Become an Ordained Minister

People become ordained for a variety of reasons.

Some people do it as a joke. Some people do it to perform a wedding. Some do it to spread their spiritual truth with others. There are as many reasons as there are ministers and in this blog, I'm going to share some of those stories with you.

The first story is from Rev. Jimmy Warren. The first part of the story is:

I wish to share why I became ordained by the ULC, first I believe we are all called and ordained by God when each of us decide to serve our fellow brethren in the world. I come from a religious back ground,raise in the back of my grandmother's Pentecostal church. My grandfather on the other side of the family was a Baptist so there was some discourse in growing up.

For the rest of the story, go to Become An Ordained Minister.

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The Universal Life Church is a comprehensive online seminary where we have classes in Christianity, Wicca, Paganism, two courses in Metaphysics and much more. 

Ordination with the Universal Life Church, is free,  and lasts for life, so use the Free Online Ordination, button.We also offer many free wedding ceremonies for your use.

 

The  ULC, run by Rev. Long, has created a chaplaincy program to help train our ministers. We also have a huge catalog of Universal Life Church materials.  I've been ordained with the Universal Life Church for many years and it's Seminary since the beginning and have loved watching the continual growth of the seminary.  
 

Try our new free toolbar at: ULC Toolbar

Online Ordination

At the ULC Seminary, we are very proud of our ministers and like to give them an opportunity to toot their horns about what they've accomplished. I'm not suggesting that that's their motivations, but I believe that good deeds should be recognized.

Nobody has asked for the recognition, which is why I am ready and anxious to share it with you.

Here is part of one man's story:

Amy:

Thank you for the opportunity of being part of your ministry.

I have worked as an Associate Minister with A well-known Ministry in Bound Brook, New Jersey for the last 7 years and recently decided to start my own ministry.

I performed more than 200 weddings and 50 child dedications in 2005 and from the work donated more than $25,000 to charity.

For the rest of the story, go to Active Ministries.

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Ordination with the Universal Life Church, is free  and lasts for life, so use the button.

As a long time member of ULC, Rev. Long created the seminary site to help train our ministers. We also have a huge catalog of Universal Life Church materials. Many have been ordained with the Universal Life Church for many years and it's Seminary since the beginning and can attest to its ongoing growth and change.

Try our new free toolbar at: ULC Toolbar

Universal Life Church

Hello,

My name is Reverend Willis. I joined the ULC because I wanted to make my quest to seek out the questions I had about life official. Since joining I have been researching all types of religions and have taken the title of minister quite seriously. The powers we give to established religion are very great, and some religions seem to lack the core essentials that the ULC is based on. The ULC has linked me to many great philosophies that can overlap to almost every religion out there.

I don't have to bow my head to any priest or Pope, but I can take their advise. I have found great links to things like Sufi Dances of Universal Peace and great ideas for weddings or religious ceremonies. I just thought I would mention a little bit out of appreciation for everything the ULC represents. Why should all the tax breaks go to the religions that are already established?

I have hopes of creating a church that can focus on guided meditations, positive sermons and an overall sanctuary for anyone who needs some positive energy. The ULC makes everything very simple. I really appreciate the newsletters and this idea about posting ministers online seems very exciting.

Greg

For more stories like this, go to Online Ordination

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To ordain yourself with the Universal Life Church, for free, for life, right now, click on the Free Online Ordination link.

Rev. Long created the ULC seminary site to help ministers learn and grow their ministries. The Seminary offers a huge catalog of materials for ministers of the Universal Life Church. 

Ordination story

I became a minister in 1985 while living in Orlando, FL. I was doing astrology readings and the city said I had to be licensed either as a minister or a vendor. So I became a minister.

My employer at the time was the Wyndham Hotel SeaWorld which is now a Stouffers hotel I believe. My boss, John Arnesen, thought doing weddings in the hotel would be a great thing for tourists.

So, the first wedding I ever performed was in the hotel lobby! Mr. Arnesen, made a huge media event out of it and comped the couple's room for an extended stay, meals, tickets to Sea World and Disney - it was GREAT FUN!

I have been performing weddings ever since! In 1989, I moved back to my birth home of Cleveland, OH. and together with my friend who also is a minister, Patricia Wagner-Soteros, we started Creative Wedding Officiants to market our wedding business.

We now perform well over 100 weddings each per year. You can see us and get more info about us and our other associates Wayne and Traci at www.creativeweddingofficiants.com

I am also a Usui Reiki Master and do Spiritual healings, house blessings and baby blessings.

Feel free to use the info for your newsletter.

Blessings.

Rev. Teresa George

For more stories like this, go to Online Ordination

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Ordination with the Free Online Ordination button.

The  ULC, run by Rev. Long, has created a chaplaincy program to help train our ministers. We also have a huge catalog of Universal Life Church materials.  I've been ordained with Seminary since the beginning and have loved watching the continual growth of the seminary.

Try our new free toolbar at: ULC Toolbar

Universal Life Church

The Universal Life Church ordained me on March 27th, 2000. I didn't start actually performing ceremonies/rituals for anyone other than family and friends until 2002, as I felt I needed more time to become proficient at it.

Looking back, I think being a member of the clergy has always been my calling. I remember, as a small child going to Catholic school, wanting to be a priest when I grew up. I could never get a straight answer from any of the adults as to why I couldn't! Just that girls could be nuns, but only boys could be priests. Never any explanation! That was just the way it was. Later, during my "atheist phase", During one of those career placement tests, Clergy kept coming up as the thing I was best suited for. What a laugh I got out of that! (I guess the joke was on me.)

