Nearly three years ago, I and three of my friends started our own Church, Pathways Sanctuary. The four of us average about 2.25 Doctorates of Divinity apiece, and the State of North Carolina had no problem with us doing this. We did it to prove a point — and the point is proven, although not the way we would have liked it to have been.<\/p>\n
We saw that there are dozens of “churches” online where you can get – for free or for $5 or $10 – ordained as a minister. No questions asked, other than your name and address. People were buying certificates and diplomas, perhaps only to paper their walls. My idea, and the concept we implemented, was to charge a little bit more ($20) AND ask for references that you were actually performing ministerial activities in your community (real life or online). We would check the references, and approve you if we felt you were doing the work; if you were rejected, we would refund $10 of your application fee (it costs us something to check those references). We thought that a verified, verifiable ministerial license\/ordination certificate would be in demand, not just something to hang on your wall for giggles.<\/p>\n
Apparently we were wrong. We have had a few (maybe as many as 5) nibbles over the past 3 years, but have issued no certificates save to ourselves (the Board). It appears that HAVING standards is the equivalent of HAVING TOO HIGH of standards.<\/p>\n