Call me Rev
I received my ordination certificate today from the Universal Life Church. (/me turns and presses the "That Was Easy" button on his work desk) So I can now officially marry, bury, baptize, and perform other similar wonderful rituals with a simple wave of my Credentials of Ministry! (Though they did spell my name wrong...I'll have to see what I can do about that.)
Not to be outdone by Rev. kugelblitz, recently returned from his missionary work in Los Disneys, I also splurged just a bit, since the Church was kind enough to provide the credentials free of charge, and sent a bit of extra bread for their meisterwerk...(picks it up)...A Textbook About the Universal Life Church. Can't wait for the movie.
The ULC itself is rather interesting. The main proponent, a now-deceased Rev. Hensley, was a Southern Baptist Pentacostal Minister from my family's neck of the woods in western North Carolina. At some point, Rev. Hensley went from the usual flavor of fire-and-brimstone in that area to completely left-wing do-what-thou-wilt. Reading the Textbook is a jarring experience, as I recognize the trappings of the "down-home religion" of that time and area...but then the text veers off and orbits somewhere in the area of the Quakers or UU, refusing to actually settle on a solid dogma of any kind. Their only listed credo is "do that which is right". I think I can handle that.*
As I mentioned back here (check the comments also), there is a semi-serious reason for this, and that is to serve as a focus for further Biblical, spiritual, and metaphysical studies. The credentials are likely not worth anything in that regard, but they could be, and there's nothing lost in learning and partaking of other traditions. And besides, nowhere is it written that one must be all fuddy-duddy about one's Christianity (and yeah, this is still technically Christian in outlook).
Hmmm. Reading on further, I could get a congregation together with only two more people - and of course a small amount of cash as an "affiliation fee", payable to the Church's "International Headquarters" in Modesto!**
Oddly, this comes at the end of a day in which I was taken to task by some members of the Green National Committee for my speech. Apparently, it's even surfaced in a print editorial! My crime? Mentioning the word "God" towards the end. Shock! Horror! The officially Ghodless Left may frown upon my Christianity showing (though technically, it could've been Jewish or Muslim...) but there is this matter of "respect for diversity".
Hmmm again. Maybe I should put "Rev." in front of my name from now on when writing to these detractors?
* In my first act as Reverend, I lit some incense and had some bheer. I think that qualifies as a sacrament.
** I'm not too upset about the ULC (which is still run by Hensley's kids) getting a bit of cash. They really aren't millionaires by any stretch; their most recent newsletter describes the funds to the Church enabling them to buy some new carpeting, do a bit of painting, and build a handicapped ramp to allow easier access to the church building.
Not to be outdone by Rev. kugelblitz, recently returned from his missionary work in Los Disneys, I also splurged just a bit, since the Church was kind enough to provide the credentials free of charge, and sent a bit of extra bread for their meisterwerk...(picks it up)...A Textbook About the Universal Life Church. Can't wait for the movie.
The ULC itself is rather interesting. The main proponent, a now-deceased Rev. Hensley, was a Southern Baptist Pentacostal Minister from my family's neck of the woods in western North Carolina. At some point, Rev. Hensley went from the usual flavor of fire-and-brimstone in that area to completely left-wing do-what-thou-wilt. Reading the Textbook is a jarring experience, as I recognize the trappings of the "down-home religion" of that time and area...but then the text veers off and orbits somewhere in the area of the Quakers or UU, refusing to actually settle on a solid dogma of any kind. Their only listed credo is "do that which is right". I think I can handle that.*
As I mentioned back here (check the comments also), there is a semi-serious reason for this, and that is to serve as a focus for further Biblical, spiritual, and metaphysical studies. The credentials are likely not worth anything in that regard, but they could be, and there's nothing lost in learning and partaking of other traditions. And besides, nowhere is it written that one must be all fuddy-duddy about one's Christianity (and yeah, this is still technically Christian in outlook).
Hmmm. Reading on further, I could get a congregation together with only two more people - and of course a small amount of cash as an "affiliation fee", payable to the Church's "International Headquarters" in Modesto!**
Oddly, this comes at the end of a day in which I was taken to task by some members of the Green National Committee for my speech. Apparently, it's even surfaced in a print editorial! My crime? Mentioning the word "God" towards the end. Shock! Horror! The officially Ghodless Left may frown upon my Christianity showing (though technically, it could've been Jewish or Muslim...) but there is this matter of "respect for diversity".
Hmmm again. Maybe I should put "Rev." in front of my name from now on when writing to these detractors?
* In my first act as Reverend, I lit some incense and had some bheer. I think that qualifies as a sacrament.
** I'm not too upset about the ULC (which is still run by Hensley's kids) getting a bit of cash. They really aren't millionaires by any stretch; their most recent newsletter describes the funds to the Church enabling them to buy some new carpeting, do a bit of painting, and build a handicapped ramp to allow easier access to the church building.