Over the years, I explored many different organized religions, atheism and a couple of cults. What I finally discovered is that there is no one "right" path, but that everyone has a specific path that is right for them. What's more, a person's path can contain spirituality, wisdom and philosophy from any number of different sources, and that it is no less valid as a belief system than a specific religion. Since then, I have encountered numerous people who have spirituality, but do not subscribe to any set religion, many of whom have mentored me in my spiritual path. In searching for actual clergy members who were not affiliated with a particular sect or religion, however, I came up conspicuously empty handed. I found plenty who were more tolerant of different beliefs, but in the end, it seemed that all of them wanted to conduct things according to a set tradition. It had been suggested to me by friends and family members that I become that clergy member that I couldn't find; that I start my own church. I laughed it off, thinking that I couldn't do it, even though that inner voice that we all have had been telling me the same thing for some time by that point. I still didn't listen to that voice even when I started having recurring dreams about being some sort of "spiritual leader". It wasn't until things kept on coming up in my medicine card reading and one of my mentors suggested I may want to do this that I really took a serious look at the option. I am very grateful for being led to this, as this work is fulfilling in a way that no other has ever been. Follow the link for the rest of this story........

For the rest of the story, go to Online Ordination

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Ordination with the Universal Life Church, is free  and lasts for life, so use the button.

As a long time member of ULC, Rev. Long created the seminary site to help train our ministers. We also have a huge catalog of Universal Life Church materials. Many have been ordained with the Universal Life Church for many years and it's Seminary since the beginning and can attest to its ongoing growth and change.

Try our new free toolbar at: ULC Toolbar

Christian Studies

The Reverend Richard Alan Helmersen D.D. The Four Gospels, Final Essay             Although my perception of God has changed through the years, on a personal level, I still find comfort in the notion of God as loving and caring regardless of the way we humans respond to that love.  I began my ministerial career more than thirty years ago with a sermon centered on the parable of the prodigal son, and the story still resonates with me today.  It is a simple illustration of the agape principle of love that requires nothing in return, and we can find practical applications in our life as we relate to others.             Being a parent and a teacher of teenager's tests that principle daily.  Teens are going through great changes and frequently show little consideration toward authority figures or anybody else, yet as parents and teachers we are called to love and understanding regardless of the way our teens treat us.  Jesus' stories are powerful because they are real.  In this story, a young man shows a typical lack of consideration, yet his father allows him the freedom to explore and learn.  There is never a sense of anger, but only one of sadness that his son has chosen a difficult path.  As God loves us regardless of our actions, we need to respond in love rather than anger when our children behave in ways that are not thoughtful.             As is frequently the case with people who have made unwise choices, the young man lost all his money and found himself hungry and doing a job that was unacceptable to a Jew, caring for pigs, which would be considered unclean.  He soon came to his senses and returned to his father, hoping to be employed as a farm laborer, because he knew his father was fair and he would be better off working for him than starving in a foreign country dealing with unclean animals.      As parents, we have to allow bad choices to have their normal consequences, allowing children to make mistakes and pay for those mistakes.  That doesn't mean that we shouldn't give good advice and encouragement, but teens don't always listen to that advice.  We don't know the path of our children and there may be lessons that need to be learned.  After giving the best advice and support we can, we have to turn them over to God.  God took care of the prodigal son and will take care of our children.  When they return to their senses, we need to be there for them as the father in the example was there for his son, and God is there for us.             This story doesn't just apply to us as parents or teachers, but it can apply to all interactions during our busy days.  In everything we do, we need to respond to others in love rather than anger.  If God is personified as love and we are all children of God, every action we take reflects that family relationship.  We are in effect the eyes and ears, mouth, arms and legs, of God.  The Kingdom of God is among us and we are the ones to bring that about.  The only way that the Kingdom of God can become a reality in our lives is for us to behave out of love when responding to those around us who may not remember who they truly are.  When we respond in love, we create a better world.   Shalom.     ********************** Ordination with the Universal Life Church, is free,  and lasts for life, so use the Free Online Ordination, button. The  ULC, run by Rev. Long, has created a chaplaincy program to help train our ministers. We also have a huge catalog of Universal Life Church materials.  I've been ordained with theUniversal Life Church for many years and it's Seminary since the beginning and have loved watching the continual growth of the seminary. Try our new free toolbar at: ULC Toolbar

Spirit Quest

SPIRIT QUEST INSIGHTS

Wow!! Where to begin? This course has helped me in so many ways that I am not sure where to even begin. I have only been "awake" for two years now and I have had wonderful angels to assist me. At the beginning they were human (and even now they are still with me but not to the extent they were at first).

Over the past few months, however, they have been more on a spiritual level. Granted, with this last lesson you mentioned a little more about the Spirit Guides. I guess I really should have asked you to go into more detail about them but time gets away from me and the next thing I knew, we were off on another topic. In any case, I have learned that Archangel Raphael is my special protector as he is the Patron of Healers.

One of the biggest things I have learned from this class is that I am meant to work in the healing arts of some sort. It has been reinforced that I am a Lightworker and recently I feel like I am being led in the direction of being an assistant in Cutting Cords. My Spirit Guides are not only here on this planet, but they also in the Universe and love to take me flying with them. On many of these excursions they have shown me the lovely colors of the Chakras. Even now, however, I still have trouble getting them aligned, remember the order they are in, and what they do. 

Another thing I have had to "deal" with is trying to figure out why you used a rose to blow things up. To me, a rose is a beautiful thing. Why would you want to blow something up that is so perfect? At first when it was time to blow the rose up, I would substitute it with the old fashion, cartoon type of bomb with the fuse sticking out of the top.  

Rev. Carol Mayhall

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Ordination with the Universal Life Church, is free,  and lasts for life, so use the Free Online Ordination, button.

The  ULC, run by Rev. Long, has created a chaplaincy program to help train our ministers. We also have a huge catalog of Universal Life Church materials.  I've been ordained with theUniversal Life Church for many years and it's Seminary since the beginning and have loved watching the continual growth of the seminary.

