The solemnization of marriages by Universal Life Church ministers has generated disagreement among many in the legal community in recent decades. Each state in the union has a slightly different set of rules about who has the authority to perform marriages. Few states’ statutes on marriages have been as hotly contested, however, as the state Read More

Remember that the attorney general opinion listed below refers to the ULC of Modesto, CA and NOT the ULC Monastery, but that the opinion is equally applicable to both organizations as well as all other branches of the ULC. Emphasis in the below text is added. Attorney General Opinion Background [Unknown, though Mr. Johnson presumably Read More

New York federal court of appeals rules DOMA unconstitutional The Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), the proposed federal legislation that would make it illegal for same-sex couples across the country to marry, was ruled unconstitutional by a U.S. federal appeals court in the State of New York on Oct. 18. This ruling comes a couple Read More

Introduction to the ULC Name Change Guide The Universal Life Church Monastery ordains more ministers than any other online church. This is mostly due to the fact that the ULC encourages people of all religious beliefs (and even some people that are not religious) to become ordained ministers online through them. Due to their mission Read More

Case Background Rocco J. Ranieri appealed the decision of a Suffolk County, New York court to award Rae B. Ranieri with $500 in pendente lite relief, which is an alimony amount awarded before divorce proceedings have ended to a party in need of financial support, on December 18 1987. Rocco Ranieri was also ordered to Read More

Please note: this court case pertains to the ULC of Modesto, CA and not the Universal Life Church Monastery of Seattle, WA. The latter’s has never had issues with the IRS or any government agency over taxes. Case Background In the case of the Universal Life Church v. The United States of America, the Universal Read More

Case Background On August 17, 1988, Nadine Fortenberry challenged the will of her late husband, Cobert C. Blackwell. The will left property and a portion of his estate to Blackwell’s first wife, who was deceased by that time. The siblings of Cobert Blackwell, led by Mary Ella B. Magee, claimed that Fortenberry and the deceased Read More

Case Background In the case of Ravenal v. Ravenal, Richard S. Ravenal asked the Supreme Court of New York County for an annulment of his marriage to Cathy Linton Ravenal on the grounds that the individual who solemnized the marriage was not authorized to do so. Cathy Linton Ravenal appeared in court but did not Read More

Case Background On August 14, 1997 the Universal Life Church took the United States of America to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals arguing that the automatic stay provision of bankruptcy law had been violated in the case of the Universal Life Church vs. the United States of America. The automatic stay provision provides that Read More

Case Background On March 5, 1985, Lynn Stone Fulton appealed the Superior Court of Orange County, North Carolina decision in the case Fulton vs. Vickery. Lynn Fulton charged Charles E. Vickery and the Universal Life Church, Inc (an organization unaffiliated with the original ULC of Modesto, CA that Vickery was a member of) of having Read More