Is online ordination a legal ordination?
Yes. As an independent church with members around the world, The West Virginia Church of Christ Family Help Ministry has the same legal rights as any other church. This includes the right to legally ordain ministers, to issue independent church charters, and other legally recognized church activities. 2. That sounds good, but what is the legal basis of this? In 1974, the United States government was sued by the Universal Life Church in response to the government’s challenge to their right to have a tax-exempt status. When the judge ruled on this case, he also addressed the question of mail-order ordination, independent church charters, etc. While the Universal Life Church is not really a Christian ministry, nevertheless they performed a great service to all non-traditional ministries by fighting this case in court and eventually winning. The following is excerpted from the court’s decision in this case. The Universal Life Church is referred to as Plaintiff: “…an Honorary Doctor of Di