Try our new free toolbar at: ULC Toolbar

Shamanism

Shamanism Final Exam

Rev. Jean Pagano

            I am not a shaman. I can never really be a shaman. In my opinion, there are two approaches to shamanism. One is to study and appreciate the history, development, and philosophy of the phenomenon called Shamanism. The other is to emulate what shamans do in order to approximate shamanism. The first of these approaches is rather easy – one puts one's mind to it, one does the research, and finally one obtains the knowledge and/or understanding. The latter of the two is much more difficult: how does one emulate a way of life that is so deeply entwined within a particular culture? By way of analogy, does a person become a Native American by emulating one? I do not think so.

            The term Paleo-Siberian, when relating to the Koryak and the Chukchee peoples, tells the whole of the story. The term "Paleo" suggests a prehistoric or early context. Paleo-Siberian shamanism is the earliest and simplest form of shamanism, and perhaps the purest form. Simple does not indicate simple-minded, but an uncomplicated approach. Shamanism is an animist religion which believes that everything is imbued with spirit and it is the shaman's job to interact with the spirits. This interaction is used to heal, to portend, and to guide.

            The shaman heals by interacting with the spirits in a non-ordinal reality. This non-ordinal reality is entered either by trance, by hallucinogenic drugs, or in a dream state. While in the non-ordinal reality, the shaman can see and reach the spirits that are causing illness or harm in an organism. The shaman can speak with the spirits that are at the root of the problem or the shaman may also extricate them from the individual that is being healed. The methodologies that the shaman employs are handed down from shaman to shaman across the many generations.

     The shaman may also portend the future. By entering into non-ordinal reality, once again, the shaman will use his/her relationship with the spirits to learn about the outcomes of some situation in this world. There is no guidebook for this interaction, but the shaman, over time, either learns to interpret these events, or has an a priori understanding of what is seen in the spirit world.  

            The shaman also acts as a guide – both in this world and in the spirit world. The shaman acts as a spirit counselor. A person may come to the shaman with a question about issues that are not related to health or to future events. The shaman then consults with the spirit world and gains an understanding of the situation and reports it back to the person seeking advice. Additionally, there may be occasions when spirits are lost, in this world or the next, and the shaman acts as a guide, helping them to find where they need to be.

            While these skills may not necessarily be unique to Paleo and Neo-Siberians, the approach and methodology is related to their culture. This is not to say that shamanism may not be found in other cultures – it surely is pan-cultural using different names – but, the approach used by the Paleo and Neo-Siberians is unique and has arisen in reaction to cultural paradigms and approaches that have developed over many generations. This is evident in the successions of shamans that are found in Neo-Siberian lineages where shamans are considered true shamans after nine generations of blacksmiths. Sadly, with the advent of modern technology and a distancing from traditional ways, I would venture to guess that the number of blacksmiths, shamans, and especially shamans that are blacksmiths, has greatly diminished.

            While I have voiced skepticism concerning the fact that one may just become a shaman, especially the New Age variety, I do believe that some may find themselves called to shamanism, especially if they experience the same events that gave rise to shamans in traditional cultures. I do believe that becoming a shaman is in response to a calling, not a desire. Shamanism seems to have developed in closely proximity to the natural world and must be exceptionally hard to manage in an industrialized or urban environment – in fact, it may be basically impossible to undertake and maintain in such an environment.

            This course is an exceptional course. I felt from the very beginning that perhaps the information presented over many of the twenty weeks was culled from a doctoral dissertation because of the in-depth analysis and scholarship of not only the material, but of the sources. I came into this course not knowing what to expect. I leave this course with a wealth of information that I will refer to time and again. This is truly a first-rate course and I would recommend it highly to anyone who is curious about shamanism from a scholarly perspective.

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Ordination with the Universal Life Church, is free,  and lasts for life, so use the Free Online Ordination, button.

As a long time member of ULC, Rev. Long created the seminary site to help train our ministers. We also have a huge catalog of Universal Life Church materials.  I've been ordained with the Universal Life Church for many years and it's Seminary since the beginning and have loved watching the continual growth of the seminary.

Try our new free toolbar at: ULC Toolbar

Spirit Quest

Spirit Quest Review

I just finished the final module in the Spirit Quest Course and I feel enlightened, free and a bit more prepared to face the world in to which I have been reborn.  The mission I have been assigned to complete has been elusive, but at this time clarity has been bestowed upon me. After my first near death experience there was an abundance of confusion, my thought processes were almost abstract. I had a sense of what happened but could not find relevance for my life. You see I had never been a religious person; until the age of maybe thirteen, I was raised as a catholic. I attended church services infrequently but I did complete the childhood sacraments christening, first Holy Communion and confirmation. Christmas was always special and even at a young age there was a distinct feeling within that was far more than just the enjoyment of being gifted with all of the worldly delights of a child. There was one more special time of the year when I would actually attend mass and other ceremonies namely The Stations of the Cross, which were celebrated during the Lenten season before Easter. During the Stations of the Cross I would again sense something very enjoyable and comforting and it was deep. I realize today that it was a very Spiritual sensation. 

I think my confusion stemmed from the discourse I had felt while attending mass on Sundays and the classes I needed to attend to complete the sacrament of confirmation. By this time I had developed the cognitive abilities to Question. The things that I questioned the most were the way the Church (Catholic) would change the rules in mid stream to suit their needs. The time was the 1960's there were a lot of changes going on in the world and here in the United States. Technology was at its birth stage, television was more readily affordable for more of the population. The drug culture was in proliferation and people were getting busy with things other than going to Sunday Mass, at least that was the way it was for Catholics. This may sound petty maybe even a bit insincere but believe me this was the onset of my discourse with the Catholic Church and organized religion as a whole. Scenario, census in the Catholic Church had been dropping off for month's maybe even years; during this time the Church decided they could re-write Gospel and church law to suit their needs. While I was growing up we were prohibited from eating meat on Friday now this may sound trivial but it was profound to me. All of a sudden, it's fine now we can eat meat on Friday. They changed God's law. What Spirit Quest did for me, was to bring my focus back to my own spirituality and made me realize that God lives in me and even though I am more tolerant now of organized religion (I just opened Port St. Lucie Church of Spiritual Enlightenment) fully operational and all the legalities covered and Incorporated. So thanks to this course I obtained the strength to forge ahead. So from the very first lesson it was stated "Overcome the roadblocks that keep you from reaching your goals".  I found things in every lesson that helped me overcome my roadblocks. 

