before i start this, i totally ripped off tony's "death to..." blog title theme. it just seemed like fun & since i am entering this with my own bit of humor, it seemed ok.
i read an article in "yahoo" magazine back in '98 (i think) about getting ordained online. being a part of a methodist summer camp, i thought it would be a great idea to get ordained, flash the certificate in front of my executive director that i was now ordained and could officiate communion. so i followed the link to the universal life church (it is now the universal life church monastery: they added a monk program) where they have ordained 20 million people since '59. to end that story, i got all the other camp directors of my status ordained to do the same, needless to say, our executive director (if you know her, it's even funnier) of camps was not pleased.
this came back to mind because in looking for some news articles i came across www.spiritualhumanism.org. their claim, "We can solve the problems of society using a religion based on reason." ..?? okay.. but this just cracked me up, under their "practices" section of their site.
Spiritual Humanism does not require its members to perform any particular practices. Each person's spirituality has to be developed individually and everyone is free to draw upon whatever religious tradition and behaviors are most appropriate for their own unique situation and background.
i suppose this could bring up all kinds of issues over the legitmacy of ministers. is a minister ordained online credible to the extent of one who has been through seminar &/or a doctorate program, or if they have credit at all? there are many congregations who identify with their minister, who might have been a computer programmer 6 years earlier and reading "yahoo" magazine, they are out there. is there legitimacy with an ordination process that includes schooling, training, mentors, & challenging thought? i think there is, i'd hope you would agree. but, now john wesley would call all of us ministers. we are all called to ministry and we are all given gifts for ministry. so i guess, getting ordained online is okay with me & john wesley.. maybe not!
all in good fun. gav
