Can someone who got 'ordained' online by the Universal Life Church legally officiate a wedding in Tennessee?

Plain-English summary

The AG reaffirmed and updated his Office's 1997 position (Tenn. Att'y Gen. Op. U97-041) that Universal Life Church online-ordained ministers cannot solemnize a Tennessee marriage. The 1998 amendment to Tenn. Code Ann. § 36-3-301 made the prior conclusion stronger, not weaker.

The current statutory text at § 36-3-301(a)(2) says:

In order to solemnize the rite of matrimony, any such minister, preacher, pastor, priest, rabbi or other spiritual leader must be ordained or otherwise designated in conformity with the customs of a church, temple or other religious group or organization; and such customs must provide for such ordination or designation by a considered, deliberate, and responsible act.

The AG's reasoning:

• The Universal Life Church's process for "Instant Online Ordination" requires only a name, an email address, a country, and a state. No street or mailing address. No verification. No training. The website affirmatively confirms no training is required to officiate. Anyone over 18 (the website also says "over the age of 13") can complete the form and be ordained instantly.
• That process does not occur "in conformity with the customs of a church, temple or other religious group or organization" as the statute contemplates, because the ULC effectively has no membership or designation customs at all. And it is not done by a "considered, deliberate, and responsible act"; one mouse click is not a considered, deliberate act in the statutory sense.
• The 1998 amendment that added the "considered, deliberate, and responsible act" language to the statute (along with the requirement of conformity with customs) was a tightening, not a loosening. If anything, the amendment reinforced the original conclusion that ULC ministers do not qualify.

Solemnization of marriage in Tennessee is governed by statute (Bryant v. Townsend), so meeting the statutory requirements is necessary, not optional. The Office's view is that a marriage solemnized by a ULC-only-ordained minister would not be validly solemnized under § 36-3-301. Whether such a marriage might still be valid on other grounds (common-law principles, putative-marriage doctrine, statutory savings clauses) is not addressed.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 2015. Subsequent statutory amendments, court decisions, or later AG opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current legal advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or remedy mentioned here.

Common questions

Q: We had a friend get ordained online and officiate our wedding. Is our marriage void?
A: This opinion expresses the AG's view that the solemnization would not satisfy § 36-3-301. Whether a Tennessee court would void the marriage in a particular case turns on other doctrines (putative marriage, ratification, equitable considerations). The opinion does not address validity remedies. A family-law attorney can analyze your specific situation.

Q: What about other online ministries that do require some training?
A: The opinion focuses on ULC's instant-ordination process. Other organizations that include a substantive ordination or designation process consistent with their religious customs may satisfy the "considered, deliberate, and responsible act" requirement. The analysis is fact-specific to the organization's actual customs.

Q: Can a judicial officer solemnize a marriage?
A: Yes. The statutory scheme separately authorizes various civil officers (judges, magistrates, county mayors, governors) to solemnize marriages. The opinion addresses only the religious-officiant route.

Q: Why did Tennessee enact the 1998 amendment?
A: To address exactly the kind of online or by-mail ordination that proliferated in the late 1990s. The amendment added the requirement that ordination conform to a religious group's customs and that those customs themselves require a considered, deliberate, and responsible act of designation.

Q: Is the same rule applied in other states?
A: States vary. Some courts (notably the Tennessee AG's position here, and earlier opinions in several other states) have read marriage-solemnization statutes to exclude instant-ordination. Other states' statutes are more permissive. This opinion addresses only Tennessee.

Background and statutory framework

Tennessee's marriage-solemnization statute at § 36-3-301 specifies who may perform the rite of matrimony. The religious-officiant track requires that the person be "ordained or otherwise designated in conformity with the customs of a church, temple or other religious group or organization," and that those customs themselves provide for ordination or designation by a "considered, deliberate, and responsible act."

Bryant v. Townsend stands for the proposition that marriage solemnization in Tennessee is fundamentally statutory rather than common law. Courts read § 36-3-301 strictly to ensure that only people who actually meet the statutory criteria perform the rite.

The Universal Life Church grew through the 20th century as a religious organization with a deliberately minimal ordination process, designed in part to enable lay friends and family members to officiate weddings without affiliation to a particular faith tradition. The state-by-state legal status of ULC-officiated marriages has been a recurring litigation question. Tennessee, through this opinion, sided with the strict-statutory reading.

