Media personality and gospel content creator Grace Ekirapa has opened up about the emotional pain, judgment, and isolation she experienced within church circles after news of her divorce became public.
Speaking candidly during a recent episode of her “Perspective” series, Grace reflected on how some believers and church members treated her differently after her marriage ended, despite the fact that she had continued serving faithfully in church throughout the difficult period.
The media personality revealed that after news about her separation became public, some people within the church became uncomfortable seeing her continue serving on the pulpit.
According to Grace, one of her pastors eventually called her in for a conversation regarding concerns from certain congregants.
“Some people in the church don’t feel so good about you being on the pulpit still,” she recalled the pastor telling her.
The conversation immediately triggered fear and anxiety because Grace believed she was about to be removed from ministry or publicly embarrassed.
She admitted that her heart was racing during the discussion because she had previously witnessed another couple in church being publicly humiliated after getting pregnant outside marriage.
Grace said she feared becoming “another statistic.”
“I was like, are you going to excommunicate me? Am I being chased away from the church?” she said.
However, Grace credited her pastor for handling the situation compassionately instead of condemning her.
“He said, ‘Grace, we do not want you to step down unless that’s what you want,’” she shared.
“He asked me, ‘Are you comfortable serving?’”
Grace said she immediately explained that serving in church had become one of the few stable and safe spaces in her life during the painful season.
“This is the one thing that’s safe for me right now. This is the one thing that is keeping me afloat right now. Please don’t take this away from me,” she told him.
According to Grace, the reassurance and support she received from church leadership helped stabilize her emotionally during a period when she felt deeply vulnerable.
“The affirmation I received from my spiritual authority then was very calming,” she explained.
“It helped me stabilize because at some point I thought this was the end.”
Despite the support from leadership, Grace said many church members changed how they treated her after learning about her marital struggles.
The media personality revealed that people who previously greeted her warmly or complimented her ministry suddenly became distant once her divorce became public knowledge.
“Some people who used to say hi to me didn’t say hi to me anymore,” she said.
“Some people who used to tell me I blessed them all of a sudden looked at me funny.”
Grace said the experience deeply affected her because it exposed what she described as dysfunction within Christian communities when dealing with people experiencing pain, grief, or personal failure.
“And oh my God, I cannot tell you the level of dysfunction that portrayed, especially from the church,” she stated.
The gospel content creator said the experience changed how she personally approaches people going through difficult seasons.
“I sat with myself and I said, ‘God, help me that if anything happened to someone around me, I would not be the first to cast a stone, but I’ll be the first to embrace.’”
Grace also revealed that after previously discussing grief publicly, she began receiving messages from church leaders and believers struggling silently with failing marriages and emotional pain.
Some of the messages, she said, came from pastors and spiritual leaders afraid to admit their marriages were falling apart because of pressure from congregations and expectations placed on them.
At the center of Grace’s message was a broader challenge to believers and church institutions to become places of healing instead of condemnation.
“Are we the doctors intoxicating people instead of being doctors treating?” she asked.
