I would like to perform legal marriage ceremonies as a minister for my own church. I don’t want to join any established church. How can I set this up? I live in Illinois.
www.ulc.org to get ordained. Takes about 10 minutes, legally binding in all 50 states (but not DC, if I recall correctly.
Creating a church is something else enitrely, but if you want to do wedding ceremonies, this is your ticket.
I do not want to join with that church. I don’t cotton to their beliefs.
And I want to do more than weddings. I also want to spread my message.
So get your minister’s license, write up the Ninety-five or however many Theses you want your church to have, that nail a copy of it to the door of the ULC Cathedral. Getcher self a schism going, and, hey presto! you’re the minister of your very own brand new church with its very own teachings!
Uhh, it’s probably best if you nail the aforementioned Theses to the Cathedral door in a metaphorical sense, rather than go searching the globe for an actual brick-and-mortar door.
What do you mean by a “legal church”?
You don’t give your location, but if you are in the US then surely the whole point of the free exercise/non-estyablishment clause in the US Constitution is that civil law does not establish, define, regulate etc the existence or operation of churches?
You get a bunch of like-minded people - at least two, but ideally more - to get together for worship, and to regard themselves as a church. Hey presto! You’ve got what most people would consider to be a church. Unless you live in some benighted spot where doing this is a crime, surely you’ve now got a legal church?
I think you’re bullshitting, as their beliefs seem to be “we have no beliefs”.
However, if you’re looking for tax exempt status… may I suggest a consultation with a tax attorney?
There are three questions here, one of them more-or-less implied:[ul][li]How do I start a church/religion? In America, you Just Do It. The First Amendment (and multiple court rulings, and the general tenor and tone of the society) guarantees the government won’t stop you.[/li][li]How do I perform marriage services? Same as above, given the aforesaid reasons. The newlyweds may want to get a marriage license from the state if their jurisdiction doesn’t recognize common-law marriages.[/li]How do I start a tax-exempt religion? By asking a tax attorney and expecting to spend a lot of time and effort on it. See, the IRS really really wants your money and every exemption you can legitimately claim reduces their haul.[/ul]As to spreading your beliefs, well, there’s always streetcorners and Usenet and badly-mimeographed newsletters. I’d recommend becoming charismatic and photogenic and developing a good voice for radio.
The first part is easy: performing marriages. Almost all states have some sort of simple civil class you can take to perform legal marriages. In Florida, as a notary public, I can perform marriages.
The second part is easy as well. Get all like-minded people together and worship God, Og, the Sun, The trees, or nothing as you see fit.
You want tax exempt status? Then you have to convice the IRS that you are a bona fide religion that has roots and sincere convictions (which you don’t) and not just a hackeneyed attempt at getting around tax laws (which you are).
Tax exemption is not a problem. Don’t earn money. It is spiritually insignificant, anyway. Marrying folks is simple. Call upon them to affirm their love for each other, and their commitment to be fruitful, and multiply, and raise their children in the sight of whomever you find authoritative on that matter. Now, they are married in the view of your church. In most states of the US, they are held to the societal expectations of marriage just by living together as if they were husband and wife, anyway, although I am sure that your spiritual judgment that is an insignificant matter.
Spreading your message is even simpler. Live your message, making your own life an example of the words you speak. The world will notice, and your message will be spread.
Tris
How to start one’s own church is pretty easy under the First Amendment. All you have to do is get some congregants who meet regularly for religious purposes, and you pretty instantly have a church under the First Amendment. Who can perform marriages, on the other hand is decided by state law, though state marriage law has some strong First Amendment overtones, because if a state allows one legitimate clergy person to perform marriages, it must let all such clergy members perform marriages.
New York’s Religious Corporations Law section 2 defines what is a churche and who is a clergyman (the definition used for eligibility to perform marriages):
An “unincorporated church” is a congregation, society, or other assemblage of persons who are accustomed to statedly meet for divine worship or other religious observances, without having been incorporated for that purpose.
The term “clergyman” and the term “minister” include a duly authorized pastor, rector, priest, rabbi, and a person having authority from, or in accordance with, the rules and regulations of the governing ecclesiastical body of the denomination or order, if any, to which the church belongs, or otherwise from the church or synagogue to preside over and direct the spiritual affairs of the church or synagogue.
Put more simply, you have to be the actual spiritual leader of a congregation that meets regularly for religious purposes or recognized as someone with religious authority to be a spiritual leader from an existing congregation or church. I believe that all other US jurisdictions have similar standards, which are largely mandated by the First Amendment. Note that in New York an Universal Life Church ordination or other “mail order ministry” does not meet this test, and does not permit one to perform marriages, other states rules on this vary.
Although the specifics of the test are slightly different, the IRS uses a similar test to determine who is eligible for the tax benefits available for clergy members and for the tax exemption available for churches. The IRS has found a limited number of ULC congregations legally eligible for tax treatment as a church when they regularly hold spiritual meetings, but they have found a significant number of such purported churches to be tax scams, and have imposed substantial fines and criminal penalties on those who improperly attempt to hide behind church status.
In other words, if you can find a group of congregants to meet regularly with you as their spiritual leader, it will most likely be considered a legal church for all purposes, and you will have all of the rights and privileges afforded to a clergy member.
Good luck.
Does the IRS treat a “church” the same way it would treat a secular “non-profit organization”, or are there other bureaucratic hoops to jump through?
Actually, the IRS treats churches more favorably than it treats other secular charitable organizations. To qualify as charitable organization for which contributions are tax deductible under Internal Revenue Code section 501(c)(3), each charity must file a form 1023 and get approved before being quailfied as a charity, except for churches, which automatically qualify for deductibility without filing or IRS approval. (Churches may wish to file form 1023 and get approved so there is no question about deductability, but they are not required to). Similarly, although other charities are required to annually file form 990 (or 990-EZ), churches do not have an annual filing requirement. For more than you want to know about taxation of churches and ministers, please see the (pdf) IRS Tax Guide for Churches and Religious Organizations.
Or check out the ads at the bottom of this thread. I see offers that would seem to fit.