Citations and references

Statutes:

• Tenn. Code Ann. § 36-3-301 (marriage solemnization)
• Tenn. Code Ann. § 36-3-301(a)(2) (ordination requirement)

Case:

• Bryant v. Townsend, 188 Tenn. 630, 221 S.W.2d 949 (Tenn. 1949) (Tennessee Supreme Court; solemnization is statutory)

Earlier AG opinion reaffirmed:

• Tenn. Att'y Gen. Op. U97-041 (Sept. 2, 1997)

Subject

Opinion No. 15-14, Qualifications of Ministers Who May Solemnize Weddings, February 6, 2015

Source

• Landing page: https://www.tn.gov/attorneygeneral/opinions.html
• Original PDF: https://www.tn.gov/content/dam/tn/attorneygeneral/documents/ops/2015/op15-14.pdf

Original opinion text

STATE OF TENNESSEE
OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
February 6, 2015
Opinion No. 15-14
Qualifications of Ministers Who May Solemnize Weddings

Question
Does the 1998 amendment to Tenn. Code Ann. § 36-3-301 invalidate or change Tenn. Att'y Gen. Op. U97-041 (Sept. 2, 1997)?

Opinion
No, Tenn. Att'y Gen. Op. U97-041 remains valid.

ANALYSIS

In Tennessee, solemnization of marriage is governed by statute. Bryant v. Townsend, 188 Tenn. 630, 633, 221 S.W.2d 949, 950 (1949). This Office has previously opined that ministers of the Universal Life Church are not permitted to solemnize marriages because they are not ordained by a considered, deliberate, and responsible act as was implicitly required by Tenn. Code Ann. § 36-3-301 (1997). See Tenn. Att'y Gen. Op. U97-041, at 4 (Sept. 2, 1997).

Tennessee Code Annotated § 36-3-301 was amended in 1998, and, as amended, it reinforces the 1997 opinion of this Office. The statute now explicitly provides, in pertinent part, as follows:

In order to solemnize the rite of matrimony, any such minister, preacher, pastor, priest, rabbi or other spiritual leader must be ordained or otherwise designated in conformity with the customs of a church, temple or other religious group or organization; and such customs must provide for such ordination or designation by a considered, deliberate, and responsible act.

Tenn. Code Ann. § 36-3-301(a)(2) (emphasis added).

The process of becoming an ordained minister of the Universal Life Church has not materially changed since the issuance of Tenn. Att'y Gen. Op. U97-041. In fact, the Universal Life Church website states that the Church does "not require [its] ministers to earn traditional minister credentials." Instead, it offers "Instant Online Ordination," ordaining via e-mail anyone who completes the "Online Ordination Request Form." All that is necessary to become ordained is that the applicant provide a "valid legal" name, an e-mail address, a country, and a state, and confirm that he or she is "over the age of 13." There is no verification process; not even a street or mailing address is required. And according to the website no training is required:

Do I need to receive any training to become legally ordained through the ULC?

Nope! While we would like for our ministers to learn about other religions and study spirituality, it is not necessary to take any courses to become a ULC minister. All it takes [sic] for a person over the age of 18 to become ordained online through the ULC Ministries is a name, address, and e-mail address.

Thus, every person over the age of 18 (or maybe 13) is eligible for immediate ordination without any further act in the Universal Life Church. Ordination is not done in conformity with the customs of a religious organization and, more importantly, is not in any way related to the statutory requirement that the person ordained be a spiritual leader. Moreover, other than the click of a mouse, no "considered, deliberate, and responsible act" as required by Tenn. Code Ann. § 36-3-301 is a prerequisite for ordination by the Universal Life Church.

Since the applicable statute has been amended to explicitly impose additional requirements and the ordination process does not meet the statutory requirements, persons ordained by the Universal Life Church are not qualified under Tenn. Code Ann. § 36-3-301 to solemnize a marriage. Accordingly, Tenn. Code Ann. § 36-3-301 as amended does not invalidate or change Tenn. Att'y Gen. Op. U97-041.

HERBERT H. SLATERY III
Attorney General and Reporter

ANDRÉE SOPHIA BLUMSTEIN
Solicitor General

JASON I. COLEMAN
Assistant Attorney General

Requested by:
The Honorable Todd Gardenhire
State Senator
11A Legislative Plaza
Nashville, TN 37243-0227