It's Official... I am now an ordained minister in my state.
I find it hilarious, ironic, and an oxymoron to call myself an
ATHEIST ORDAINED MINISTER.
Anyone else on here ordained, & able to marry others?
(edit - Looking further into my ordained account, I don't see anything that locks me to only my state. I guess, I can do Nation wide...)
I was ordained by the Church of Spiritual Humanism in 2005 and have performed thousands of marriages, 99.9% of them for atheist, agnostic, humanistic or otherwise non-religious. When I was the only atheist minister in my state, I really cleaned up, but now it's caught on to all the other officiants to offer non-religious style ceremonies, and I'm not so busy.
I think it's important for a marriage to focus on the human promises being made to each other, regardless of whether there is a supernatural deity overseeing the event. My services are actually quite popular and couples come from all over the world to have me marry them! It's a great way to make a living!
Yep I got ordained to marry a friend 15 years ago and this year I expect to do another one
I have been an ordained minister since my birthday in 1969 in Modesto California with the Universal Life Church under Rev. Hensley! It cost me a whole $1.00 USD!
Have married eleven couples in that time over five states!
I only do secular style services!!!
Have had a lot of fun with it!!!
Funerals are a whole different story as a Veteran it can be very trying and harsh on one!!!
That's hilarious. And a terrific oxymoron. Go make some memories!
I’ve performed seven marriage ceremonies in Texas, only one has lasted, to date. I still don’t really understand why people need to involve the government or sky-daddy to validate their relationship. I now live in Oregon and I’m told we now have a state license for secular officiants. So now I have to PAY THE GOVERNMENT to officiate weddings...I quit!
Congrats!! That’s pretty cool!
I have some friends that were ordained for the specific reason to marry ANYONE the religious clergy wouldn’t (in our assbackwards hick part of the state). The first same-sex marriage they did made the news and stirred up a bunch of sh!t.
Yep, I did a mail order ministers certificate years ago because I had friends who wanted to get married on a mountain top (high altitude western USA mountains) and then ski down. We were pro extreme skiers. They didn't know any already ordained ministers who could survive the avalanche chutes off the top - so I got ordained. Then, instead of getting married - they broke up. Years later, finding that certificate, I got curious and looked up its legality. And was surprised to find out thats its as legitimate as that owned by the grifters from any big church.
The problem is, our government should not have any religious requirement(s) for performing marriage -- a civil ceremony. If you are not part of the solution, you are part of the problem. Better would be to work to get those unconstitutional laws/rules changed.
Congratulations.
I have no use for marriage, but I think it's great that those who wish to, have the
option of having you perform their ceremonies.
Are you only licensed in Missouri, or can you officiate anywhere in the US?
Did you know that three states (Florida, Maine, & South Carolina) allow marriages
to be performed by a notary?
An ordained atheist? Wow!
Tell me, do you wear a Holy Colander on your head when you perform a marriage?
Duct tape. Has to be.
I would have loved to have an athiest minister at my wedding. Ours made it religious even though I asked several times not to. I eventually gave in because my whole family is religious and I know they appreciated it, but it would have been nice to have the option.
There are some subtle ways to make a marriage seem like a religious one, but the wording is more inclusive and universal. I've performed marriages for couples who wanted no mention of religion, but we needed to add some lines to satisfy the religious family members, such as "with the source of all creation as our witness..." which could really mean whatever you feel is the source of creation, god, nature or whatever mystery force we have yet to discover.