my parents need some patience to prove the lack of validity to me they ordained the dog in a way that i found offensive because i am priest of the moon, (which they call priestess) they claim that the dog howls at the moon, and that he is priest of the moon as well. My fury filled response was to calmly (for such fury) say congratulations you can abuse a service aren't you a great person, and they changed tracks at lightspeed. They claim that because we don't go to seminary we are not ordained properly. Some info on these....individuals i think i'll call them father:roman catholic who is not practicing yet beleives in the one true god of the church, and does not wish to be involved with the church, and it's views. Mother:episcopalian non religious who beleives in the one true god, and has distanced herself from organized religion all together. Both are good people, but they bring up a good point so the purpose of this is realistically for the new guys. I heard a former ULC Monastery minister named chris who called this ordination a bomb out because he only performed one wedding in so many months.
I will say this with love, and appreciation for the posters here arguments will make me giggle. No founding member of the major religions in the world today had any seminary experience, nor were ordained by any earthly power from what i've seen bar none lets take a tally. Jesus: Carpenter by trade, and inheritance took an interest in the world. Buddha: Nobleman from india as i recall from india no formal religious training other than the expected customs required by his position. Muhammad: warrior, and pagan his whole young part of his life, joseph smith layman received divine revelation, and moved to form his ownh church after experiencing jesus styled divine revelations claiming divine sanction, and revelation no seminary extensive layman biblical knowledge. HMMM....several major world religions created by individuals without world knowledge, seminary, and two of them were illiterate from what I understand. So what am i saying....well a message of joy, and happiness actually the validity of your ordination will always be questioned by someone the world would be empty without the opposing view point. The only one who will give your ordination velidity is you. Those who join to perform a wedding great, do what you wish, and ponder the opportunity here to grow further. You can do it it's easier than one might expect here's the meat and potatoes for your beginnings to bring validity remember it is god who chooses you, and ordains you the church simply makes a note of the request to receive ordination, and provides training on how that viewpoint does things.

http://www.zieglers.com/scripts/default.asp general religious, supplies, and merchandise located in AZ so they're an actual shop
www.bravenet.com a decent do it yourself create a website
www.sampa.com a decent do it yourself create a website
www.freewebs.com which is the best web site maker i've seen in the do it yourself category especially for members only areas, and ease of access hope these help

ahh and some pointers on building a congregation....
1. determine a set of rituals which you will do every week, and think carefully about these rituals know them well include less common rituals such as baptism, and marriage as well as the mass, or whatever you're particular religion celebrates.
2. having these rituals determined make a website the best ive seen is freewebs they are easier than bravenet, sampa, or geocities advertise your faith your goals tell them about you what you beleive in, and what you do.
3. Find a place you can use public parks are nice as they are free to use later perhaps see about renting a space if you wish or if you have start up capital go into that facet specifically.
4. make advertisements such as buisness cards, and fliers, and write a press release, and articles letting them know about your beleifs to add credibility.
5. beat the path letting them know about your unique church place fliers on cars trucks talk with people
6. Actually hold weekly services with a constant set of rituals
7. set really good boundaries such as for pastoral emergencies you can call anytime, but for everything else between the hours of blank, and blank
8. buy crap, that looks nice, and upgrade as funds become available.
9. find groups with those of like interest to advertise through casual conversation.
10. in short you're going to have to do some work, beat the path, and kick some tail, and you're looking at several years of effort before you can reasonably expect to see results from you're work, but you must continue to work hard in order to see these results
11. check the clerk of the supreme court they usually handle wedding laws, and can tell you what you need.
file for 501c3 status, and make a set of books check the corporate comission for more info in your state.
12. look for ministerial associations.
13. rare is it the minister that will let you speak in thier church they usually get to know you really well before they let you do such a thing as they are usually preaching along a carefully thought out theme.
14. talk, talk, talk some more, and represent yourself as you see yourself don't add titles to yourself, have others do it for you
15. check out religious supply shops in the area
16. create programs that actually interest the community
17. have food that keeps them, there
18. make things revolve around socialization, and good will which will help them want to be there
this information is provided, and i give it with the express implication that i am not held accountable for anything including omissions of things to do

these are some good pointers also as previously posted Dr. Corey has access to information on how to build a wedding buisness, as well as the roman catholic ritual both in pdf both i have been given copies of as well. I also have amish rituals in the off chance that appeals to anyone.

So if there's any questions i have been walking this path which can be quite bittersweet most of the time, and extremely rewarding some of the time (Which makes up for the bittersweet parts) on my own for a few years, and then joined by others for several years as well I'll halp where I can P.M. me, and i'll halp consult for your ministry I work interfaith as well as nocturnal pagan.

whew this is my first long post in all this time.

Hi in responce to the ex-minster saying his ordination was a bomb out just because he only did one weddind in so many months. Maybe he became ordain for the wrong reason! There is so much more to it then weddings, was he just out to make a few bucks. I have been ordain almost a year and have not performed one wedding but I do have a congregation of twenty seven that I do other services for. Also you have made many good points in this post.

Hi in responce to the ex-minster saying his ordination was a bomb out just because he only did one weddind in so many months. Maybe he became ordain for the wrong reason! There is so much more to it then weddings, was he just out to make a few bucks. I have been ordain almost a year and have not performed one wedding but I do have a congregation of twenty seven that I do other services for. Also you have made many good points in this post.

Of course so I figured providing some tools to assist everyone here would be helpful.

Well I figured on some new sites here they are
http://www.unitycatholic.org/
http://www.cherryhillseminary.org/
there are others if anyones interested
my personal favorite
http://www.swiha.edu/ which will be adding soon an online ministers development program which is a year in length, and results in ordination.

I was glad to see you posted the new sites to this link. Not because of the site value but because I got to read a DIFFERENT side of you from the recent past.

Good post.