Hello,

My name is Mike. I am new here. I am Jewish. My religious beliefs are not exactly typical of a Jewish person.

Actually, I'm not sure whether I'm an agnostic, or an atheist. I'm not sure whether I believe in God, but I believe that the principles set forth in the 10 Commandments are very important. Although I like the principles set forth in Judaism, I feel that it focuses too much on performing ritual activities, and not enough on doing good things for other people.

I think that as long as someone does not kill, lie, or steal from others, what ever else they believe is not really important. I wish there were a religion that would welcome people of all religious persuasions as long as they followed the basic principles that make someone a good person. I think that there are many different paths to goodness, and it doesn't matter which one you follow as long as you get there.

Is it possible for me to be a minister of this church and still be Jewish? I am kind of worried about that. I am also worried that if I order the Minister credentials and my Christian friends see them they will be insulted. Do you think I need to worry about this? Also, my brother-in-law is a rabbi. I am afraid that if he saw my minister credentials that he would become angry, either because he felt that the church is a scam, or because he regarded my becoming a minister as some sorting of conversion to Christianity. I want to make absolutely clear that I have no desire to convert to Christianity. Doesn't the term Rev. Minister refer to a priest of the Protestant denomination? I want to be absolutely certain that my being ordained by this church does not constitute some sort of conversion to Christianity.

Thank you for listening,

Mike

Greetings to you my brother,

Your question does not have a real easy answer, so bear with me a moment.

First, the ULC is not a Christian Church per say. Granted the are many members of it who are Christian of various flavors, but there are also followers of the Wiccan path, Satanists, Hinduism, Jews and all the variety of faith systems that this world possesses up to and including out and out Atheists. Becoming a member here does not make you Christian.

As to showing your friends credentials that declare you a minister, you have to remind them that Minister is not strictly a Christian term. Now they may still be upset, but in all honesty most churches and denominations tend to look down on the ULC, so that's nothing new.

Remember too that a minister is anyone who serves others. In Christianity for example, the term MINISTER does not necessarily refer to someone who is ordained to a sacramental position. In many churches, all members are considered ministers.

Now some may consider the ULC a scam. And in truth there have been people who have used their ULC ordination to perform a variety of illegal activities. But I assure you that there are even more who take their ordination very seriously, and use it to help share their own understanding of, and to live out their faith, in a world that needs ministers badly.

Anyway, I hope this helps.

In Christ's service,
Padre

Mike,

You did not provide in your post more about your background, whether you were raised within the Reform, Conservative, Orthodox (in any of its permutations) or Reconstructionist movements (Jewish Renewal and Secular Humanistic being too recent probably for an adult). You did not provide information as to which movement, if any, you are currently affiliated nor did you provide information as which movement your brother-in-law is affiliated.

I note this because with the exception of some very right of center Orthodox groups, there has always been a strong social conscience, a belief in the need to be G-d's partner in the task of tikkun olam, the repair of the world, within the various movements of Judaism. I don't know any synagogues in the area of the country where I live that are not actively involved in social action and cooperation.

Please feel free to p.m. me.

Shalom,

Peter