Is this for real? Universal Life Church

[KylalaKitty]

To my understanding, all you have to do is fill out this forum and your legally a priest/priestess, how could that be? Is this just another scam? Oddly enough its free, you DONT have to pay but they do have a store that sells optional materials. Does anyone know anymore details on this, the site doesn't really say much? Thanks!

http://www.ulc.net/

[Chaos Hawk]

I looks like it could be legal:

http://msgboard.snopes.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=94;t=000780;p=1

[OneGreyOwl]

What a concept, fast food spirituality :thumbsup:

[Caitlin.ann]

I did it just for fun. *shurgs* Doesn't really hold any water as far as I'm concerned.

[jodarius]

I did it years back, its legal to a point, like you can do ceremonies and such. Also it allows access to certain ecclesiastical amenities, like free parking in certain states lol.

[Chaos Hawk]

It says they offer a Ph.D. in religion. I wonder if that's accredited.

[Secretsofthesoul]

I'm not likely to get it because I didn't enter my address. :bug: I don't live in the city, so I wouldn't be brutally hard to find if I said where I was.

Did anyone actually get the email?

[Chaos Hawk]

It says it takes up to 72 hours to hear back. As it's a Friday, I don't know how that would affect their time frame.

[Secretsofthesoul]

It says it takes up to 72 hours to hear back. As it's a Friday, I don't know how that would affect their time frame.

Then I'll be waiting over a week to hear back. :D
Camping in a camper. :( Tents are so much more fun.

[blithespirit]

My husband and I were handfasted by someone ordained by the ULC, and I guess it was good enough for the state of Oregon, at least.

[Daecon]

ULC is completely legitimate. The Ordained can officiate at weddings and funerals, so they're often found in the LGTG community serving those whose spiritual needs are not met by more traditional churches. Individual clergy do not normally qualify for tax exempt status, so neither do ULC clergy, but the church itself, does.

ULC holds that each person is capable of choosing his or her own spiritual path, and that God (by whatever definition you might use) has already ordained each seeker as holy. The ULC only serves a recognition of that status.

[Chaos Hawk]

Then I'll be waiting over a week to hear back. :D
Camping in a camper. :( Tents are so much more fun.


I just got my ordination email through.

[Twig]

Oh yeah it's legal. They went all the way to the supreme court for it.

I was ordained some 10 years back and have performed 6...7 marriages. My latest was for my best friend last year.

The ULC has been around for decades and while this may sound like "fast food religion" you get out of it what you put into it. Just like anything else.

Peace,
Twig

[Chaos Hawk]

My question is, is their PhD a real degree?

[Twig]

My question is, is their PhD a real degree?

Well sure it is. That is if PhD means

Piled
High
&
Deep!!
:yayah: :hehehe:

Sorry, couldn't resist

[Chaos Hawk]

Well sure it is. That is if PhD means

Piled
High
&
Deep!!
:yayah: :hehehe:

Sorry, couldn't resist

*sigh* pisser if only there were legit degrees for $100

:lol:

[Louisvillian]

To my understanding, all you have to do is fill out this forum and your legally a priest/priestess, how could that be? Is this just another scam? Oddly enough its free, you DONT have to pay but they do have a store that sells optional materials. Does anyone know anymore details on this, the site doesn't really say much? Thanks!

http://www.ulc.net/

Yeah, it's legal; it's not a scam, and it's not sarcastic. It's just really, really stupid.

[DoktorSick]

My question is, is their PhD a real degree?

They are honorary phds or they claim to be award for life experience on the subject.If you have up on your wall they look cool and professional but if someone starts asking questions about where you went to school they don't hold up. I can't believe how much they charge for those phds.

[smckim]

So bottom line is anybody and everybody can be a Rev., Minster, whatever without doing any studying just request a title? Who thought this was a good idea?? :idea2: Well good thing this doesn't work with REAL important things like Dr.s Lawyers, and Teachers. This handing out titles makes no sense, hell the crack head on the corner can get a title too then I guess. If you didn't work for it it means nothing.

[Caesar]

So bottom line is anybody and everybody can be a Rev., Minster, whatever without doing any studying just request a title? Who thought this was a good idea?? .

