When you become ordained with the Universal Life Church, your ordination status and personal details are saved in our system. These records are never deleted, as the law requires that ordaining bodies (such as the ULC) keep records of all issued ordinations due to the legal authority that ordination grants. This policy also protects individuals from someone else asking for their file to be deleted.
However, ministers can at any time request that their ordination status be revoked. Individuals seeking to renounce their ordination simply need to contact us with a formal revocation request.
This request will trigger your ordination being revoked, and marked as such in our system. Because this information is safely stored in our records, should you ever wish to have your ordination reinstated, all you would need to do is contact us again requesting reinstatement.
What Does It Mean to Revoke Your Ordination?
When you became a minister of the Universal Life Church, you stepped into a role of authority over your spiritual and religious life, and unlocked several privileges, including the ability to officiate weddings. In choosing to revoke your ordination, you are voluntarily surrendering your status as a minister. This decision will prevent you from being able to access some of the online tools, resources, and services available to ordained ministers on the Universal Life Church’s websites. This will also prohibit you from being able to legally solemnize marriages as a minister of the ULC. Any marriage you performed while you were listed as an ordained minister will remain valid.
Are You Considering Asking For Your Ordination to Be Revoked?
Faith is such a personal journey, and the Universal Life Church has always believed that the individual should be the director of that journey for themselves. That’s why we have always welcomed anyone who felt called toward ordination to become ordained online as a minister of the ULC, and it’s similarly why we believe you should have the right to revoke your ordination if you no longer feel as though the role of a ULC minister is no longer a good fit.
We have found that many of those who ask for their ordinations to be revoked do so because they are confused about the philosophy and tenets of the Universal Life Church. To sum up, the ULC believes that we are all children of the same universe, we believe anyone who feels so-called should have the ability to access ordination, and we ask that all of our ministers abide by two tenets:
- Do that which is right, and
- You should practice your faith freely and fully in whichever way you prefer, so long as it does not run afoul of the law and does not prevent anyone else from exercising that same right and freedom for themselves.
If you are curious to learn more about the Universal Life Church, you can do so here.