Thank You,

Rev Glendon Ricker

Pastor, Port St. Lucie Church of Spiritual Enlightenment

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Ordination with the Universal Life Church, is free,  and lasts for life, so use the Free Online Ordination, button.

As a long time member of ULC, Rev. Long created the seminary site to help train our ministers. We also have a huge catalog of Universal Life Church materials.  I've been ordained with the Universal Life Church for many years and it's Seminary since the beginning and have loved watching the continual growth of the seminary.

Try our new free toolbar at: ULC Toolbar

Universal Life Church

Blessed Day to you Sister Amy, I am thrilled that I have finally been able to enroll in ULC's Doctor of Religious Humanities course. I ordered it last night and eagerly await the material so I may get started. It's been over a year and a half since becoming Ordained and I feel Blessed at finally being able to financially afford this (and two more courses later!!) as one of my father's last wishes. I was elated that he had made a small fund available to me for the sole purpose of enrolling in ULC courses. Even though he was a devout, ordained Evangelical Pastor, I was honored to get his verbal blessing for this only days before he passed. It was an awesome gift that we were able to share our individual beliefs with each other without any condemnation or "right way" speeches he was so famous for in the past. Our communing in this manner is the best, and most honored, gift I have ever received from him or my parents. I even look past it being so late in his Life and will cherish this for the remainder of mine. Anyway, I suppose I digress due to my light heart and fulfilling experience! I recently found the ULC message boards and have spent hours reading the posts and that way getting to know some of our Membership. I knew this segment of communication was there, I simply neglected getting to involved until I could contribute more and was able to enroll in some sort of course within the ULC educational channels. I have benefited greatly from the course samples you have faithfully sent me and truly appreciate that opportunity to participate. I believe I informed you awhile back that it was Dr. Hensley's little church on 3rd Street in Modesto that turned my life around some 30 years ago. I plan on writing a short introduction/bio including this little tid-bit for the Membership soon. I do truly enjoy the message boards and find it a wonderful means for members to fully explore any given topic. The MSN group my wife and I formed was great when everyone got together on PalTalk, but the message boards always seemed to be where we got into the meat and potatoes of any issue as we were able to respond at will. Attached is a little piece of artwork I was inspired to draw up last night and I would like to offer it to the ULC Membership as a customary thing I do. Naturally it is offered copyright permissions granted and free for all ULC members to use, download or copy. While Wanda and I lived on Maui I spent a great deal of time with local artists, shaman and healers. There is a simplistic beauty in Polynesian art and I genuinely put my mind and heart into learning the make up of this medium. The picture for ULC is representative of the bounty of the Earth (aina) the blessings of the sky and sun (ka) and the many wonders of the sea (kai) and how important our belief in Spirit (mana/manau ke nui) is towards living a fulfilled and joyous Life. The wind bars send us towards a blessed future and the enclosure line represents our community of good folks which "Do only that which is right".  I didn't want to just post it without running it by someone on staff first and to be honest I'm a bit "new fangled thang challenged" when it comes to more than copy and paste! So if you wouldn't mind please offer this up to the Membership on my behalf (My Thanks in advance) .....ORRRRR......you could get Murph or someone that knows what's going on to help me do it the first time (I am a quick study and I usually only need one or two lessons on such things. And of course, if you feel its best I don't poet it at all, I completely understand and respect ULC's regulations (if there are some) on these type requests. Blessings of Peace and may your Path be filled with Light, Dave "Rev. Al" Kjono ******************** Ordination with the Universal Life Church, is free,  and lasts for life, so use the Free Online Ordination, button. As a long time member of ULC, Rev. Long created the seminary site to help train our ministers. We also have a huge catalog of Universal Life Church materials.  I've been ordained with the Universal Life Church for many years and it's Seminary since the beginning and have loved watching the continual growth of the seminary. Try our new free toolbar at: ULC Toolbar

Religious Philosophy

Master of Religious Philosophy Final Essay

By Rev. Patricia Buben

The Master of Religious Philosophy is a great class.  It describes what religion is, how it developed historically, and even discusses a study in which religiosity can be viewed as genetic in nature.  I loved the definition of religious legitimacy.  Basically it says 'although a religion may seem obnoxious or illogical to some, it need not be acceptable, logical, consistent, or comprehensible to others in order to be considered legitimate'.  In other words, you can open up any kind of a church you want and it is legitimate. 

The course goes on to describe how to identify cult.  Essentially, most anthropologists adhere to a 'five point system' in determining whether or not a specific group — religious or otherwise — should be classified as a cult. These five points can be presented in the form of questions about the group. These are:

·         Does the group have a charismatic, powerful leader (or leaders)?

·         Does it display a group mentality that denies individuality and personal, independent thought?

·         Is there a denial of intimacy by excluding or alienating friends and relatives?

·         Do they apply financial pressure and abuse for the welfare of the group, even at the personal expense of the adherent?

·         Is there a separation and isolation from the surrounding community?

The more affirmative answers you get, the more likely the group is to be a cult.  Unfortunately, many conservative religions will call others "cults" simply because they don't like the other religion.

There are approximately 5,000 different religions in the world today.   So, how do they differ?  Some ways in which they can differ are by:

·         Myth;

·         Doctrine (dogma);

·         Scripture; and,

·         Sacred Space.

Although there are many religions out there and a lot of variation, it inevitably means that humans are looking to connect with God in some way and develop a sense of communion with something greater than themselves.  I like the course because it presents so much data.  You can research it, believe what you want and take what makes sense.  In summary, there is a lot of information presented and the author does a great job in making it as objective as possible.

