A friend sent me a link to http://www.ulc.org, a website that for free and without any kind of tests, makes one into a legal minister. I jokingly started to fill out the form. “This can’t be it, there must be another page.” I thought. So I inadvertantly sent through my form. I immediatly sent them a letter asking them to cancel it. I got no response, but today I got confirmation that I am now legally a minister.
(Note I am 16, so I’m not sure that I could legally agree to that anyway.) I sent another reply asking that they undo my ministership.
My question is, is there anyway that in the future this could come back to haunt me? For example, is it possible that I might one day not be able to get married becuase I was legally a minister? Will my legal documents list me as “minister”?
Don’t sweat it, ULC is harmless. Just don’t give them any money. They’ll send you a few e-mails from time to time, but I believe you can get your name off their mailing list.
Don’t worry about not being able to get married or anything like that. No legal documents will list you as “minister” unless you request they do so. And AFAIK, there is no legal way to prevent your marraige due to any job or title you may have held in the past.
if you don’t feel yourself called to the ministry and haven’t applied yourself to learning to minister to people, then you call yourself a minister, there is an outside chance that you will burn forever in eternal hell fire upon your demise. On one hand, that might be a disadvantage, since I imagine it is uncomfortable. But you’d be able to rub elbows with people like Lenny Bruce, Miles Davis, and Jimi Hendrix. If you lead a good life and worship the right deity in the proper way, you will be condemned to live eternally with the likes of Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell, and the Church Lady, sit on puffs of water vapor (has to be bad for a hairdo), and listen to harp music 24 hours a day. Bloody unpleasant, this whole death thing. At least moslems get houris when they die.
Well I know that some catholic churches will not allow you to get married in their church without going through certain pre-marriage training, and/or converting to catholicism. That’s their decision because it’s their church/property etc. But I doubt they’d turn you away because you had some stupid ministership (is that a word?). I don’t know if other religions have similar policies.
But there’s always a judge or vegas to get married, where they never turn away anyone (unless maybe they’re an illegal citizen or something).
Congratulations, Reverend Qwertyasdfg! The ULC believes that anyone who comes asking is entitled to spread the Word:
“We believe everyone is already a member of the church and is just not aware of it as yet. The Universal Life Church will ordain anyone that asks without question of faith, for life, without a fee… The church has two tenets: the absolute right of freedom of religion and to do that which is right. Anything else within the law is allowed.”
It’s actually a pain in the ass to gain recognized status as a minister in most of the United States. Most states have certification requirements which must be met, and you still need to apply for a marriage license in most states if you want to “officially” marry people. The bottom line is that you can be secure in your enlightened status without having to worry about The Man. They won’t know unless you tell them.
Also, don’t confuse “minister” with “priest.” Ministers are allowed to marry. Most religions that have a “minister” actually encourage him/her to marry.