| Subject: From Timothy Inners with his permission |
Author:
Pastor Dave
|
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Date Posted: 12:07:33 02/20/02 Wed
Author Host/IP: dial-133.r99.scptvl.infoave.net/207.144.213.133
Last night, there was a special report on the news
about "instant credentials," about how you can buy
things like college degrees and teacher's
certifications on the internet. Many people were
using these "services" to perpetrate fraud, and get
jobs and positions that they perhaps didn't deserve.
But they brought up the ULC, and being a ULC minister,
I had to take offense.
First off, the report stated that you could become an
ordained minister from the ULC for $14.00, which is a
gross misrepresentation. Ordination from the ULC is
FREE. If you want actual paper credentials to hang
on your wall, that's where the 14 bucks comes in. As
they have stated numerous times on their website and
in their literature, having the piece of paper does
not make you a minister; going through the ordination
process does.
What I really objected to was the lumping of the ULC
in with other organizations whose actions are far more
offensive and, in some cases, illegal. The ULC
consistently asserts that the only legal right that
ordination into the church entitles is the right to
legally perform marriages in the United States.
Everything else is up to the particular minister.
Plus, the ULC is a legally recognized church; some of
the other "credentials" that were obtained by the
reporter were degrees from colleges and universities
that didn't exist. Therefore, fraud should not even
be implied when referring to the ULC.
On a more personal note, I would like to say that my
relationship with the ULC has placed me on the path of
a spiritual journey that I do not believe I would have
explored, had I not stumbled across it. I have met
some that share my spiritual beliefs, and some that
don't. But the point I'm trying to make can best be
summed up by a ULC minister who once said that one
should treat his or her ordination as the beginning of
a spiritual quest, not the end. Ordination entitles
the bearer to the right to perform marriages, nothing
more. Being a "minister" depends on what you do with
that ordination.
We should all strive to use our charge as ministers to
better our communities, our families, and ultimately
ourselves.
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