Punjab committee approves Christian marriage reform
The committee set the minimum marriage age at 18 and required official registration, but the provincial assembly vote is still pending.
A committee of the Punjab Assembly in Pakistan unanimously approved a reform to the Christian marriage law on September 30, 2026, International Christian Concern reported. The proposal is not yet law.
The text is called the Christian Marriage Bill 2026 and would replace the Christian Marriage Act of 1872, a law passed 154 years ago, when the territory was under British rule. Falbous Christopher, chairman of the Standing Committee on Human Rights and Minorities Affairs, introduced the proposal in April as his own initiative.
Minimum age of 18 for both
Christopher explained that the current law allows men to marry at 16 and women at 13. The bill sets an equal minimum age: 18 for both spouses. It also provides that both must be Christian to marry under this law. The gap between 13 and 18 is not just a number: they are years of study, growth and decision.
«Laws can protect; only Christ renews.»
Official registration and written consent
Weddings would have to be registered with local councils and recorded in the national identity database, known as NADRA. The proposal calls for written notice and public announcement before the ceremony, as well as official marriage records.
Pastors of churches registered with the Punjab government and state-appointed registrars may officiate. The text also removes restrictions on the day and time of the wedding.
Provincial assembly vote still pending
The committee's approval brings the bill closer to the full Punjab Assembly. Its final provisions and implementation requirements depend on the rest of the legislative process. According to International Christian Concern, age and consent guarantees could help prevent forced marriages, though their effect will depend on enforcement.
For a Christian couple in Punjab, the difference is concrete. Their union is currently governed by a colonial text; with the reform, it would have a clear path within civil registration and an equal minimum age for both. Changing an 1872 law does not fix everything, nor does it claim to.
Scripture takes marriage seriously: "Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled" (Hebrews 13:4, ESV). That is why the minimum age, free consent and registration are not minor paperwork. They protect people made in the image of God. And they remind us that no assembly can do what only the gospel does inside a home.
The psalmist says it plainly: "Give justice to the weak and the fatherless; maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute" (Psalm 82:3, ESV). A teenage girl married at 13 is not a custom to respect. It is an abuse that a good law can stop, if someone enforces it.
Pray for the members of the Punjab Assembly who will vote on the bill, and for the pastors who will officiate those weddings. Add Pakistan to your prayer list this week and tell someone in your church what is being discussed there. Laws can protect; only Christ renews.
