Tennessee marriage officiant law: Online ministers aren't legal

Plan to ask your best friend to get ordained online then officiate your summer wedding? Rethink that idea.

On July 1 people who are online officiants no longer can perform a marriage in Tennessee. That's because part of a new state law prohibits "persons receiving online ordinations from solemnizing the rite of matrimony."

Knox County Clerk of Court Sherry Witt said her office doesn't check the credentials of any wedding officiant. The clerk's office issues an average of 300 to 350 marriage licenses each month.

"My duties are to make sure the paperwork sent to the state is accurate. We are not allowed to question the authority of a marriage; we do not know who is ordained (online)," she said. 

The law, Witt said, "brings clarity to a gray area" regarding online-ordained officiants or ministers. 

Past code left questions to court

Previously, the law didn't specifically address online officiants. The amended 1998 Tennessee code listed who could solemnize marriage as "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."

The law also said "such customs must provide for such ordination or designation by a considered, deliberate, and responsible act."

That, according to a 2015 Tennessee attorney general's opinion, disqualified online ordained officiants. Organizations like the California-based Universal Life Church and the Seattle-based American Marriage Ministries require only simple online registration to be ordained. 

"Other than the click of a mouse," the 2015 opinion reads, the online ordination was not the required "considered, deliberate, and responsible act."

However, the legality of a wedding then wouldn't be questioned unless it were contested, such as if a couple sought a divorce. Then, the question of whether they were married — and therefore needed a divorce — would have been a matter for a judge.

But starting July 1, Witt said the state law will make the matter clear. If you want to be married legally in Tennessee, don't use an officiant ordained online. 

Online churches protest new law

Representatives for ULC and AMM spoke against the law Tuesday.

Charlie Kay, church administrator with ULC, said ULC was aware of the new law. ULC's website says it is a "multi-denominational religious organization with millions of members all over the world."

The ULC and AMM websites include brief registration ordination forms. Both also include online training on such topics as how to perform weddings and complete license paperwork. Well-known ULC ministers include talk show host Stephen Colbert, musician Paul Mccartney and actor Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson.

"We are really sad that the state of Tennessee has chosen to go after ministers who work really hard to actualize their vision of faith and love in the world," Kay said. "I can say we are looking very closely at the text of the new law and will do whatever we can to protect the legal rights of our ministers in any state of the country and around the world," he said.

The new law is "profoundly out of touch with the values and beliefs of Americans," said AMM Executive Director Lewis King. 

AMM, a "non-profit, interfaith and non-denominational constitutional church," has 13,249 ordained ministers in Tennessee. King said about half of U.S. weddings are performed by family or friends. Tennessee's law "excludes these people, and is profoundly out of touch with the values and beliefs of Americans," he said.

"Rather than rejecting this community of sincere and dedicated people, we ask the state of Tennessee to embrace online-ordained ministers and add language to Tennessee's marriage law that eliminates any gray area by stating unequivocally that 'all ordained ministers' may perform marriage," King said.

Online church hopes to 'correct this misstep'

AMM "looks forward to working with the members of Tennessee's legislature to correct this misstep and ensure that the rights of our ministers are upheld," King said. 

"At his time, we are still exploring a path toward challenging this law in court; however we realize that legal challenges are costly and time consuming. It is our hope that this misstep can be resolved much sooner when lawmakers reconvene after the current recess."

King said AMM plans to contact lawmakers to "help them understand how important this matter is, and how devastating this new law is to them, and the couples they serve." 

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