Thursday, March 6, 2014

Live & Learn Thursday :: How to Become a Minister

You all know what time it is! Time for another Live & Learn Thursday link up! This week I will be sharing how I became a minister.
Life As Always

I bet you didn't know that I am an ordained minister. But it is true. It isn't something I had ever planned to become, in fact I am not that religious or spiritual. But when my friends, Mark and Amy, asked if I would officiate their wedding, I was delighted. I took my role very seriously and wrote a beautiful ceremony that had Amy in tears before her wedding day. Writing the ceremony and preparing to speak at such an important event was the hard part, the easy part was becoming a minister.


Thanks to the Internet, becoming an ordained minister is easy. Let me break it down for you.

Step One :: Check out the laws in your state. Each state has different requirements for a wedding ceremony to be legal. Be sure to check these laws first.

Step Two :: Find a church that will ordain you online.  I went with Universal Life Church. I went with this organization, because it was low cost (free to be ordained, $15 to ship you the certificate) and Conan O'Brien is ordained through this church. A bunch of other famous people are also ordained in this church, like Rob Dyrdek, Fran Drescher, Bobby Flay, Goldie Hawn, Hugh Hefner, Ringo Starr, and Hunter Thompson, so why not add my name to the list.

Step Three :: Fill out the form. This part is pretty easy unless you don't know your own name, where you live, or if you want to join the monthly newsletter list. Seriously. It is that easy.

Step Four :: Celebrate. You are an official minister. At least enough to officiate weddings and help your friends get hitched. You will get a fancy certificate in the mail, which you can proudly show off to anyone who will look. You can start requiring people to call you, The Mighty Reverend Jess.



I guess I did such a good job at Mark and Amy's wedding, that Mark and Andi have asked me to officiate their wedding this Sunday. I am really excited to play such an important role in one of the biggest decisions Mark and Andi will make.

Be sure to stop by the link up and see what other lessons are being shared today!

XOJO

1 comment:

  1. It's crazy that it's so easy to become ordained! But I'm sure glad you chose a church that has ordained a lot of famous people already. ;-)

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