Rev Douglas Trouten

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Everything posted by Rev Douglas Trouten

  1. Alhla- Your welcome, as I said that is my interpretation, I personally, even if not required by law, will break the confidence , like Songster said he would, if the confession pertained to harming another (or themselves) or a major crime like Murder or Treason (which could lead to individuals getting killed because of the information or treasonous action, and iirc Treason is the only crime in which the our fore fathers have stated a specific punishment for in the US Constitution). While "cheating" on ones taxes is a crime, it is one that can easily be caught by the IRS if they do an audit, but the individual hasn't cause any physical damage or injury to anyone or anything. Ultimately it breaks down in my book as follows: 1) Gossip (Cheating on taxes, having an affair, past drug use, traffic violations, in appropriate thoughts about a member of the opposite or same gender, etc...) you keep to yourself even after the individual is gone. releasing said confession is nothing more then gossip. 2) Criminal activity (Planning Murder, bank robbery, arson, committing the acts, along with acts such as crimes against a child, suicide threats, rape of an individual, intentionally maiming/causing bodily harm {now if it was say a fight that was unplanned I would count that as gossip}, treason, etc...) you inform the proper authorities, as these individuals are a danger to others and themselves. Again what we tell you is only our opinions and not legal advice, for legal advice you need to speak to a lawyer.
  2. As emalpaiz stated you are free to create (hold) your on style of worship. IIRC the service held in Modesto at the ULCHQ is not a normal structured service, anyone is allowed to take the pulpit and talk about their religion even if its say Buddhism or Christianity or Judaism. They can also if they so wish lead the attending congregation in the reading of religious texts. The group I call my congregation consists of now (not counting myself) about 8 people. All we do is sit around and talk about what our religious beliefs are, what we could do to help others, etc... my group is an eclectic group, we have Agnostics, a Jew, a Catholic, an Atheist, Protestants, a Hindu and a Pagan Witch in the group. We dont meet weekly like most congregations, instead meeting once every other week. We don't pass around a collection plate, though we all do chip in a couple bucks for pizzas, usually having just enough for the pizzas, some two litters of pop and the tip for the delivery person. We meet at the house of one of the members during the colder months and when the weather warrants it, during the late spring, summer and early fall when its warm out and the weather is nice we will meet up at a park, and instead of pizza we might do a BBQ, with me bringing riblets or hotdogs, someone else bringing chips, someone bringing a salad, someone bringing drinks, etc... even if someone brings something that a member cant eat due to religious reason (like the pork riblets) we do make sure there is an alternative that they can eat. Your congregation could follow a structured worship service found in say a Catholic, Presbyterian, Mormon, Pentecostal, Orthadox, etc... church or a more relaxed format similar to what I use (and as I said, iirc, what the ULCHQ uses). Ultimately it is up to you and your congregation (as determined by the Board of Directors if your congregation is organized to have one for making the decisions on the operations of the church).
  3. Typically anything said in a confession should remain in confidence and not be discussed even after the individuals death, to do so otherwise could be viewed as defamation of character, even if it is true. There are exceptions, most if not all of the States in the US require Priest, rabbis, Imams, etc... to report any confessions relating to child abuse or molestation (both non sexual and sexual). Some states even take it further and require you to report any cases of abuse, molestation, or harm to others that is confessed to you, this can also include self harm such as the individual informing you they plan to commit suicide, though for a possible suicide you should be keeping them there and watch them until medical help arrives anyways so they can be put on suicide watch. I myself have no issues with a religious figure breaking the oath of confession to in form the proper authorities, if the individual confesses to committing harm against another, the plans to harm another, suicidal threats, or even plans to commit or having committed a major crime such as Bank Robbery, Arson, etc... This way if they are planning on committing the act and do follow through the authorities have a suspect, and the religious figure doesn't have to worry about being brought up on charges as an accessory to the crime (since they knew about the plans before the crime happened) or a lawsuit if the victim (or their family) find out that the religious figure knew about the suspects plans. Other things no matter how juicy the confession might be you keep secret the rest of your life. If Mayor Joe or Senator Mike comes to you and confesses having an affair behind their spouses back sleeping with a hot young model, while the local news, national news or tabloids would love to get the story (along with the political opponents so they can use it to discredit or blackmail the one who confessed to you), it must remain a secret, unless the above mentioned affair was with a minor (in this case the laws would view the affair as sexual molestation of a minor, or statutory rape even if the minor consented to the affair). Another example would be if someone came and confessed to using drugs recreationally while, and they are now in an important position withing their work or they have political aspirations, even though this information could ruin them you keep it secret and never inform. Easiest advice short of suggesting you talk to an actual lawyer (which is legally the only way you can get legal advice) is to use your judgement and ask yourself is the individual confessing causing or planing to case harm to others, or themselves or commit a major crime? if the individual did commit the acts with you knowing about it would you be able to have that on your conscious and live with the guilt especially if some one is seriously injured or even killed?
  4. Again welcome to the forums and the ULC. Pete has already answered some of you questions I will try to help out and elaborate where I can. 1) The pastor of the universal life church, he has the right in its country or state, to build its own place of worship as pastor of professionally ulcers (installation of a physical church to do there Offices and celebrations) or only online?Depending on your State's (Country's) laws you can do either, have a physical church or an online ministry, or both. we have ministers around the world that do both those options, while others only do one. 2) If so, can he wear the priest / pastor cassock Roman collar?As Pete said you can wear what every you (or your religion dictates) want to, as long as you follow your country's laws. Some of our ministers go for a nice Polo style shirt while others go for the cassock, others wear the clergy shirts 9either with the tabbed collar or the full "ring" collar), while others were a robe such as a pulpit robe or a druids robe (if they are a Druidic priest), etc... 3) If the pastor at his place of worship, can you make it a website for his church, referring to its membership in the Universal Life Curch?Yes, just make sure that if you do refer to the Universal Life Church you are directing visitors on your website to either here (ulc.net) or to the ULCHQ.com website, as these are the only two official and authorized ULC websites. Also be aware there is two ULC groups, one a splinter group that was at one time affiliated with the ULCHQ until they were hostilely taken over and another that has no ties at all and has harassed ULC minister in the past. 4) The Pastor is ordered and just independent, or is it official pastor of the ULC? In other words, he has the right to use the name of the Universal Life Church to stand as pastor?As a ULC Ordained Minister you are independent yet at the same time an official ULC minister. You can operate your ministry as you see fit, and use the Universal Life Church name, as long as you are acting withing the law and with integrity. You can also once you form a board of directors to run the church (you need at least three people, the Pastor {you}, a secretary and a treasurer), send in Congregation Agreement to the ULCHQ, along with a $35USD filing fee, and apply for affiliation. Doing so you will be on file with the ULCHQ as an affiliated congregation as long as you continue to operate withing the law and send in your monthly reports along with $5USD per month filing fee (the reports can be sent in quarterly also, if going this route the filing fee is $15USD per quarter). 5) In my country in Belgium, the marriage is official by the town hall, the pastor of the ULC can therefore perform a religious celebration lawfully by issuing a simple certificate and then send the bride and groom to the authorities to make their union official ?Typically I would say the the Bride and Groom should first have the civil ceremony performed by the official, probably earlier in the day, then you wold perform a religious ceremony. Doing it this way will help keep everything legal, you can't be accused of marrying a couple illegally, as all you will be doing is confirming their marriage that has already been done by the government official, in the name of God. I know this is what some of our Brothers and Sisters outside of the US do because of their nations laws are similar to your's on marriages. 6) The pastor may also after his ordination, perform an exorcism see baptism as pastor of the ULC?As a ULC minister you are entitled to perform any and all duties of a Minister from weddings to funerals to baptisms, etc... as long as you do so within the laws of where you live (Town, district/region, province, national). 7) Can you make it recognize the place of worship of the ULC by the authorities of his country?This all depends on your nations laws. Since I am from the US and not familiar with Belgian laws I cannot say how you would do this. Best advice is talk to a lawyer, they should hopefully be able to help you and give you the proper information to operate within the law.
  5. The files are in the Starting_a_congregation folder (at least they are on my copy of the disc), you can also download them from here with the link provided above. I will also reprevide the link in this post, the files for a congregation agreement, Board of Directors meeting minutes, Board of Directors resolutions, and the monthly reports can be found here http://www.ulc.net/index.php?page=formsAt that link the forms are available for download separately in the following formats, RTF, Word and PDF or as a download with all formats and all files in one convenient .zip file
  6. Got both a Doctor of Divinity and a Doctor of the Universe fromthe ULC in Feb 2015. Looking forward to doing moreof the courses offered by the ULC, just don't know what one to do next.

