Who is the REAL Universal Life Church?
An Essay by Rev. Calli
©2007 Reverend Calli's Institute of Practical Ministry and Coffee Shop Theology
There has been some understandable confusion recently over which of the different Universal Life Groups that has a presence on the World Wide Web constitutes the official, legally recognized ULC.
Because of the very decentralized nature of the ULC one can understand why there is so much confusion, especially since anyone ordained by the ULC has the authority to ordain others without having to get permission from a central headquarters.
For the past few years there have been four major websites where one could submit a request for ordination, www.ulchq.com, www.ulc.net, www.ulc.org, and www.ulcseminary. org. Until recently, one could request ordination from any of these four, and be assured that your ordination request had been recorded at the main ULC office in Modesto, CA, which ensured the legality of your ordination in the eyes of the state. There are also other sites run by individual ministers and congregations of the ULC that offer ordination, as well as sites on e bay where a person could spend anywhere from $9.99 to hundreds of dollars to get what the four sites listed above offered for free.
So, who is the REAL Universal Life Church. To answer that question, one first has to look at the history of the ULC. According to Wikipedia:
The ULC was founded in 1959 under the name "Life Church" by the Reverend Kirby J. Hensley. Disappointed with the Pentecostal church, Hensley decided to venture on his own to find his religion. After five years of studying various religions, according to his own statements, Hensley concluded that the proper religion may differ for each man, and everyone is entitled to choose his or her own religion. No one should be criticized or condemned for wanting to practice the belief of his or her choice.
In 1959, Hensley, with the help of his new wife, Lida, moved to Modesto, California and founded the first Universal Life Church as "Life Church", later incorporating with the State of California on the 2 May 1962 as "Universal Life Church". Hensley served as the minister of the congregation and President of the Board of Directors until his death in 1999, at which time there were many independent branches of the ULC worldwide. The Modesto congregation grew rapidly over the years. The Church spread throughout the West Coast, and today claims to have congregations located all over the United States and parts of Canada and many other parts of the world. The organization also claims to have a membership of 22 million ULC ministers worldwide.
After the death of Rev. Hensley, the ULC was led by his wife, Lida. After her passing early this year, the Board of Directors of the ULC elected Hensley's son, Andre, to be the president of the Church.
Since the founding of the church in 1959, the primary function of the church has been to ordain ministers. One of the main underlying theological principals of the ULC is that ALL people are already ministers of the ULC whether they recognize the fact or not. Once a person feels the call to be ordained, the ULC acknowledges their ordination by granting them credentials, and by recording their ordination in the church records. It is by recording their ordination in the church database that a persons ordination becomes legal in the eyes of the state.
Until the advent of the web, the ULC typically received ordination requests by mail (thus the origin of the phrase “mail order ministers”). This brought about various legal challenges, in particular by the Internal Revenue Service, which took the position that an ordination by mail order could not be legally valid. Historically in most churches, ministers where not ordained until they had completed specialized schooling, and had been investigated and questioned about their faith and religious convictions by members and officials of the church that they desired ordination in. In the case Universal Life Church vs. United States of America, held in the United States District Court in the Eastern District of California, Civ. No S-1954 decided on March 4, 1974, it was ruled that:
“The fact that the plaintiff distributed ministers' credentials and Honorary Doctor of Divinity certificates is of no moment. Such activity may be analogized to mass conversions at a typical revival or religious crusade. Neither this Court, nor any branch of this Government, will consider the merits or fallacies of a religion. Nor will the Court compare the beliefs, dogmas, and practices of a newly organized religion with those of an older, more established religion. Nor will the Court praise or condemn a religion, however excellent or fanatical or preposterous it may seem. Were the court to do so, it would impinge upon the guarantees of the First Amendment.”