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Ordination with the Universal Life Church, is free,  and lasts for life, so use the Free Online Ordination, button.

As a long time member of ULC, Rev. Long created the seminary site to help train our ministers. We also have a huge catalog of Universal Life Church materials.  I've been ordained with the Universal Life Church for many years and it's Seminary since the beginning and have loved watching the continual growth of the seminary.

Try our new free toolbar at: ULC Toolbar

Buddhism

Master of Buddhism by Rev. Nitza L. Melgar

When I think of life and it's meaning, I picture myself on the top of a very tall mountain.  I stand there alone, overlooking the clouds that float slowly beneath me.  I see the birds flying freely to their next destination down below.  I am at the very point where the world ends and eternity begins.

There, there way down below the clouds, live the humans.  Those beings, I am suppose to love and care for without constraint.

I stand dressed in a white hooded robe.  No markings at all, as to indicate my station.  My body is entirely covered, so my gender is not known, the color of my skin is hidden.  My face, deep inside the white hood, is invisible.  Here, I ponder, the question, regarding what I must do, to reach enlightenment?

I must empty myself.  Disappear, if you will.  I must love every living creature, as it is and not as I would like it to be.  I must erase all anger, resentment, or feeling of hatred towards anyone.

I must walk away from all I have, and think more of others  than myself.

I must dissolve myself and become part of the oneness that is humanity.

I am not black, white or any color.  I am not male or female.  I am not rich or poor.  I am not tall or short.  I am open to all things.  Accepting all things as part of the greater picture, the tapestry that is life.

This, to me, is what Buddha, Christ and all those like them were trying to teach us.  There is something greater than ourselves that rules all things.  We must become less, in order to become more.  It is only in dying to oneself, that one can live.  It is only in reaching out to others, that we can receive.

We must accept ourselves, just as we are and strive continuously to do good.   It is only in emptying yourself that you can become a vessel.  A vessel to be filled with love, and selflessness.

The more I read the teachings of Buddha, the more I realize, how similar they are to Jesus teachings in the New Testament.  It has been said, "that there is nothing new under the Sun."  I began to think about this, and try to see why this happened.  It seems to me, that whenever the world becomes full of anger, war and violence,teachers such as Buddha, Jesus Christ, Mohamed and others would come and remind us what the True Path should be for us to follow.

In our lifetime, people like Martin Luther King, tried to do the same thing.   If we stray from the Path, we will be damned to relive our mistakes.  I do believe in reincarnation and I do believe a soul returns over and over till he gets it right.  To me enlightenment is the only Path to Ascension and eternal reunion with the essence from which we came.

I thoroughly enjoyed this course and highly recommend it to other ministers.   Thank for this opportunity to learn and share ideas.

God Bless,

Rev. Nitza L. Melgar ULC Minister,SBT

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Ordination with the Universal Life Church, is free,  and lasts for life, so use the Free Online Ordination, button.

As a long time member of ULC, Rev. Long created the seminary site to help train our ministers. We also have a huge catalog of Universal Life Church materials.  I've been ordained with the Universal Life Church for many years and it's Seminary since the beginning and have loved watching the continual growth of the seminary.

Try our new free toolbar at: ULC Toolbar

Paganism

 The first thing to understand about my religion is that it focuses on the worship of and belief in the Gods and their place in the cosmos in relation to us. Every one of us is a potential God. Consider yourself God Larva; your body a temple or battlefield. The Gods are our Teachers and the narratives about them, a lesson to be learned. As with the Gods, what you do in this life echoes in eternity, if you do nothing the memory of you will fade; if you do great noteworthy deeds the memory of you will live for all time.

My belief centers on my ancestors' Gods, the Gods of the Cruithne the indigenous peoples of Western Europe before the Romans invaded the land. I being by nature a skeptical person have researched and pondered the controversy of the old ways for quite some time. I found the answer to the controversy, for myself at least.

            The methods and mechanisms of the Gods are done. What is left is for us. What I mean by the previous statement is that the future of our creed is left up to us. The Gods may lend help to us but it is best for us to develop our own strengths and find a cure for our own weaknesses. The Gods and your Family may lend aid, but it is you who ultimately need to evolve.

            In respect and reverence for the Gods, we honor the holidays and festivals apportioned to them so they will not forget our existence. Every God has his or her own holidays, the ceremonies and rites of which have been written down for centuries in the mythological cycles. The holidays are based on some action of the God the holiday honors. These actions are presented in the narratives detailing the Gods' time on this world. Every clan and culture of the Cruithne had its own Oral Tradition, but the generalizations in all those traditions are so similar as to be from one larger Celtic culture. For instance, the tales of the deeds of the Gods I tell my children are slightly different from the written versions popularized, but the outcome is the same. I have come to realize the importance of written language and urge anyone if they have an oral tradition to write it down, even publish it, to save your culture.

The pattern of ceremony and festivals honoring the Gods follow the wheel of the year, every holiday in its season and every God honored in his or her holiday.  Blessings are given by the Gods on special occasions and life changing events via the Priesthood. Geases and Divinations are also relayed through the Gods via the priesthood. A Gease is a Taboo that is given to an individual, and should be given at about age thirteen. This builds character, during youngsters' truly formative years.

The religion also gives respect and proper attention to what is known as "The Seventh Son of The Seventh Son" That is to say that any child or person who bares special physical and paranormal gifts in this world, although they may be a lay person, shall be mentored by the priesthood, to channel and hone those special qualities and to lend the schooling of the priesthood to the subject. Therefore a person with these special qualities would always be versed in the ways of the priesthood and carries the office of a priest but may choose a non priestly life. Many Cruithne Demi-Gods have grown in this way, CuChullian for example was reared for his special qualities by Scartchach the warrior priestess.  

