The Universal Life Church (or ULC) is a religious organization that offers anyone semi-immediate ordination as a ULC minister free of charge. The organization states that anyone can become a minister immediately, without having to go through the pre-ordination process required by other religious faiths. The ordination application, however, must be checked by a human in order to be official; therefore, true ordination usually takes a few days. The ULC's ordinations are issued in the belief that all people are already ordained by God and that the ULC is merely recognizing this fact.
The following is a list of notable people who have been ordained as ministers in the Universal Life Church.
Name | Known for | Citations |
---|---|---|
Adele | Singer/songwriter | [1] |
Eric Anzalone | Singer/actor/author member of the Village People | [2] |
Lewis Ashmore | Author | [3] |
Name | Known for | Citations |
---|---|---|
Glenn Beck | American conservative political commentator | [4] |
Susan Block | American sexologist, author, filmmaker, therapist, cable TV talk show host and cultural commentator | [5] |
Richard Branson | English businessman, investor and founder of Virgin Group | [6] |
David Byrne | Scottish musician, and a founding member and principal songwriter of the American new wave band Talking Heads | [7] |
Name | Known for | Citations |
---|---|---|
Cyd Charisse | American actress and dancer | [8] |
Stephen Colbert | American comedian, writer, producer, actor, media critic, and television host | [9] |
Bryan Cranston | American actor | [10] |
Benedict Cumberbatch | Actor from the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland | [11] |
Name | Known for | Citations |
---|---|---|
Tony Danza | American actor | [12] |
Michael Dowd | American lecturer | [13] |
John C. Dvorak | American columnist and broadcaster in the areas of technology and computing | [14] |
Rob Dyrdek | American professional skateboarder, actor, entrepreneur, producer, and reality TV star. | [15] |
Name | Known for | Citations |
---|---|---|
Joseph Maldonado-Passage | American former zoo operator, convicted felon and focus of the 2020 documentary Tiger King . | [16] |
Name | Known for | Citations |
---|---|---|
Guy Fieri | Chef and TV host | [11] |
Bobby Flay | Chef and TV host | [17] |
Name | Known for | Citations |
---|---|---|
Shaenon K. Garrity | American webcomics writer, artist and creator of Narbonic | [18] |
Jim Goad | American author and publisher | [19] |
Kathy Griffin | American actress, comedian, writer, producer and television host | [20] [4] |
Jonathan Groff | American actor | [21] |
Name | Known for | Citations |
---|---|---|
Tom Hanks | Actor | [11] [1] |
George Harrison | English musician, multi-instrumentalist, singer and songwriter, and music and film producer who achieved international fame as a member of The Beatles | [9] [22] |
Andre Hensley | Third President of the Universal Life Church | [23] |
Kirby J. Hensley | Founder of the Universal Life Church | [24] [25] |
Lida Hensley | Second President of the Universal Life Church | [24] |
Jonah Hill | Actor | [1] |
Jesse Hughes | American singer, musician and multi-instrumentalist. Frontman of the rock band Eagles of Death Metal. | [26] |
Name | Known for | Citations |
---|---|---|
Jesse James | American television personality and former CEO of Austin, Texas-based Austin Speed Shop | [27] |
Lindsay Jones | Voice actor, Achievement Hunter and on-screen personality at Rooster Teeth | [28] |
Dwayne Johnson | Actor and former professional wrestler | [11] |
Name | Known for | Citations |
---|---|---|
Theo Katzman | American musician and member of Vulfpeck | [29] |
Jimmy Kimmel | TV host | [11] |
John Krasinski | Actor from America who played Jim Halpert on The Office | [30] |
Carson Kressley | American fashion expert with the television program Queer Eye for the Straight Guy | [31] |
Name | Known for | Citations |
---|---|---|
Lady Gaga | American singer and songwriter | [9] |
Leo Laporte | American technology broadcaster, author and entrepreneur | [14] |
John Lennon | English musician, singer and songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as a founding member of the rock band The Beatles | [9] [22] |
Courtney Love | American alternative rock singer, songwriter, musician, actress, visual artist, and widow of Kurt Cobain | [32] |
Name | Known for | Citations |
---|---|---|
Paul McCartney | English singer, multi-instrumentalist and composer who gained worldwide fame as a member of The Beatles | [9] [22] |
Fancy Ray McCloney | Stand-up comedian | [34] |
Ian McKellen | English actor | [35] |
Alanis Morissette | Singer | [33] |
Name | Known for | Citations |
---|---|---|
Michael Newdow | American Atheist, attorney and emergency medicine physician | [36] |
