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A different kind of wedding

Salty

Salty

20,000 Posts Club
Administrator
Mrs Salty and I went out of town to attend a wedding. The bride is a co-worker of my wife and they are very good friends.

Well the ceremony lasted about 10 minutes.

Not once did the minister utter the name of God - at all.

At the reception, I ran into the minister. Since I did not know him -I said I didnt know everyone there and asked to confirm if he were the minster. He answered in the affirmative. I then asked him where was a pastor at. He told me he was ordained thur the Universal Life Church. He said he went online - filled out the form and presto - he is ordained - and it didnt even cost him anything.

Thoughts?
 
V

Van

Well-Known Member
Site Supporter
Based on my personal assessment, I do not think some "licensed" preachers are helpful to the ministry of Christ. OTOH, even a graduate from a school (Moody, Dallas, etc) and ordained by a panel of pastors, might wander off the path of righteousness and into error.

Scripture provides us with multiple warnings. Even on this BB, when I asked others to identify what they teach their disciples concerning "all Christ commanded" I was greeted with evasion. It is easy to point to those who do not even profess Christ, but how about considering our own failures in the ministry of Christ?
 
rsr

rsr

<b> 7,000 posts club</b>
Moderator
I will only note that I filled out papers for a local prairie dog to be an ordained minister and it was accepted. He balked at paying the fee to become a doctor of theology, however.

Seriously, as a civil institution is matters little whether the officiating party is a judge, a minister or a clever orangutan; it's basically a civil contract that (unlike other contracts) either party can abrogate for any reason.

Those who want to imbue the marriage with a proper spiritual aspect, of course, may want to have a minister of the gospel officiate as they pledge their lives to each other. (But you won't find a requirement in scripture, IMO.) Ideally, two people who want to marry and are in church will want to seal their decision before the church and ask its help to fulfill their vows.

Sadly, I don't think you can find that "church" marriages among evangelicals (including Baptists) are any more durable than among unbelievers.
 
TCassidy

TCassidy

Late-Administator Emeritus
Administrator
rsr said:
I will only note that I filled out papers for a local prairie dog to be an ordained minister
Click to expand...
My dog. A very handsome Irish Setter, was ordained as "Rev. Teddy Cassidy." Cost me $20. Online. Teddy was actually his name. He got it because when he was a little puppy he looked like a fuzzy little teddy bear. He lived to be 17. I sure miss him. But he couldn't preach worth a darn. :)
 
rsr

rsr

<b> 7,000 posts club</b>
Moderator
Maybe not, but he probably had social skills that some pastors lack. :)
 
Rob_BW

Rob_BW

Well-Known Member
Site Supporter
TCassidy said:
My dog. A very handsome Irish Setter, was ordained as "Rev. Teddy Cassidy." Cost me $20. Online. Teddy was actually his name. He got it because when he was a little puppy he looked like a fuzzy little teddy bear. He lived to be 17. I sure miss him. But he couldn't preach worth a darn. :)
Click to expand...
So he couldn't preach worth a darn? Does that mean he couldn't qualify as a service animal?

(Oh, that was a horrible attempt at a pun.)
 
Sapper Woody

Sapper Woody

Well-Known Member
Besides my actual ordination through the church I went on to pastor as a young man, I went on the internet to see how many free ordinations I could get. There are a lot. Without paying anything, you can be pretty much all the "parody" religions (I'm a dudist monk, for instance), and if you are willing to pay, you can be just about any actual religion.

Sent from my QTAQZ3 using Tapatalk
 
HankD

HankD

Well-Known Member
Site Supporter
Forty two years ago I served as the youth director and assisted the regular pastor at a Baptist church in the Boston MA area after graduating from bible college. My wife and I had been members there from before my bible school days.

Many of the attendees told the pastor they thought that I should be ordained.
I believe it was part of the "unwritten" by-laws of that particular local church as I had been asked to speak from the pulpit when the regular pastor was away. I was also involved in other "pastoral work".

I told the pastor that I did feel that I should be ordained.

However, the board of elders/deacons went through the motions of filling out the paperwork.
I was not told this nor was there an official review of my background and beliefs.
later, I was called into the pastors office and asked to sign the ordination document.
The pastor said "we know what you believe, please sign it" - so I signed it.


HankD
 
TCassidy

TCassidy

Late-Administator Emeritus
Administrator
Wow! I was questioned for over 10 hours by the ordination council. I was not allowed to bring anything except my bible. If I had to do it over again I would get a job driving a truck! :D:D
 
HankD

HankD

Well-Known Member
Site Supporter
TCassidy said:
Wow! I was questioned for over 10 hours by the ordination council. I was not allowed to bring anything except my bible. If I had to do it over again I would get a job driving a truck! :D:D
Click to expand...
There was a rumor I heard attributed to Spurgeon as to why he didn't want to be ordained:
"I don't want anyone's empty hands on my empty head".

I felt that applied to me.

To be forthright I kept the ordination document.
However no one ever asked to see it except a funeral home director (I was his backup "minister").
He used me for the homeless, transients, etc.

HankD
 
TCassidy

TCassidy

Late-Administator Emeritus
Administrator
They left out the most important requirement. Be under 50 years of age and have at least 45 years experience as a pastor. :D
 
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