Case Background This case concerned Jason B. O’Neill and Jennifer R. O’Neill as they submitted to the Court of Common Please of Bucks County, PA for a decision regarding the validity of their marriage. They had been married by a minister who was ordained by the Universal Life Church. The court had to decide whether Read More

Case Background In 1974 a group of ministers ordained by the Universal Life Church had their rights to conduct marriage ceremonies taken away by the Circuit Court of Richmond, VA. This group of ministers, named under M.A. Cramer in the case, appealed the decision in the U.S. Supreme Court, asking it to rule that any Read More

A common misconception about the Universal Life Church is that it is a scam, a ruse meant to make money for unscrupulous “church” leaders. Online ministry naysayers frequently claim that ordinations acquired over the internet and without any formal religious training must be invalid and not legally recognized, or that organizations like the ULC are Read More

On Monday, Wojdan Shaherkani walked alongside her father through the Olympic judo venue. The sixteen-year old girl wore a light-pink scarf wrapped around her head. She moved with hesitation, hoping that she would come away from the Olympics as a pioneer and not a casualty of diplomacy. Her fears are not necessarily unfounded. Ms. Shaherkani Read More

Ministers of the Universal Life Church Monastery, and other men and women who have become legally ordained online, will now have their ordinations recognized by Knox County, Tennessee. This means that those who have received their minister’s license through the ULC will now be able to perform weddings in the Volunteer State. This is a Read More

A new bill has been proposed in the state of South Dakota in which the legal definition of “justifiable homicide” may include any killings that are done in order to prevent the harm or death of a fetus. This would mean that doctors who perform abortions could be legally killed. The legislation, House Bill 1171, Read More

Wheaton College is a small, liberal arts college located in the Midwestern United States. It is also an evangelical Protestant college with strong religious views. Last Wednesday, the college filed a law suit, under the auspices of the Catholic University of America, opposing President Obama’s new health care plan mandate that requires all schools, charities Read More

Many left-leaning religious leaders are already speaking out against the proliferation of guns in America following the violence that occurred in the early hours of the morning on Friday, July 20 in Aurora, Colorado when James Holmes, 24, walked into a movie theater there and opened fire. In the resulting chaos, 10 people – men, Read More

The Universal Life Church provides online ordinations to any person who wants one, regardless of religion, race, gender, or any other basis, completely for free. ULC ordination allows anyone to become a wedding officiant and legally perform a wedding ceremony. Many people are skeptical of the validity of this process, however, and believe that the Read More

A district court in Cologne, Germany ruled today that parents should not have the legal privilege to have their sons circumcised on religious grounds. The basis for the ruling was that parents should not be able to subject their children to the “minor bodily harm” caused by the circumcision procedure, regardless of the privileges otherwise Read More