        The Priesthood was known to the Celts in history as Druids, as it is in our priesthood. The priest must be versed in the Oral tradition, Law keeping and judgments, Medicinal studies (herbal and First aid (tribal) Horticulture, Zoology, Metaphysics, Astrology and preside over marriages, blessings, birthings, holiday ceremony, sacred ritual and sacrifice, as well as maintain the sites held to be holy and sacred. Weather or not a given Priest is a magic (magick) practitioner is a personal choice and His or her school of Magic (magick) should not affect the function as a priest, although belief in "Magic" in the Religion is very common.  

               

               Although my religion may contain Wiccans in its midst, the religion itself is not Wiccanism. This is Paleo-Paganism.

               "The Carnyx sounded upon the felling of Nuada, and it stirred Lugh from his Domain in the underworld and mounting his steed; out he strode to aid of the Tuatha De Dannan. To the East the Fomorians' felt the Sun sear the flesh on there backs and it was as the first rising of the sun for those who dwelt in the darkness and the first blessed dawn for those who defended against them"

Rev. Russell L Lamerson.

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As a long time member of ULC, Rev. Long created the seminary site to help train our ministers. We also have a huge catalog of Universal Life Church materials.  I've been ordained with the Universal Life Church for many years and it's Seminary since the beginning and have loved watching the continual growth of the seminary.

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Christian Studies

Unvarnished Gospels

End Of Course Essay

Rev. Nick Federspiel

God's Country Fellowship Church

The course is a good chapter review of the four Gospels and valuable to people not well acquainted with them; to others it provides an interesting point of view.

First, I must say that the Andy Gaus' The Unvarnished Gospels translation is a bit "unique" to be polite, but there are so many translations these days.  I reference the KVJ and the NKJV and when I want to speed read I use the Today's English Version of the Good News Bible.  At first I did not think I would use the Gaus version in the future, but on reflecting perhaps it is good Sermon food.  I especially will never forget the paraphrase "canon-lawyers" which in the GNV is "teachers of the law."  It is indeed these canon-lawyers that failed to understand the long term consequences of their own actions – as many lawyers also fail at today.

Secondly, the course identifies some of the inconsistencies and reporting details and styles between the four Gospels such as in lesson 6: "Also, in this book, Jesus carries his own cross, where in the book of Luke, someone else carries it for him."  Indeed in the other three books Simon at some point carries the cross (i.e. Matthew 27:32, Mark 15:21 and Luke 23:26).  These apparent inconsistencies together with several others in the Holy Bible some inflate as errors that today's canon lawyers use to discredit the Bible.  In my view such trivia is irrelevant to His message yet in a way suggests that the stories are true indeed.  What if all four gospels, all books of the Bible, read alike?  Would you believe them as independently authored from witnesses to wars, miracles, and one crisis after another?  I would not.  I would conclude all four gospels were all the same as suggested by the "Q" book theory – another "missing book" assumed to be the four gospels reference text.  There is nothing like a shelf of missing books to argue over the Bible, if one is prone to such; as in my view that is a waste of intellectual time otherwise better spent.  The point is the message.  And the message to the irate and foolish fanatical Pharisees of the future is: "What goes around indeed comes around – just wait it out."

One gospel message few pause to reflect upon is, I think, that the fanatic Pharisees were fools of the highest order.  They did about the only thing they could that would create the genesis of Christianity.  Assumed to be well acquainted with the old writings, which Josephus states were indeed in the temple, one would think common sense would have restrained them from compliance with the prophets.  They did not believe, as the Apostles even doubted, that such a thing as a resurrection could be or indeed was (Matthew 28:17, Mark 16:14 GNV).  Such doubt does not give much support to the concept that the brave disciples (sic), who coward at being associated with Christ (Matthew 26:74), later challenged the Roman guards for a dead body to steal away in the night or concocted an exceptional act of flawless deception as suggested in the Bloodline of the Holy Grail.  

The lessons of history suggest that a whipping, banishment or exile and just about anything else the canon-lawyers could have impressed upon Pilate, now suddenly a friend with Herod (Luke23:12), would have ended for all of history any thought of the man Jesus, the "Christ," being the Messiah of the Torah.  Instead the canon-lawyers helped Pilate initiate his and Herod's demise along with three centuries of political turmoil for Rome resulting in Rome decreeing Christianity. 

The Unvarnished Gospel page 66 says:  " … can we remember how the fraud said while alive, "I will RISE up after three days."  So order (Pilate) the grave to be guarded until the third day so the students (of Jesus the fraud) don't come and steal him …..Pilate said to them "YOU have custody… so they went their way and stationed a guard around the grave and marked the stone with a sign IN CUSTODY."  What is missing from most analysis of the four gospels is: what were they thinking!  BUT thank God for those canon-lawyers!  Amen.

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Ordination with the Universal Life Church, is free,  and lasts for life, so use the Free Online Ordination, button.

As a long time member of ULC, Rev. Long created the seminary site to help train our ministers. We also have a huge catalog of Universal Life Church materials.  I've been ordained with the Universal Life Church for many years and it's Seminary since the beginning and have loved watching the continual growth of the seminary.

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Spiritual Awareness

Essay for completion of Dr. Of Spiritual Awareness

Rev. Anne Marie Brooks

The course was very well written.  It was organized and flowed well. The lessons all went together each supporting the one before and after. The course seemed to easily fit in spiritual development and psychic development. It supported very well the information I have learned in my para-psychic science. They validate each one very well. There some things already knew from previous work but there were also some aspects that went deeper than I had previously.

I thoroughly enjoyed the ideas about Karma as a teacher, and souls having lifetimes. Reincarnation allows us the luxury of learning the lessons we missed the last time around, and paying off past karmic debts.  The use of active versus passive mediation helps people know there really is no way to do it incorrectly.  The different types of mediation such as visualizations, soul trip with your guardian angel and regression mediation, which as he describes it sounds much, like self-hypnosis.  I agreed with his perception of good and evil and how important it is to know yourself.

