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Requirements to legally ordain a minister

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jsherk

Junior Member
Specifically I am interested in the states of Texas and Pennsylvania but any information would be helpful.

I see on the internet that there are a million places that will ordain you as a minister, but I cannot find any requirements on what is needed to actually be able to perform that ordination!

We have started a new church and are not affiliated with any denomination at all and want to know if we can ordain our own ministers? And if we can ordain our own ministers, can they perform legally binding marriages?

I just cannot find any information on this subject!

Thanks
 


FlyingRon

Senior Member
Call up the clerk of the court. I'm pretty sure Texas is one of the more liberal state and you just apply and pay the nominal fee. They don't have this "regular communication with the national order" like some states like Virginia have.
 

jsherk

Junior Member
Yes tranquility is correct... what is the process so that you can PERFORM ordinations.

With the supposed separation of church and state, I am wondering if there is really any state or federal requirement ... maybe it's as simple as saying "We are a church and you are ordained!"

Thanks
 

justalayman

Senior Member
anybody can ordain ministers in their own church. That would be wholly based on the rules of the particular church.

I suspect you might mean something else such as:

are the ministers of any given church given the rights afforded by law to perform certain actions such as marriages?

The answer is likely; the church (religion) must be an officially recognized church (religion) to be able to be seen as a minister in the eyes of the law.


In other words, if I started a church of the holy tennis shoe and revered one particular holy tennis shoe as Holy, that is not a legally recognized church and as such, the law will not see anything this church does as being given the same consideration as an officially recognized church.

Now, as grand creator of my church of the holy tennis shoe, I can ordain ministers as I please. It just doesn't mean anything in the legal sense.
 

jsherk

Junior Member
So then if the law recognizes the church as being a legal church (whatever that means) then the ministers ordained by that church should be able to perform, for example, legally recognized marriages.

And there should also be no specific requirement on how the church ordains a minister, beyond what I said above... "we are church and you are now ordained". And IF the church is recognized as a valid legal church (again, whatever that means) then the ceremonies performed by that ordained minister (like marriage) should be legally recognized as well!

That's my story and I'm sticking to it!

Thanks
 

justalayman

Senior Member
Now all you have to do is realize you do not have an officially recognized church where the ministers would have any legal rights due to being ministers.



signed:

Justalayman, supreme entity and ordained minister of the church of the holy tennis shoe.

It doesn't get me anything but I like the title.
 

justalayman

Senior Member
and there is something different than what I told you?
no, there isn't. You still have not determined what is a legally recognized religious organization, which is critical for determining if the ordination allows the person to act in the manner you seek.


The church of the holy tennis shoe wouldn't cut it in Texas as a recognized religious organization. I haven't checked PA statutes but it likely is not a legitimate religious organization there either.

On top of that, you might want to look into federal laws and regulations concerning recognition of religious groups. If your organization is recognized by the IRS as a valid religious group, it would go a long way in making an argument under any state laws.
 

jsherk

Junior Member
@justalayman, supreme entity and ordained minister of the church of the holy tennis shoe:
I wasn't saying there was anything wrong with what you said... I understand that everything hinges on whether we would be recognized as a valid religious organization or not. Since we are a Bible believing organization and not worshiping a tennis shoe, I don't think that would be too much of a problem. I didn't mention much more about it because that is really another issue. This post was about "can we ordain a minister" and the answer is "yes".

Thanks for your input though, it has helped clear up my question!
 

justalayman

Senior Member
actually, being Christian has nothing to do with being a legally recognized religion or church. That would be a bit discriminatory, don't ya think?


It is more of a financial restriction than anything actually religious. I could actually alter the formal organization of my church of the holy tennis shoe and be considered a legally recognized church in Texas. Same for federal recognition as well. Haven't checked for PA but most likely there as well.

here is the law concerning qualifying for tax exemption in Texas:

Texas Tax Code - Section 11.20. Religious Organizations - Texas Attorney Resources - Texas Laws

In the US, there is such a vague definition for a religious organization that it has pretty much boiled down to the taxing laws as being the defining law whether an organization is legally recognized or not. Since the government is restricted from becoming involved with the actual practice of any religion, that pretty much removes the government from being able to define what qualifies as a religion. As such, the tax laws impose certain requirements to be tax exempt. Once you qualify there, you are basically a recognized religion.

and yes, you can ordain ministers. I have a complete hierarchy. One starts being the sole (soul, get it?) support of the organization. You then progress to being part of the body of the shoe. We then have the laces which are the part of the church that controls the gatherings. The next step would be the eyelets. They control the actions of the laces. Then, at the highest level, short of me of course, would be the tongues. They provide the voice of our church in all efforts.
 
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jsherk

Junior Member
Thanks... From the link you sent, here are the main qualifications for the State of Texas:

§ 11.20. RELIGIOUS ORGANIZATIONS.
(c) To qualify as a religious organization for the purposes
of this section, an organization (whether operated by an
individual, as a corporation, or as an association) must:
(1) be organized and operated primarily for the
purpose of engaging in religious worship or promoting the spiritual
development or well-being of individuals;
(2) be operated in a way that does not result in
accrual of distributable profits, realization of private gain
resulting from payment of compensation in excess of a reasonable
allowance for salary or other compensation for services rendered,
or realization of any other form of private gain;
(3) use its assets in performing the organization's
religious functions or the religious functions of another religious
organization; and
(4) by charter, bylaw, or other regulation adopted by
the organization to govern its affairs direct that on
discontinuance of the organization by dissolution or otherwise the
assets are to be transferred to this state, the United States, or a
charitable, educational, religious, or other similar organization
that is qualified as a charitable organization under Section
501(c)(3), Internal Revenue Code of 1954, as amended.
 

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