Reverend William Edward Russell

WELCOME to the UNIVERSAL LIFE CHURCH

Reverend William Edward Russell

The Universal Life Church has sent your application for ordination from The ULC SEMINARY in Elk Grove, CA to Modesto, California. Providing that you filled out the form properly with your legal first and last name, it will be approved and entered into the International Database of the Ministry of the Church, whose numbers are in excess of 20 million ordained ministers worldwide.
Please save this email! If there are any electronic glitches, you'll need this email to prove that you were ordained. Print it and also save it to a separate file to ensure that your ordination is recorded properly. If you also order a credential after your ordination, you'll want to send a copy of this email to andre@ulchq.com so he will record your ordination more promptly.
I would also suggest, if you are sincere about your desire to be a minister, to post this welcome message on your website or blog. This way, your intention is clear and public, and you also have a relatively permanent copy of your message in case it is lost or your ordination request date comes into question.
The Universal Life Church has only two tenets (beliefs/doctrine):• to promote freedom of religion and• to do that which is right.It is the responsibility of the individual to determine what is right as long as it does not infringe on the rights of others and is within the law.
As a minister with the ULC, its own denomination, you are granted the following rights:
• To perform marriages within any US state, following the rules laid out by the state in which you wish to perform said marriage. We are currently working on areas of Canada as well. • To perform funerals, baptisms, last rites or any other sort of legal ceremony or ritual you wish to perform, except circumcision.• To start a church of your own.• To ordain others with their permission through a ULC site.
ABOUT THE SEMINARY
Becoming ordained is merely the first step on your road to being a minister. There are still many things to learn and experience before you can fully function as a minister. On the Seminary site, http://www.ulcseminary.org/, you will find training materials, sermons, courses and much more. The sermons are written by our congregation, of which you are now a part. At any time throughout the week, we invite you to submit sermons of either a religious, pagan or generally spiritual nature to be posted on the site. If you'd like to submit a sermon for consideration, you may do so by sending it in the body of the e-mail to guestsermon@ulcseminary.org.
As a new minister, you will also be receiving a monthly newsletter that will give you useful ministerial tips, a free ceremony sample and often, the special of the month, offered exclusively to ministers on our mailing lists. You may also receive other announcements periodically to let you know about what's going on. You're invited to chat with other ministers and join our Forum. Occasionally, we offer posting contests and award Participation Scholarships for those who qualify. We have an extensive FAQ section that may help you with many of your ministry questions. If answers can't be found, please feel free to contact Amy at amy@ulcseminary.org with your questions. We update our site regularly.
Please take a few minutes to look at our Seminary Program information. It's free to join and participate and the charges for the individual courses are very reasonable. At the end of each course, you will receive an earned degree associated with that course. It's an excellent way to receive useful training and increased validation for your ordination. MINISTERIAL PRODUCTS
When you became ordained, you received an online credential. This is a sample credential only. While it's not necessary to have a replacement credential to legalize your ordination in most states, it is a good idea to have one regardless. This is available both by itself and in many of the packages on the site.
As an exclusive special for the newly-ordained minister, we are offering an 'Ordination Package' just for you. This package, only available through this link, contains a beautiful credential for your wall, a clergy badge, ULC plastic, personalized ID wallet card, Parking Placard, and a ULC Window Cling for the low price of $24.99 (A $37 value!) You can order it by clicking HERE.The "Instant Ministry Package" is one of the best products of the Seminary. It contains ceremony books (including the best-seller 'Weddings, Funerals and Rites of Passage'), a Dr. of Divinity, ceremony certificates, a replacement credential suitable for framing, a copy of The Wedding Business Video for Ministers, ceremony words on disc, audio ceremonies, a clergy badge and more! It's an outstanding product that you'll be very glad you bought.
There is also the Wedding Officiant Training Kit, which contains all the books, certificates and materials that you could want to help you with your training to become a competent wedding minister. You'll get the wedding video, books, ceremonies and more. If you think you are only going to perform one wedding, you might prefer the Wedding Basic Kit. It has everything you need to perform your first wedding with confidence.There are many more products and services available on the site, so please check it out. http://www.ulcseminary.org/
http://www.ulcseminary.org/
Checks and Money Orders are always to be made out to the Universal Life Church Seminary.
IF ORDERING BY MAIL, Send your orders to:
ULC SEMINARY 4714 Careyback Ave. Elk Grove, CA 95758ORDINATION is a personal decision, and the ULC legalizes it as is required by the 50 states.Once you are ordained in the ULC, you are ordained for life. If someone ordained you without your permission and you wish to renounce your ordination, send your name, address and request for renouncement to renounce@ulcseminary.org.
LETTER OF GOOD STANDINGSome states do have registration requirements for ministers, prior to officiating marriages in those states. The Letter of Good Standing is issued by the church. If you live in a state that requires registration of ordination documents OR you plan to officiate a marriage in a state that requires ministers to register prior to officiating marriages ---the church will provide the Letter of Good Standing. Please only ask for a Letter of Good Standing if it is required by law. This requirement can be determined by calling the County Clerk in the State and County you wish to perform the marriage.
To request the Letter of Good Standing you must write to the church directly at:
ULC Headquarters 601 Third Street Modesto, CA 95351
Please include your full legal name and mailing address with your request.
Before performing your first marriage, please review the marriage training information so you are aware of how to sign the marriage license and what to do with it. When you perform a wedding, you are responsible for knowing how to take care of the legal aspects of it. If you have any questions about the legalities of performing weddings in your area, please contact your local County Clerk. Their office should be able to answer all your questions.
To get the answers to the most often asked questions about ordination, please go to the FAQ section of the site (http://www.ulcseminary.org/) and read the ministry FAQs, the general FAQs and the wedding FAQs. Those should answer most, if not all, of your questions.Thank you again and welcome to the Universal Life Church.
Sincerely,Rev. Amy Longamy@ulcseminary.org