Clairvoyance, telepathy, guardian angels and Reiki spirit guides ring true to me in that I find these perceptions in all the studying I've done. As a Reiki Master Teacher, I loved his description of the Chakras and colors as these are incorporated in to energy healing sessions I do. Once he notes that we are "child of Divine Creator", which reminded me some much of the part in the Desiderata that states, "You are a child of the Universe…"

Finding your own answers is frequently done by learning and trying other religions and he suggests the use of a mentor. From my lifetime and just plain common sense there are good people in any religion and bad people in any religion, which is why it is so important to know yourself and listen to your intuition.  You have all the answers in you if you will just listen and be aware of signs around you.

We also get guidance from spirit guides, guardian angels, ascended masters and animal spirit guides.  I enjoyed and appreciated his discussion on high spirits versus low spirits.  That is a point not made often enough.

In the chapters, that deal with the Laws, I will only comment on the one's I either hadn't heard of it before or disagree with or did quite "get". Most of the laws have been part of my training with either Reiki or parapsychic science. The law of cycles made sense but maybe too much. It just seemed like good old plain common sense. I didn't quite under his description of the Law Of Gender. In his explanation of the Law of God Will, I found myself thinking it was much like Albert Ellis' work on Rational Emotive Therapy. Beliefs cause filling, feeling cause behavior therefore if your belief is faulty than it is likely that your actions/behaviors will be wrong and not in anyone's best interest. The Law of Lotus didn't remind me of anything I'd read elsewhere and seemed to be vaguely described for to agree or disagree. I would have to say that all in all the laws he discusses I agree with and for the part have become familiar with in other areas of study. This made me feel good in that it validated previous learning.

The discussion on Ley lines was nice to see. He explains it well and how to protect yourself as well letting you know you can always call for help from guides, Archangel Michael and the use of a mirror. This was good information and area where I believe I can never have too many ways to help people know how to protect themselves if necessary. He explains Kundalini , prana, the I AM presence in terms that are easily understandable and again fit nicely with other teachings I've had. In the chapter, in which he discusses the 7 rays, their colors etc. was much like the chakras. His description of how each ascended master is associated to each color and virtue was the perfect way to wrap up the course. Although I knew a lot of this before the course I learned so much more and I must add I love the way he writes. It is down to earth and often quite humorous.

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Ordination with the Universal Life Church, is free,  and lasts for life, so use the Free Online Ordination, button.

As a long time member of ULC, Rev. Long created the seminary site to help train our ministers. We also have a huge catalog of Universal Life Church materials.  I've been ordained with the Universal Life Church for many years and it's Seminary since the beginning and have loved watching the continual growth of the seminary.