I wonder if you know the history of Rev's and Ministry. The only reason most people go to school today to become a Rev or Minister or whatever else is because they want to learn the techniques to ministering to a audience. Anybody can study religion without having to attend a school, which is how it was way way back back in the day. Minister's didn't go to school, they decided one day they would open a church and minister to the people. On the AA side during the early 1900's, they did the same thing, opened a church and passed it down from son to son to minister their people in the neighborhoods they lived in. I know a Reverend who's father gave him his church before he retired and it's been in the family since it was built in 1914.

The only problem now is that it is a LEGAL title thanks to our friends up on high who feel everything should be handed down from the higher powers in order for legitimacy. Since we all live in this modern world, we are programmed to think(know) that nothing is "official" unless there is some type of notarization from a higher power. This is another instance in which we fail ourselves by judging others based on what is deemed civilized by people who govern civilization.


This handing out titles makes no sense, hell the crack head on the corner can get a title too then I guess. If you didn't work for it it means nothing.

Anybody can be a leader but not everybody can lead. A poor leader has poor followers but a great leader is followed by great people.

[wolf]

Yes, it's real. They've been challenged in courts for validity of ceremonies and have won.

The deluxe package is very nice, by the way. wallet card, printed certificate, bumper sticker, parking tags.

[Xentor]

So bottom line is anybody and everybody can be a Rev., Minster, whatever without doing any studying just request a title? Who thought this was a good idea?? :idea2: Well good thing this doesn't work with REAL important things like Dr.s Lawyers, and Teachers. This handing out titles makes no sense, hell the crack head on the corner can get a title too then I guess.

Did you notice that you rebutted yourself? Impressive.


If you didn't work for it it means nothing.

Exactly. Would you feel good about yourself, flaunting a title for which you exerted no effort, other than handing over the dough? I know I won't.

[aranarose]

It's legal enough for my state to allow me to perform wedding ceremonies. And I've done more than a few ceremonies. Have another one coming up next month.

Ordination is simply legal recognition that you've met your church's requirements to become a minister. No two churches have the same requirement. In some churches, you have to go to college and then ministerial training. In others, you have to go through a sort of internship program.

Legal ordination does not really make you a minister or a preacher or a priest/ess or whatever. All it does is say that you can legally perform a certain ceremony, more specifically, marriage. That's it. You don't need to be ordained to preach or start a church. In fact, you can start a church, set up your own requirements for ordination, and then ordain yourself and whoever you want.

AND THAT'S THE WAY IT SHOULD BE.

Because who am I, or the government, or anyone else to say that one is or isn't a priest/minister/etc. of their religion?

The ULC just makes it easier to get ordained than some other churches do. They let you set up under their umbrella, and they do it for FREE. HELL of a lot cheaper than it would be to go to 8 years of college as required by some churches...

[Shanti]

You have to look at your state laws. In Wi thats not enough. You need a regular active affiliation with a church that has a paper trail t prove your activity within the church before your recognized as a cleric, priestess or anything.
You also have to renew annually in our state and have that proven paper trail.
Oh and the church that is sponsoring your status has to have a local affiliation in Wi.

So it can be legit or not depending on your state laws.

[aranarose]

You have to look at your state laws. In Wi thats not enough. You need a regular active affiliation with a church that has a paper trail t prove your activity within the church before your recognized as a cleric, priestess or anything.
You also have to renew annually in our state and have that proven paper trail.
Oh and the church that is sponsoring your status has to have a local affiliation in Wi.

So it can be legit or not depending on your state laws.

It can still be legit in WI, it just takes more work than in some other states.

[Shanti]

It can still be legit in WI, it just takes more work than in some other states.
The question was "all you have to do is fill out this forum and your ' legally' a priest/priestess".
The answer, in Wi no. Your not a 'legal' anything.

[KylalaKitty]

Thanks everyone for your replies! But how do I find out if its legit in my state exactly?

[Shanti]

Thanks everyone for your replies! But how do I find out if its legit in my state exactly?
Form what I found online you have to call your county clerks office.
There is no state license requirement but there may be local county requirements which can only be found out through your own county clerks office.

Here is a link (http://www.kscountyclerks.org/clerks.htm) to all KS county clerks by county. You can get your county clerks contact info there.

[KylalaKitty]

awesome, thanks. I do plan on studying some more before I start doing any kind of rite, be it marriage or funeral, ect. Besides, I'm 22, no one is going to take me seriously anyway :P

[Godgifu]

My parents were married by a ULC minister.

