Become an Ordained Minister Online?

by Emily Price | More from this Blogger

A few years ago a few friends of mine got married. The couple was not a part of any particular church congregation, no were they particularly religious, so they decided to have a friend preside over their wedding. Their friend David was an ordained minister for The Universal Life Church. When they told me I thought it was interesting they were friends with an ordained minister, but then thought nothing of it until the wedding.

At the wedding I had a chance to meet David. David was about 23 years old, and was in graduate school. Hmmmm.... I started talking to him and found out that he was in face an ordained minister, but his ordination consisted of filling out a form online. Form online?

So given the Internet dork that I am, I did a little research into The Universal Life Church, and their ordination procedures. Apparently the churches main principle is to represent freedom. Their church's are typically interdenominational and their website touts "we are al children on the same universe".

Apparently you can fill out a form online, and are instantly ordained. You don't have to go through any training, there is no ritual to go through, just enter your full legal name and your email address and click submit. Once the church ordains you can perform weddings, baptisms, house blessings, and any other type of religious ceremony typically preformed by a minister.

It appears like the main reason people are ordained by the church is to start their own wedding business, where they are available to officiate over weddings for people. My first though is people in a Las Vegas chapel, but after some research it looks like there are a lot of people available to come at a moments notice to your home, work, or location of your choosing (as well as planned weddings well in advance).

I know a lot of us on this site are rather religious, so I wonder what you think about this. Do you think being ordained on the Internet is ok for people who want to start a wedding business type of deal? If that's ok, what about people who start churches with this credential?

You can get ordained, or just read about The Universal Life Church on their website.

Learn more about Emily Price

Emily is a freelance writer and video editor in Raleigh NC.

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