To conduct ministerial work such as a wedding, you may need an ordained minister certifiate. Contact local authorities to find out the rules in your area.

Engaged couples often prefer to have a friend or family member perform their wedding ceremony. After getting ordained online, that individual might be wondering, “Do I have to have an ordained minister certificate to perform a wedding ceremony?” Unfortunately there isn’t a straight-forward answer, but there is an easy way to find out.

The easiest way to become ordained is to contact the Universal Life Church, an organization that provides ordination for free to anyone who asks.  They offer many different types of documentation to prove your status in the church in order to perform weddings, start ministries, preside over funerals, and baptize people.  To find out if you need an ordained minister certificate, you should contact the office that will issue the marriage license for the couple, or if you are performing another ministerial act, contact local government authorities, as every jurisdiction is free to set the rules by which you must abide, and even within the same area rules can differ greatly.

A small handful of locations do not recognize weddings performed by ministers who became ordained for the sole purpose of officiating weddings unless you also minister to a live congregation. In those areas, you must actually practice as a minister with your ULC certificate, and this can include meeting regularly to break bread with your family (after-all, many recognized churches, including the infamous Westboro Baptist Church, are just a nuclear families).

Regardless of whether you plan on going through divinity school or ordering a minister certificate from the ULC, you need to check with your county’s licensing office to see if you can legally perform a wedding. These offices go by different names in different locations, but every county will have an office that issues marriage licenses. They will know the specific requirements for someone to legally officiate a wedding ceremony, including the paperwork you will need to fill out. The requirements vary greatly from county to county.

Another option is to become a Justice of the Peace, which is a state civilian official similar to a notary public. The requirements vary from state to state. Most states have the requirements listed on the website of the Secretary of State. Typically, the prospective Justice must have an immaculately clean criminal background, be a resident of the state for several years, complete a training program, and undergo an exhaustive background check. The application and approval process can take several months or longer, as there may be many others ahead of you in the process. This is not a solution that can be carried out at the last minute.