What exactly is nondenominational ordination, and why might it be a good idea? This article explores all the reasons to choose this path that has been growing in popularity since the dawn of the internet.
Let’s face it, the world is moving away from the church. People need more open-minded, liberal organizations to take their place. These days, folks just want to celebrate weddings and hold funeral services with a personalized approach. Established churches just aren’t flexible enough to meet these demands. That’s why nondenominational ordination has recently become a popular choice for people who just want to lead these events themselves.
Nondenominational ordination is a fancy term that basically means becoming a minister without having any link to a specific religious group. This type of ordination is offered by organizations that care about you being able to officiate the kind of ceremony that matters to you and the community you serve. Traditional ordination often requires that you are religious and/or have done religious training, whereas nondenominational ordination is for anyone.
You might have already heard of it, but online ordination has become very popular in the last few years. Because it’s free and is super easy to sign up for, it’s a great option for folks who want to officiate without paying extra for religious training. For a small fee organizations like American Marriage Ministries (AMM) and Universal Life Church (ULC) provide all the documents and support you need to legally officiate weddings.
Non Religious ordination through an organization such as American Marriage Ministries is inclusive. People from different religious or cultural backgrounds, LGBTQ+ couples, and people who identify as spiritual but not religious are all welcome. The first of AMM’s three basic principles is that “All people regardless of race, gender, or sexual orientation have the right to marry” so as long as you can agree with this you shouldn’t have any problems becoming a minister.
You also have a lot more freedom as a nondenominational pastor. From Star Wars themed weddings to Elvis Presley inspired ceremonies, there’s hardly a limit to your creative potential. Adding elements such as a handfasting or sand ceremony is also easily available when performing nondenominational weddings.
It’s also recently become more common for friends and family members to lead funeral services for loved ones. Although ordination is not legally required to lead these ceremonies, it connects you to a group that will support your ministry.
If this seems like the right thing for you and you want to get ordained, simply head over to the AMM website (theamm.org) and follow the steps to ordination. It will ask you to fill in your basic information like name and email, and ask you to agree with the three main principles. Once you’ve completed this and clicked the “Get Ordained” button, you are an official ordained minister!
Your ordination through AMM is for life and you won’t be required to renew your credentials. They have a ton of helpful information and instructional guides on their website so you don’t have to worry if you’re new to the wedding officiation scene.
In summary people are slowly moving away from the traditional church ceremonies and looking to friends and family to lead the ceremonies that matter most to them. Luckily, there are nondenominational organizations out there who will ordain you for free so you can lead these ceremonies yourself.
Bernard Paul