How a Raging Atheist Like Me Became an Ordained Minister and Wedding Officiant
About 15 years ago, two heathen friends of mine were planning to get married. They were severely unchurched, as we say in the South, meaning they didn't have a relationship with anyone in the clergy. I'm a lot of things, buy shy is not one of them, so I said that I'd be more than glad to marry them if I could figure out a way to get ordained by some online church. After some Google searching, I found the website for the Universal Life Church, filled out a form, clicked a button and became entitled to perform marriages. I went on to perform the ceremony for my friends and since then for about a dozen other couples, including my own daughter. I live in North Carolina and here the Universal Church checks the boxes to make such ceremonies legal (but voidable). Although the church claims to be able top make you legal in all 50 states, you are advised to do your research, since some states have regulations that make wedding officiants register and pay a fee. And, like anything on the Internet, there are conflicting opinions and homemade websites purporting to be experts in wedding law (I didn't know that was a thing ) People who charge money to perform weddings do not like the Universal Life Church and make a number of claims against it. Just saying.
Become Ordained - Universal Life Church (ulc.org)
Is Getting Ordained in the Universal Life Church legit? : r/wedding (reddit.com)
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