20 Million Ordinations Since 1959

Bill G. believes in the revealed God-given truth of the scriptures that he loves so much. How can you share his attitude if you lack his faith?

I realize that one can approach scripture at scholarly arms-length by trying to understand what the author(s)/redactors intended to convey by doing what they did. Or one can try to understand how those writings were understood and utilized by readers in various times and places.

Frankly, most of my readings of religious texts are like that. Occasionally I pick up a nugget here or an insight there that I consider interesting or important, and incorporate them into my own eclectic and rather incoherent bag of religious ideas.

That only takes me so far. Sometimes I feel the need to jump in and devote myself to something on a deeper, more committed and more participatory level.

But if, as many people contend these days, and as Degreeinfo seems to illustrate in the case of conservative Christianity at least, religion is a series of little hermetically sealed incommensurable and self-justifying worlds, then entering into them is a problem.

It's disconcerting to be invited to come in, but not to be shown a door.

 

Who said it was wrong, Bill? You stated that they have the legal right to do what they are doing, and if this is true, the ULC is doing nothing legally wrong. And they also have the right to award those Ph.D.'s for a small donation?

 

I am with you on point two (Diet Coke is my favorite...also like Vanilla Diet Coke although they cannot keep it in stock around here).

Points 1, 4, I do not agree with and that is how denominations get started.

By the way, you mentioned that you attended an Episcopal Church. I grew up an Episcopalian and had some difficulty with the almost unitarian route many clergy & bishops were taking (J. Packer recently walked out of an Anglican meeting in British Columbia). Nonetheless, I still feel a cultural & nostalgic tie to the denomination. My Anglican priest in college was very liberal (supported homosexual ordination & marriage, did not believe in any literal interpretation of the bible). Even though we disagreed I had a great deal of respect for his sincerity and he truly felt he was living out & promoting the gospel message in these stances. I knew Anglican seminarians who were also immersing themselves in Native Spirituality, etc.

One of the things being in the military as a Chaplain Assistant taught me that you can respect diversity without agreeing. The military chaplaincy is a model for this. There are clergy of all types from Imams, Mormons, Christians Scientists to Southern Baptists (jokingly called SOB Chaplains for short). All functioned well together without giving up any of their individual beliefs. The rule was that if you could not perform then you provide. So, there was a WICCAN soldier who needed his ceremonial dagger for use in the barracks. It was an Evangelical Calvinist who went to bat for the guy and squared the commander away regarding the legitimacy of the request. Some pastors could relate to female Chaplains as officers but could not share a pulpit during Protestant Services and this was respected by both. Any Southern Baptist is certainly going to believe that a Mormon or C. Scientist is wrong (way off) theolgically but that did not interfere with their functioning in order to support troops and the goals of the Chaplaincy. It was a marvel to see. The funniest thing was when the Orthodox Rabbi was one of the happiest that the Chaplaincy was bringing Muslims on board. He saw this as a way of ensuring diversity in the Chaplaincy as a corporate entity. The Rabbi felt that too often with Christian dominance of the Chaplaincy, surface concessions were made to those of other faiths (eg him).

North

 

Thanks for this, North. Based on what you and a couple of other chaplains have told me, I'm beginning to develop a very positive impression of the way that particular ministry functions--and it sounds as if the rest of the world could learn a lot from the way you folks handle religious diversity.


Cheers,

 

This is, I think, the primary difference between philosophy and religion. Religion is insular to a certain extent; it's not something you can just pick up and objectively reason out. You look for a church whose rituals you can identify with, and (as in any good relationship) you downplay the things that bug you. It takes emotional investment and a willingness to keep plugging along, philosophy be damned. And this is true of any religious or ideological community.

If you're looking for more spirituality, have you investigated your local UU church and/or Insight Meditation group?


Cheers,

 

Having done a stint as a corrections chaplain, what North says would apply for the most part there as well (the ceremonial dagger wouldn't pass muster, and eucharistic wine might well be prohibited--both by the corrections administration, not any chaplain; texts would be OK).

Something that was fun in that job was trying to secure scriptures from different religions and in different languages; I got a whole box of Qurans free at one of the local mosques, an endless round of free drinks at the Serbian social hall (and a couple free Serbian bibles), and a Vietnamese bible from an RC priest who had spent 25 years in the North Viet gulag (had to buy that one myself, but the man's heroic story was worth it).