Gavin Newsom | American politician and current Governor of California | [37] |
Stevie Nicks | American singer-songwriter | [38] |
Name | Known for | Citations |
---|---|---|
Conan O'Brien | American television host, comedian, writer, producer and voice actor | [39] [40] |
Madalyn Murray O'Hair | American atheist activist and founder of American Atheists, Inc. | [41] |
Name | Known for | Citations |
---|---|---|
Mike Park | Korean American musician and progressive activist | [42] |
MatPat | American actor, writer, and Youtuber | [43] |
Anthony Perkins | Was an American actor, director and singer ("Norman Bates" in Psycho, 1960, which established him as a horror icon) | [44] |
Jeff Probst | American game show host and an executive producer of Survivor . | [45] |
Name | Known for | Citations |
---|---|---|
Jerry Reinsdorf | American CPA, lawyer and an owner of the NBA's Chicago Bulls and the MLB's Chicago White Sox | [46] |
Joan Rivers | Actress | [1] [17] |
John Roderick | Lead singer and guitarist of the indie rock band The Long Winters, podcaster | [47] |
Felipe Rose | Founding member of the disco group the Village People | [2] |
Name | Known for | Citations |
---|---|---|
John Scalzi | American science fiction author, online writer, and former president of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America | [48] |
Jason Segel | American actor and comedian | [4] |
Michael Shermer | American science writer, historian of science, executive director of The Skeptics Society, and founding publisher of Skeptic magazine, a publication focused on investigating pseudoscientific and supernatural claims | [49] |
Kevin Smith | American screenwriter, actor, film producer, speaker and director, as well as popular comic book writer, author, comedian/raconteur and podcaster | [50] [4] |
Gus Sorola | Video producer, actor and podcaster with Rooster Teeth | [51] |
Ivan Stang | American writer, filmmaker and broadcaster, and Sacred Scribe with the Church of the SubGenius | [52] |
Ringo Starr | English drummer, singer, songwriter and actor who gained worldwide fame as the drummer for The Beatles | [9] |
Mink Stole | Actress | [53] [54] |
Vermin Supreme | American performance artist and activist | [55] |
Ron Suresha | American author and activist | [56] |
Name | Known for | Citations |
---|---|---|
George Takei | American actor, director, author, and activist | [9] |
Mickey Thomas | American singer for Starship | [57] |
Name | Known for | Citations |
---|---|---|
Vanilla Ice | American rapper, actor and television host | [9] |
Name | Known for | Citations |
---|---|---|
Danny Wallace | British filmmaker, comedian, writer, actor and presenter of radio and television | [58] |
John Waters | American film director, screenwriter, actor, stand-up comedian, journalist, visual artist and art collector | [59] |
Jane Wiedlin | American musician, singer-songwriter and actress with The Go-Go's | [60] |
Mike Williams | American singer for Eyehategod and former associate editor for Metal Maniacs | [61] |
Wolfman Jack | American disc jockey | [62] |
The Presbyterian Church (USA), abbreviated PCUSA, is a mainline Protestant denomination in the United States. It is the largest Presbyterian denomination in the country, known for its liberal stance on doctrine and its ordaining of women and members of the LGBT community as elders and ministers. The Presbyterian Church (USA) was established with the 1983 merger of the Presbyterian Church in the United States, whose churches were located in the Southern and border states, with the United Presbyterian Church in the United States of America, whose congregations could be found in every state.
Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized to perform various religious rites and ceremonies. The process and ceremonies of ordination vary by religion and denomination. One who is in preparation for, or who is undergoing the process of ordination is sometimes called an ordinand. The liturgy used at an ordination is commonly found in a book known as an Ordinal which provides the ordo for celebrations.
The ordination of women to ministerial or priestly office is an increasingly common practice among some contemporary major religious groups. It remains a controversial issue in certain religious groups in which ordination was traditionally reserved for men.
Eduardo Villanueva Manalo also known as Ka Eduardo, is the current Executive Minister of the Iglesia ni Cristo (INC). He is the third generation of the Manalo family to lead the church following his father, the late Eraño G. Manalo, and his grandfather, Felix Y. Manalo.
Kirby James Hensley was the president and founder of the Universal Life Church.
A marriage officiant or marriage celebrant is a person who officiates at a wedding ceremony.
