Perry Noble asks for prayers amid divorce from wife of 17 years

Perry Noble, the founder of NewSpring Church in South Carolina, has asked his followers for prayers as he announced on Wednesday that he is now divorcing his wife, Lucretia, after 17 years of marriage.

"After being married for 17 years I have found myself in a place I never imagined I would be — as no one who has ever been married ever dreams in a million years that their marriage will one day end in divorce," said Noble in a statement shared with The Christian Post.

"I would ask for your prayers in this season as well as [I] humbly ask for privacy for my family in this matter as we work through this deeply personal situation," he continued.

Noble and his wife had separated last year shortly after he was removed from his position at NewSpring due to struggles with alcohol.

After completing treatment at a rehabilitation facility, Noble returned to the pulpit in February with the blessing of his friend and confidante, Steven Furtick of Elevation Church in North Carolina.

The former pastor also continued preaching at other churches, prompting NewSpring members to question why he was not being invited to preach at his former church as well.

In July, NewSpring leaders issued a statement telling the congregants that the leadership did not think that Noble was qualified to preach, according to biblical standards.

Noble fired back by insisting that he never met any of the biblical qualifications for leadership while he was at NewSpring. He added that he saw the statement as an attack on the churches that allowed him to preach.

The NewSpring founder had been running a consultancy business called The Growth Company, which teaches churches how to grow. He filed a paperwork with the South Carolina Secretary of State to register the Second Chance Church in July, just a week before the NewSpring leaders declared him still biblically unfit to be a pastor.

Noble admitted that he ignored the efforts of NewSpring Teaching Pastor Clayton King to reach out to him after he was fired from the church and noted that the reasons behind the decision are personal.

He said that he had been in contact with other staff, including lead pastors at NewSpring. But he argued that the church officials are not in good position to make any judgments on his spiritual condition since there is currently not much of a relationship between him and the leadership at the church.

Noble had been sharing some of his personal struggles with his followers on Facebook. In July, he recounted the time when he had decided to shoot himself while he was in rehab, but he heard God's voice the night before he planned to leave the facility to carry out his plan.

"It was the clearest I've ever heard His voice. He told me 'I'm not finished with you yet,' It was powerful, it kept me in the game," Noble said at the time.