With a simple click, more than 100 ASU students have become ordained ministers through a website that provides credentials to legally perform weddings, baptisms and other religious rituals.
The Universal Life Church Monastery website ordains ministers, priests, rabbis and even those who do not practice a religion through a free application process.
Since the site was created in the early 2000s, at least 113 ASU students have received online ordinations, according to a church spokesman.
Journalism graduate student Kenneth Bringelson became an ordained minister to officiate the wedding of his two best friends in Arizona.
“My friends who asked me to be in their wedding told me about the [Universal Life Church] website,” Bringelson said. “I had never heard of such a thing before and was incredibly intrigued. I couldn’t believe that you could legally marry people in just a matter of minutes.”
In Arizona, any “licensed or ordained clergymen” can conduct a marriage ceremony, according to state law.
For a small fee, those who have been ordained through the website can obtain their ordination credentials to verify their status as ministers.
No qualifications are required to apply for a ministerial position on the website, and the ULC Monastery does not teach or support any religious philosophy.
“[I think] it is a questionable service where anyone can become ordained,” Bringelson said. “You could have serial killers become ministers … On the other hand, it is an amazing feeling to perform a ceremony for your friends, as I was lucky enough to do. I think that responsible people should be allowed to do that and ULC gave me that power.”
He said though he has “a better understanding about the wedding process” he hasn’t gained any other knowledge that would usually be expected of an ordained minister.
Bringelson does not attend church or follow any religion, but does not consider himself an atheist.
“I am open to the concept of God, but not sure I believe in him,” Bringelson said.
Anthropology junior Antonio Villalpando said despite being non-religious, he realizes the importance of ceremonies and traditions in people’s lives.
“I found a church that worked with my principles and beliefs … I became ordained [in the Universal Life Church],” Villalpando said.
Political science senior Ruslan Abrosimov, an active and passionate member of the Russian Orthodox Church, is against the rapid popularization and expansion of the Universal Life Church, especially since he believes it does not sanctify marriage.
Abrosimov believes Orthodox Christianity is the only Christian branch that applies what Jesus Christ preached over a thousand years ago to the modern world, and that the Orthodox Christian Church observes the actual religious rituals as in Christ’s day.
Abrosimov said to understand the “adherence to faithfulness and intent of Orthodox Christianity, history must be examined to understand the origins [of the Orthodox Church],” and that various “freeway churches” are “unfaithful sects” of Christianity that are corrupting Jesus Christ’s message through various reform doctrines.
Abrosimov said it is horrible that the Universal Life Church awards ordinations on a rapid basis and doesn’t require any sort of preparation, considering many people often dedicate years to diligent study at a seminary to attain ministerial positions. He said it is disheartening how many people find the Universal Life Church applicable to life just because it is “quick” to get ordained.
“Nowadays [a person] can walk into a church, pay membership and they’re guaranteed salvation,” Abrosimov said. “And all the new age religions … make false promises.”
Reach the reporter at amatro@asu.edu