A humanist celebrant or humanist officiant is a person who performs humanist celebrancy services, such as non-religious weddings, funerals, child namings, coming of age ceremonies and other rituals. Some humanist celebrants are accredited by humanist organisations, such as Humanists UK, Humanist Society Scotland (HSS), The Humanist Society (US), and the Humanist Association of Canada (HAC).
Methodist viewpoints concerning homosexuality are diverse because there is no one denomination which represents all Methodists. The World Methodist Council, which represents most Methodist denominations, has no official statements regarding sexuality. Various Methodist denominations themselves take different stances on the issue of homosexuality, with many denominations holding homosexual practice to be sinful, while other denominations ordain LGBT clergy and marry same-sex couples. The positions of the various Methodist denominations around the globe are outlined in this article.
The ordination of lesbian, gay, bisexual and/or transgender (LGBT) clergy who are open about their sexuality or gender identity; are sexually active if lesbian, gay, or bisexual; or are in committed same-sex relationships is a debated practice within some contemporary Christian denominations.
The ordination of women in the Anglican Communion has been increasingly common in certain provinces since the 1970s. Several provinces, however, and certain dioceses within otherwise ordaining provinces, continue to ordain only men. Disputes over the ordination of women have contributed to the establishment and growth of progressive tendencies, such as the Anglican realignment and Continuing Anglican movements.
In the liturgical traditions of the Catholic Church, the term ordination refers to the means by which a person is included in one of the holy orders of bishops, priests or deacons. The teaching of the Catholic Church on ordination, as expressed in the 1983 Code of Canon Law, the Catechism of the Catholic Church, and the apostolic letter Ordinatio sacerdotalis, is that only a Catholic male validly receives ordination, and "that the Church has no authority whatsoever to confer priestly ordination on women and that this judgment is to be definitively held by all the Church's faithful." In other words, the male priesthood is not considered by the church a matter of policy but an unalterable requirement of God. As with priests and bishops, the church ordains only men as deacons.
Steven Blane is an American rabbi, cantor and recording singer-songwriter.
Betty Bone Schiess was an American Episcopal priest. She was one of the first female Episcopal priests in the United States, and a member of the Philadelphia Eleven: leaders of the movement to allow the ordination of women in the American Episcopal Church.
An ordination mill is a religious organization or denomination in which membership is obtainable by trivial means and all members are qualified for self-ordination as a minister of religion, bishop, priest or deacon without any prerequisite training, work, experience, seminary study or other qualification. In some cases, ordination may be obtained online or by mail merely by submitting an application and a nominal fee.
The Universal Life Church Monastery (ULCM) is a multi-religious interfaith ministry that has an online ordination program, which allows individuals to preside over weddings, baptisms, and funerals in the United States depending on state and county laws. George Freeman is president of the Seattle, Washington–based ministry. It claims to have ordained 20 million ministers.
This is a timeline of women in religion. See also: Timeline of women in religion in the United States, and Timeline of women's ordination.
American Marriage Ministries is a non-denominational Internet church based in Seattle. The church was founded by Glen Yoshioka in 2009 and ordains and trains people to officiate at weddings. The church is a secular non-denominational organization that does not promote any specific religious ideologies, instead allowing its ministers to define their own practice and faith. This allows ceremonies to be tailored to the beliefs of the couple. The church ordained Canadian singer Carly Rae Jepsen in 2017. The church had operated entirely online until June 2019, when its ministers began performing in-person ordinations in response to Tennessee passing a law disallowing ministers ordained online from solemnizing weddings in the state. According to Executive Director Lewis King, by June 2017 the church has ordained more than 715,000 people in the United States, including over 13,400 active ministers in Tennessee. The church performed mass ordinations in a number of cities in Tennessee, with the majority of attendees being those who had already been ordained online but need to update their status to comply with the new law.
The legal status of the Universal Life Church encompasses a collection of court decisions and state executive branch pronouncements determining what rights the Universal Life Church (ULC) and comparable organizations have as religious organizations.
The Universal Life Church (ULC) is an American non-denominational religious organization founded in 1962 by Kirby J. Hensley, under the doctrine: "Do that which is right". The Universal Life Church advocates for religious freedom, offering legal ordination to become a minister free of charge, to anyone who wishes to join. The ULC has ordained ministers from a wide range of backgrounds and beliefs, including atheists, Christians, Jews, Neopagans and Wiccans.