Over the past thirty years now, ordination via the mail, and the Internet, has because of this case been recognized as valid the US government. In a very few locations, such as New York City, ULC ordained ministers have found that their ordinations, though valid, are not recognized by the local government as empowering them to conduct a legal wedding ceremony. Since marriage is not just a religious ceremony, but also creates a legal contract between two parties, there are localities that have set qualifications for who can officiate at a wedding that exclude ULC ministers. But by in large ministers of the ULC have the same legal rights as any other minister.
For a ministers ULC ordination to be legal, a record of their ordination had to be kept at the ULC headquarters in Modesto, California. With the advent of the WWW, the first on line ULC site, www.ulc.org began to offer ordinations on-line, but only served as a conduit to forward the information of the person requesting ordination to the ULC headquarters in Modesto. There the persons information was recorded, and a ordination certificate was sent to the new minister. Over the next few years, other ULC sites were opened. Two other sites, ulc.net and ulcseminary. org, like ulc.org were authorized by headquarters to offer ordination on line, and offer for sale official ULC material. It was always recognized though that the ULC office in Modesto was the official headquarters of the church, as that was where the central file of ordination records were kept.
In August of 2006, a change occurred in the leadership of ulc.org, also known as the Monastery. Since the beginnings of ulc.org, the owner had been Brother Danial Zimmerman, a long time associate of Hensley's and member of the church. In August however, a group consisting of members and former members of the Board of Directors of the Monastery attempted to take control of ulc.org, and move all of its operations to Seattle, which had for some time been the location of the Fulfillment Center, where orders placed for materials from the ulc.org site were put together and mailed. To read about the incidents leading up to the split, one should go to the following sites:
HTTP://www.azstarnet. com/allheadlines /158700%20
http://regulus2. azstarnet. com/comments/ index.php? id=158700
(be sure to read the last comment, which is a copy of the minutes of the Board meeting where Brother Danial was relieved of his post)
One should also read the following about George Freeman, who using the handle Brother Martin, is now leading the Monastery in Seattle:
www.seattleweekly.
com/news/ 9936/features- anderson. php
http://religionclau se.blogspot. com/2006/ 12/church- filings-call- bona-fides- of.html
At the website www.themonastery. org, (where you are redirected if you go to the old url, www.ulc.org) a casual visitor might get the impression that they are at the official ULC website. However, when you apply for ordination, the credential that pops up clearly is from the Monastery itself, and not the ULC in Modesto. It is also clear that the Monastery considers itself to be the true ULC (read the post “We are not bound by Rome” in the General Discussion section of the forum at
Clearly though, the State of Arizona still recognizes Brother Danial as the owner of the Monastery and ulc.org. And since the Monastery no longer submits ordination requests to Modesto for recording, the Monastery in Seattle cannot claim to be the REAL ULC, as it now ordains people under it's own authority. Historically, the real ULC has always been the mother church in Modesto, where ordination records going back to the early 1960's are recorded and stored.
This does not mean that the Monastery cannot be a legitimate church in it's own right, nor would I want to suggest otherwise. But historically and legally, it can not now claim to be the true ULC. It was once part of the ULC, but has now branched out on its own. One could also argue that the credentials issued by the Monastery may eventually be challenged in a court of law, as they are not signed with the real name of one of the officers of the Monastery, but with the pseudonym Br. Martin (see example here http://blog. central.is/ favitinn? page=comments&id=2655155
As the offical e-mail sent out by the monastery makes this statement:
One could also, I feel, make the claim that the Monastery uses deceptive practices on its site, impling that it, the Monastery has been in existence since 1959, and that it has ordained over 20 million ministers. Only the ULC headquarters in Modesto can legitimately make that particular claim.
And it's (the Monastery) days may now be numbered, as Brother Daniel has started legal action against George Freeman and his associates to regain control of the Monastery and the web site, as you can see from the following links:
http://dockets.
justia.com/ docket/court- azd...case_ id-343852/
http://dockets.
justia.com/ docket/court- azd...case_ id-343556/
http://dockets.
justia.com/ docket/court- azd...case_ id-343591/
Anyway, I hope you find this useful.
In Christ's service,
Rev. Calli
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