They say that nowadays, you can do anything online. Check the weather, pay your bills, even buy your groceries from the magic box that sits on your desk, on your lap, or even in your pocket. But can you really become ordained to be a practicing minister or reverend? Absolutely. I know, because I've done it.
And why not? The First Amendment to the Constitution protects every citizen's right to establish and practice his own religion without interference by the government. Granted, it's still pretty hard to be recognized as the sole practitioner of your own religion (and expect the same tax exemptions, anyway). But more than a few groups have gotten together and provide free, online ordination so that you, too, can be leader of your very own church (or representative of a very lax church, to be specific).
Myself, I'm ordained as a minister in the Universal Life Church, as well as a member of the clergy for the Church of Spiritual Humanism. They both applaud siezing your right to a community based on a church, even if that church's only real deities are mathematics or the laws of physics.
While ordination in the Churches and monasteries of Universal Life (there are a dozen different ones, at least) is the most popular, you can become a minster in a Christian mission or become a Dudeist reverend. There are rabbinical programs as well, but much rarer, given the nature of the modern rabbi in a Jewish religious community.
Why do people do it? Well, firstly and probably most likely, for fun. Secondly, it's a great opportunity for a person of any faith to be able to over see weddings or other ceremonies, which some states, like New York, require registration for. For many others, the call to faith, or to ministry of whatever they believe, happened well into their growth as people, maybe disenfranchised with modern religious establishment, and the search a more inclusive atmosphere.
I know what you're thinking. It's probably something like, "Well, I wouldn't trust a doctor who bought his M.D. from a catalogue, so why should I trust this guy, who just clicked "OK"?" Well, the short answer is, I think, you should trust him about as much as you would trust any stranger. But you should acknowledge that he has as much right to his beliefs as the Pastor from the church across town. It's hard to be a full-time clergy member. But, it's easy to work a 9-5 job, and then be able to pass on some wisdom in whatever way you think best on the weekends, and if you choose to become ordained as a symbol for your choice to do that, more power to you.
So go out, or stay in, you can become ordained in your own faith, or lackthereof, start a church, oversee a wedding, buy a collar, and begin to have a title to preach what you believe. I did.
2 comments:
For the past day, I have been doing research on becoming ordained. Not because I feel that there is a "higher calling" for me. As a matter of fact, I am not Christian, Catholic etc., but Jewish. I'm not even a practicing Jew or believe in religion for that matter. I consider myself Jewish by pride and not faith.
So, why did I do it? Three reasons, really. First was because I could, in all honesty. The second is to show my significant other (after 10 years, calling each other "boyfriend" and "girlfriend" just doesn't seem right, especially when her grandkids call me "pappa") that it can be done.
See, she began working in hospice as she is going through nursing college, and discovered that in a place like that, there is a surprising lack of "ministers" or "clergy" to assist the dying and their families. Now, the more devout may scoff at a reverend with an ordination obtained online. But they may do so at the fact the this reverend is a woman....
However, she could be there for those who just want someone with the title to console them. It's not the training that makes a minister, in my opinion. It is the individual that carries the title.
By the way, she's not Christian or Catholic, either. She's a proud Wiccan who simply believes in helping others.
Now, my third reason is that I do have friends of numerous faiths (including athiestic and agnostic beliefs), and a purely "non-denominational" or "inter-faith" legal ordination that allows me to practice my own views (as long as they are within the issuing church's tenets) could be of use.
Is it a sham? To some, I presume it is. However, to those that wish to be ordained for lawful and ethical purposes should by all means do so, regardless of the method.
Thanks so much for sharing this. I think that this is a very good platform that can be used for special moments. My one friend went through the process of online ordination to perform his sister's wedding ceremony because it is what their father would have wanted.
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