Become Ordained Online through the Universal Life Church
Did you know that it takes three or more years and tens of thousands of dollars in tuition alone to become ordained through a Baptist, Catholic, Lutheran, or some other conventional church? Furthermore, these figures assume that you, the reader, already have a bachelor's degree from a college or university; you will need to get such a degree in order to become ordained if you do not already have one.
Does the conventional ordination process sound daunting to you? It certainly should! Many people who want to become ordained are unfortunately unable to do so because of their financial and time constraints. These individuals do not need to abandon their dreams of being ordained ministers, however, as the Universal Life Churches offers a way for them to become ordained online.
Both the education and duties performed by Universal Life Church ministers differ from those of conventional ministers, but these differences do not affect the validity of ULC ministers' online ordinations. For example, ministers of the ULC Monastery are able to do everything that a conventionally-ordained pastor can do in 48 U.S. states; this includes performing weddings, officiating funerals and baptisms, and conducting chaplain work inside hospitals and prisons.
So, regardless of what some individuals might think about the validity of the Universal Life Church's online ordination, it is a perfectly acceptable (or at the very least legal) substitute for the ordinations issued by Lutheran, Pentecostal, and other churches.
Why It Legally Does Not Matter Where You Become Ordained
Despite what some Universal Life Church branches might think, all of the various ULC's online ordinations are more or less equivalent to each other. This means that someone who gets ordained by the Universal Life Church Monastery of Seattle, WA has the exact same legal privileges as someone who gets ordained by the ULC in Modesto, CA.
There is a legal basis for all the Universal Life Church branches being legally equivalent. The Establishment Clause found in the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution has been interpreted to mean that the federal government cannot establish an official state religion nor give preference to any single religion. State and the federal governments would thus violate the law set down by the Constitution by giving the ministers of one branch of the Universal Life Church less privileges than those of the other ULC branches (and, for that matter, the ministers of all other churches).
Differences between the Universal Life Churches
All of the following online ministries use the Universal Life Church moniker and share some similarities. As discussed above, these churches' online ordinations allow the men and women who hold them to perform the same ministerial services; no ULC's online ordination is superior to the others' in the eyes of the government.
Much can be said about all of the branches listed below, but, for the sake of brevity, we have given you only the most pertinent differentiating facts about each so that you can determine which you would like to become ordained with.
Universal Life Church Monastery | Seattle, WA
By far the most popular online church to become ordained online with, the ULC Monastery actively looks to include people of all faiths and creeds. Adherents of major religions like Christianity, Hinduism, and Islam, as well as those of alternative faiths like Wicca and Paganism, are welcome there.
The ULC Monastery has two mantras: "We are all children of the same universe" and "Do only that which is right." These phrases touch on their open-minded outlook on religion, politics, spirituality, and morality.
Universal Life Church Modesto | Modesto, CA
Founded by the illiterate Kirby Hensley in the early 1950s, the Universal Life Church Modesto is the oldest branch of the ULC. It is also the only branch with a church building that is largely open to the public throughout the year; church services can be found there on every Sunday morning at 10 a.m. Furthermore, the Modesto branch has the ignominy of being the only branch to have been sued by the federal and state governments.
ULC Bookstore | Folsom, CA
This branch of the Universal Life Church is directly subordinate to the ULC Modesto in that it is one of its sanctioned for-profit arms. The Bookstore's "authorization" means that it passes a portion of every sale it makes to the Modesto branch. Proof of this can be seen when you attempt to become ordained on the Bookstore's site; a message that reads "You are about to become an ordained minister of the Universal Life Church, Modesto, California" can be found there.
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