The following is excerpted from the court's decision in this case. The Universal Life Church is referred to as Plaintiff:

"...an Honorary Doctor of Divinity is a strictly religious title with no academic standing. Such titles may be issued by bona fide churches and religious denominations, such as plaintiff, as long as their issuance is limited to a course of instruction in the principles of the church or religious denomination... The statute is silent as to recognized honorary titles conferred for some meritorious recognition."

The court then addressed the issue of whether the ordination of ministers, granting of church charters, and the issuance of Honorary Doctor of Divinity certificates are substantial activities which do not further any religious purpose. The following is excerpted from the court's decision:

"Certainly the ordination of ministers and the chartering of churches are accepted activities of religious organizations... The fact that the plaintiff distributed ministers' credentials and Honorary Doctor of Divinity certificates is of no moment. Such activity may be analogized to mass conversions at a typical revival or religious crusade."

Now here is the real meat of the court's decision, and the part that guarantees the legality of your ordination:

"Neither this Court, nor any branch of this Government, will consider the merits or fallacies of a religion. Nor will the Court compare the beliefs, dogmas, and practices of a newly organized religion with those of an older, more established religion. Nor will the Court praise or condemn a religion, however excellent or fanatical or preposterous it may seem. WERE THE COURT TO DO SO, IT WOULD IMPINGE UPON THE GUARANTEES OF THE FIRST AMENDMENT."

So you can see, your ordination is completely legal and every bit as respectable as an ordination from any other church. If you'd like to read the complete case decision, it's filed in the U.S. District Court, Eastern District of California, Civil No. S-1954.

These above laws apply only to The USA. If you live in any other Country it is up to you to check out the marriage laws in what ever country you live in.

Because of complication in Canada's legal system that make it difficult for our members to be able to perform marriage's therefore, we are no longer Ordaining any one living in Canada to perform weddings. We will ordain those in Canada who just want to become ordained to help open doors for their ministry to be able to serve.