Only one sect was contemptuous of a prisoner's request for sacred literature; I won't say what religion it was, since I do not think it was typical of that religion (dunno for sure, though); just so no one does an aha!, it was not a Christian sect.

 

I served a two year term as a hospital chaplain and found a similar collegiality among ministers of various traditions. Each of us was well aware of the distinctions among the chaplaincy staff, however, our purpose was not to accentuate those distinctions. Rather, the common objective was to provide pastoral care to the patients/families.

 

ULC Ordinations

Brothers,

I am an ordained minister with the IAM and UPCI. I have worked with other ministers who were odained by the ULC and I have had a positive experience with these Brothers. Wasn't it Jesus who called on you to preach the Gospel and wasn't it Jesus who ordained the Apostles? They had no degree like many of the world's clergy who are molesting children, abusing authority, as well as supporting abortions, and oh yeah, marrying and supporting gay marriages of the devil? Now, don't get me wrong, I'm school trained and do hold a masters in theology. I also looked into some of the ULC Courses. Although these ULC courses were not as long and boring with not without meaning like many of the college courses I had before, theystill do require some sort of test. Plus, they are all Honorary Degrees that give any church the same authority as the Apostles had. I'd give John, a Doctorates even though he has never attended a classroom. As Christians we should all feel thankful for the 1st Ammendment. Now for those who receive these degrees, no, they shouldn't be going around saying that they are Medical Doctors or stuff like that. But for those of you who did get your degree in some class without any real life meaning or experience, you should also look up to those who chose the ULC way. One of the most famous family ministers in the USA "Dr. Gary Smalley" holds an Honarary Doctorates. He is also Ordained. Al Gore has a degree in what ever from a good university, and look at him. Does this make him any smarter that the ignorant Joes on the street? I know this isn't true. Just because one has a degree, does not make him any better. This isn't true in Law and Medicine, but all a degree is, is a paper that says this person has had the training. When It comes to real life things, these folks are lost. Let's look at teh government fo example. An Agency will hire a person with real life experience in a field before they will hire a Doctorate degree hold person. This is truth. Now, get back to the basics, and if you feel that you are better than the no college degee holder or Ordained Clergy, then do something about it like what God's commands are. Help your Brother. I do.

 

ULC Ordinations

Brothers,

I am an ordained minister with the IAM and UPCI. I have worked with other ministers who were odained by the ULC and I have had a positive experience with these Brothers. Wasn't it Jesus who called on you to preach the Gospel and wasn't it Jesus who ordained the Apostles? They had no degree like many of the world's clergy who are molesting children, abusing authority, as well as supporting abortions, and oh yeah, marrying and supporting gay marriages of the devil? Now, don't get me wrong, I'm school trained and do hold a masters in theology. I also looked into some of the ULC Courses. Although these ULC courses were not as long and boring with not without meaning like many of the college courses I had before, theystill do require some sort of test. Plus, they are all Honorary Degrees that give any church the same authority as the Apostles had. I'd give John, a Doctorates even though he has never attended a classroom. As Christians we should all feel thankful for the 1st Ammendment. Now for those who receive these degrees, no, they shouldn't be going around saying that they are Medical Doctors or stuff like that. But for those of you who did get your degree in some class without any real life meaning or experience, you should also look up to those who chose the ULC way. One of the most famous family ministers in the USA "Dr. Gary Smalley" holds an Honarary Doctorates. He is also Ordained. Al Gore has a degree in what ever from a good university, and look at him. Does this make him any smarter that the ignorant Joes on the street? I know this isn't true. Just because one has a degree, does not make him any better. This isn't true in Law and Medicine, but all a degree is, is a paper that says this person has had the training. When It comes to real life things, these folks are lost. Let's look at teh government fo example. An Agency will hire a person with real life experience in a field before they will hire a Doctorate degree hold person. This is truth. Now, get back to the basics, and if you feel that you are better than the no college degee holder or Ordained Clergy, then do something about it like what God's commands are. Help your Brother. I do.

 

To have 20 million ordinations they must have a drive thru?

Rich Hartel

 

Would a D.D. by ULC be legal to use in Oregon?

adelheid

 

YES It's legal in all 50 states.
(Religious Exemption. See: Constitution, U.S. , Amendment I)

 

Even the title "Dr." and "D.D."on letterheads, business cards etc?
(Finally my life long dream of an earned doctorate to be fulfilled...)
adelheid