And both my sister and I have for various reasons become ordained via that little online form. I can now officially make my own holy water.

[aranarose]

Form what I found online you have to call your county clerks office.
There is no state license requirement but there may be local county requirements which can only be found out through your own county clerks office.

Here is a link (http://www.kscountyclerks.org/clerks.htm) to all KS county clerks by county. You can get your county clerks contact info there.

What she said :)

Every state is different. In my state, you just have to be ordained. That's it. Don't have to register or anything. I've done multiple weddings, and have never been questioned.

[memnoch]

I too am legally ordained, and it is as legit (and probably more so) than many religions. I have performed weddings and had an atheist reverend marry me and the wife. I will be an atheist reverend officiating the wedding of two other atheists here. I would argue the difference between this and many other religious ordinations is those ordained through the ULC are not as self righteous as many who "earn" their ordination other ways.

[brymble]

I got my ordination through them several years ago. Does it require any kind of maintenance or whatever to stay current?

Some people take it more seriously than others. To some people it's a joke. To others, it allows them an easier path to seriously minister in their faiths. I have a friend who is a Pagan minister ordained through ULC, takes it quite seriously, and just did his first wedding last week or so.

[Lena C.]

I was ordained through them a few years ago, and it is perfectly legal. It is mainly for the purpose of officiating over weddings. You can do things like funerals and baptisms too, but you don't really legally need anything for those ceremonies. Those are more of a religious thing than a legal thing. I have yet to perform any ceremonies, but my friend has done quite a few weddings. Some states require you to be active in a church for it to be valid, but many do not.

Universal Life Church is based on the idea, that it is not the churches that determine a person's level of spirituality or right to preach, but the person themselves. I think it is definately something that shows exactly how America believes totally in the right to religious freedom, freedom of speech, and the right to pursue your happiness. As many people on this site may agree, spirituality comes from within...not from a book or teachings. Only you can make that connection with the divine for yourself, so why should people not be allowed to preach whatever they believe? Learning from other people leads us on our own path to finding our connection, and fighting restrictions on people from expressing their beliefs is what America is based on.

As for the statement I saw on how any crackhead can be ordained, number one, does anyone know any crackheads that care about anything other than their addiction, let alone one who wants to be legally ordained? Plus even the crackheads are still subject to the laws of their state in which they can apply their ordainment, so why does it matter? They state on the site that it is only a legal ordainment. If a person wishes to be ordained under a specific religion, they must go through that religion's requirements for ordainment.

[sidhe]

The ULC is legitimate, but I'm far more proud to be an ordained minister of The Dude - http://www.dudeism.com.

"The Dude abides, and I for one find comfort in that."

[DoktorSick]

Yes it's legal but it depends on the requirements of your state if you want to legally marry people. Some states require you to register with the county clerk or something like that.

[Nox_Mortus]

It' legit in most states, and very useful if you belong to a religion/sect that doesn't have the sort of central authority established to make legal ordinations on their own, or if you are an athiest/agnostic and want to officiate weddings or funerals. A lot of Wiccans I know (including myself) are ordained through ULC strictly for legal purposes.

[Gareth]

A couple of years ago my wife got ordained from them.
However, in Virginia, they wouldn't allow her to perform a wedding ceremony unless she was recognized by her 'church'.
They even mention ULC as 'not viable'.
So she is now a reverend in the state of Virginia because all of her coven signed a paper stating she was the priestess.

I don't know how is works now because I simply have no interest in becoming a minister for any reason what so ever.
Nor do I keep track. :toofless:

I would suggest going to your local city/county clerk and find out what they require before doing any official stuff.
But you probably already know that. :bigredgri

[omar]

My certific is from the Progreesive Universal Life Church 1999. With it I recieved instructions on how to register as a minaster, how to perform weddings & funerals. It is legal in most states because some churches do not have seminary schools to train them. They are trained on the job. The Latterday Saints are this way & the Babtists just started seminary schools about ten years age. In Ohio you register at the county clerk of courts.

[IndigoRising]

I have been ordained through them for many years.. it allowsyou toperform marriage ceremonies as well as birthings, etc etc. and to legally sign documents such as marriage documents