Another question that we on the WedMinTeam at FNC are often asked is (1) why do I have to renew my ordination term as a wedding officiant, and (2) how do I renew my ordination term?
The simple answer to 1 (the “why”) is that ordination isn’t for life. While some churches (and we all know who we’re talking about here) offer “lifetime ordination,” no real church or religious order grants unconditional ordination as a ceremonial minister for eternity.
What happens if you change your mind about your beliefs or your calling twelve years from now? Should we still consider you ordained? What about your personal information in our incredibly secure and private database? Should we continue maintaining it twenty years from now?
(The answer to these questions: no.)
According to our legal team, it makes sense from a legal standpoint to put a term limit on ordination. It precludes a bevy of potential problems from happening in the future.
The even simpler answer to 2 (the “how”) is for you to click here to go directly to our ordination renewal page.
Once there, you’ll be asked to enter your name, your license number (if you have it; if you don’t, no problem) and the preferred length of your extended ordination term. Yes, it’s that simple.
Our ministers occasionally ask about how long their terms are, because it’s not on their documents. Actually, it is: look on the bottom-left corner of your ordination certificate, or in the body of your letter of good standing.
And if that doesn’t work, contact us and we’ll let you know!
Oh, and if your ordination expired a while back and you were busy doing other things and forgot to renew, you do not have to start over from scratch. Simply renew your ordination term and pick up right where you left off!
Ready to get ordained? The process takes just a minute! Click here.
The wonderful image accompanying this post was taken by Chris Moncus. To view Chris’ work and to book him for your ceremony, please visit ChrisMoncusPhoto.com.