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Spirit Quest

Spirit Quest   Master of Metaphysics Final Essay Nannette As you read on, you might get a sick feeling in the bottom of your stomach, if might even make you feel sorry for me, I just ask you not to feel sorry for me.  I, nor anyone else can change what happened to me. I just hope that maybe it can help some else who has gone through it to know that they are not alone. Setting spiritual, emotional and physical goals at first seemed really easy.  I looked at it and said, "No problem, I can do it."  Well, I was wrong, it was not that easy for me.  There was one thing that seems to stop me right in my tracks, "FORGIVENESS". I am a very semi person, but with certain things I am very private.  What you are about to read is not easy for me to tell people.  In the end people needs to hear my story and maybe it can help others. Forgiveness was a very hard thing for me to do.  There has been certain things in my life that have happened to me that were very bad have affected my life in many different ways.  Because of it, I have found it very hard to forgive certain people. Here is my story: (just the basic of it); As a young child we went to church at least 2 to 3 times a week for church activities during the week and than Sunday School on Sunday mornings followed by worship service in the after noon and than praise meeting in the evening.  For the praise meetings my mother would drop my sister and I off at church and than go and pick up a few of the men from the men social (which is part of our church).  After some period of time my mother started inviting one of the men over to our house for dinner and whatever else, soon after that they started dating.  That is where it all started, he would tell me that he loved me and that I was like a daughter to him.  When I was in bed he would come in to say good night to me, and ask me if I wanted to play a game, I said sure (especially if it got me to stay up a little longer), he said that it was a special game between him and me, and not to tell anyone.  He started to touch me over my under pants, as days, weeks and even months went by he would come in my room at night and said that we were going to play our special game but a little different, during the game he took my under wear off and did more than just touching.  As time went by and things started to change, my mother married him and then our little game changed as well.  The so-called game was also done while I was taking a bath, and in his bed, as time went on the rules of the game changed to where I had to touch him also.  When I started to develop, his game changed again, this time he told me that if I told anyone then he would hurt me really bad and that I had to play his game just how he wanted it because when you love someone that is what you do.  He started to force himself on  me everyday, sometimes more than once a day, as I got a little older and told him that I didn't want to play the game anymore he would beat me with his belt and force me to play the game anyways.  I can't tell you how many times I cried myself to sleep, and how bad I wanted to tell some one, but I was too afraid that he would hurt me worse than what he was already doing, or was hoping that someone would figure out that something was wrong, but no one did.  I found out later in my adult life and after my grandfather death that my grandparents figured it out but said nothing because they thought that my mother allowed it.  During 90% of it, my mother was at home while he was doing all of this to me, and it went on for several years. The day that I turned 19, I was walking home from my mother's house I was attacked and the guy forced me to have sex with him.  I was still in school and due to graduate that June,  so I told one of my foster mothers what happened and she told my other foster mother and foster father (no I wasn't in a foster home, these people helped me with my school work when I had a problem, they were there when I had no one to turn to), they said that it was wrong and it was called rape, so somehow I got the courage and told them about what my than ex-step father had been doing to me. I had to break the silence.  My foster father told my mother, she said that it never happened and took his side of it. Things got to the point that I even tried to take my own life twice. It affected my life so bad and in so many different ways; I became afraid of men. I didn't trust anyone. I couldn't stand to be touched, not even a hug or a handshake. He took my youth away from me. I couldn't have a real relationship with a man. I had bad dreams and night terrors and relived it all in my dreams to the point that I reverted to sucking my thumb in my sleep and didn't even know that I was doing it. I was afraid that he was going to hurt me worse because I told and he was already at that time looking for us and trying to get back with my mother. When I was around 20 years old I ran into an old friend, who was looking for my brother.  I knew at that moment that I was going to marry him, but there was a little problem, I was afraid of men, I didn't trust anymore and I couldn't stand to be touched, so how was I going to be able to have a relationship with him -- let alone marry him.  As it turned out, he knew at that moment that he was going to marry me also.  Just from talking with him he new something was wrong.  One day everything started to change; I was jumped at my brother's house by a group of people, and had to go to the hospital.  When I got back to my brother's house I hid in a corner and didn't want to come out.  I was afraid that the people were going to come back and I had no idea as to who they were.  My brother went and got Jon and told him what happened.   He came to my brother's house to get me and to make sure that I was ok and said that he would protect me.  I started to trust him and I told him what my ex-step father did to me.  He was mad; he knew my ex-step father and he understood why I was afraid even of him.  Jon and I did get married, and we have 3 children that lived, we lost 5 children (some were twins), because of the several tears of being raped and sexually abused, my children had to be born by c-section.  I was not able to have a baby the natural way.  My mother asked the doctor if it was because of being sexually abused and they told her yes, that because of it my insides are messed up.  At that point my mother knew that I didn't make it up, but at the same time she didn't even say that she was sorry for not believing me. Through the years, my husband has been there for me and has helped me through the bad dreams and the night terrors.  There were times that I would wake up screaming yelling for him to leave me alone thinking that it was my ex-step father touching me, when it was just Jon putting his arm around me.  It was a long process that I had to go through to get to where I am today. I could not forgive my mother for awhile but as time went on I was able to forgive her, as for my ex-step father I could not completely forgive him, he also took away my feelings, my freedom. The most reminder that I had was that I couldn't be completely intimate with my husband.  To me, there is a difference between having sex and making love.  Through the years I always said we don't have sex, we make love to each other, but in fact it was just sex.  I couldn't even make love to the man that I love with all of my heart, and that made me mad to the point that I could not forgive my ex-step father for what he did to me.  My hubby and I just had our 23rd. Wedding annv., we have been together for almost 24 years, and  we have known each other for almost 43 years. Through a friend, a man that my husband works with told him about a friend of his that is a minister (plays the same on-line game that we all play), whose group was having a Thanksgiving Outreach.  My husband told me about it, our one daughter met me there, I really enjoyed it to the point that I have continued to go on Fridays.  The minister is a very awesome man.  I have at many times gone to him and talked about different things that were happening in my family, like the surgery that my husband had, and some of the others that he has to have later on.  I also talked with him in the game that we all play.  I asked him a simple question: how can someone really truly forgive someone who could rape and continue to rape a child almost everyday for several years?  His answer was simple: if you are a true Christian, you than can forgive him. I had to think about what he said to me for several days, yes it took me several days to go over in my mind back to the day when my hubby and I started to date until now.  I had to take a long hard look at how my life was affected by what happened to me and how it has affected the sexual part of our relationship.  I didn't really have any feelings or emotions while we were intimate with each other.  Sometimes when I don't know things do change, I am happy to say that I am able to make love to and with my hubby and to have him make love to me.  I am not afraid to let a male shake my hand, or even to give me a hug. The most important thing is that because I am able to feel again, that I am not afraid anymore of males or even my ex-step father (I don't trust him, and I don't ever want him around my children or grand children) and I can truly know what it is like to love again and to be loved no matter if it just a love between friends, a love between wife and husband, or even a love that we share while being intimate with each other.  I also have my freedom, to say no when I don't want to be intimate and don't have to worry about getting beat and than being forced to do it anyways.  From this somehow I was able to forgive and didn't even know that I had.  I would not have known it, if wasn't for my minister, my friend to open my eyes, my heart and to make me take a good hard look at it to make me realized that I did forgive my ex-step father.  I know that one day he will have to answer to God for what he did to me. What makes a person do sick things like that to anyone but especially to a child is beyond me.  I know now that it was not my fault, and that I didn't do anything wrong to deserve what he did to me. I thank God for bringing Jim, the guy from my husband work into our lives, because through him God brought Tony, at first I knew him as Rahammer (his toon in the on-line game that we all play) into our lives, into my life, other wise I would not have known that I did forgive him.  Seeing that I forgave him, I can forgive myself for not breaking the silence when I was a child.  Now I know that I can forgive anyone that did or might in the future do wrong to me. As you could just tell forgiveness was a really huge problem for me and I just ask that you understand how hard it was for me.  I believe that God knew it was a problem, and for some reason only he knows why it took me this long to realize that I did and can forgive.  I don't know if what has happened to me was in Gods plans, but I believe that God did have in his plans for me to meet Jim, Tony and his wife Joy and others in his group.  To say the least somewhere in mine and my hubby life our paths had already crossed, don't know where, and don't know when but they have.  It was and is hard at times for me to tell my story, therefore I  thank you for reading my story, I know it is long, and I am not sorry for it being long.  My story has to be told, it might just help someone else who has gone through something like it themselves.  I know that I am still healing from it, and I know that it does not run my life.  The most important thing is that I can trust others and I can trust God.  I can feel and have emotions again and I can FORGIVE.   ******************** Ordination with the Universal Life Church, is free,  and lasts for life, so use the Free Online Ordination, button. As a long time member of ULC, Rev. Long created the seminary site to help train our ministers. We also have a huge catalog of Universal Life Church materials.  I've been ordained with the Universal Life Church for many years and it's Seminary since the beginning and have loved watching the continual growth of the seminary. Try our new free toolbar at: ULC Toolbar