rubaga Division using an interpretive phenomenological design. This study was guided by the following research questions: What are the perceptions about premarital counselling among married Christians in Rubaga?, What are the marital experiences of married Christians who have gone through premarital counselling?, What are the opinions of married Christians in Rubaga division on what can be done to improve premarital counselling?. Data were collected through in-depth interviews with 12 married individuals and two focus group discussions of six participants each, selected through purposive sampling, and were analysed thematically. Five major themes emerged: premarital counselling is necessary, premarital counselling is misunderstood, premarital counselling is valuable but insufficient, faith and spiritual practices as anchors in marriage, Professionalizing Premarital Counselling in Church, and Holistic and Contextual Premarital Counselling Content. The findings reveal that while premarital counselling is viewed as spiritually enriching, it often fails to equip couples for real-life marital demands. The study concludes that church-based premarital counselling should be professionalized, extended in duration, and incorporate culturally grounded, gender-sensitive, and psychosocial content to strengthen emotional and relational resilience in Christian marriages.