    1. Key

      Key

      In case ya hadn't read, gots ma PhD now, too!

      Decide your next course yet?

    2. Rev Douglas Trouten

      Rev Douglas Trouten

      I am leaning towards the PhD, S.O.U.L. Clinic, or Doctor of Universal Life. Then again any of the certificates for the Degrees will look good on my wall hanging with my D.D. Doctor of the Universe, Credential, Sainthood, Religious Title (picked up the reverend one back in Nov 2014 just for the pretty paper, will be getting the Pastoral Counselor title when I have completed the S.O.U.L. Clinic course), and my Ohio Ministers License. Yeah I am starting to collect pretty looking paper to hang on...

  7. You can order one from the ULCHQ in Modesto along with the other forms that the HQ will require or recommend you use once your congregation is approved, they are also available on the Wedding Words and More Disc for sale here at ULC.net (a great resource with a plethora of useful information for you and engaged couples who come to you to marry them along with some nice extras such as the forms) or as a download here http://www.ulc.net/index.php?page=forms I do recommend you read the Congregation Agreement before you fill it out and send it in, it details what you and your congregations requirements to the ULCHQ are (a $35 donation/initial filing fee and the Monthly (or Quarterly) reports along with a $5/month donation/filing fee). Now don't quote me on this I may be wrong, once your congregation gets its ULCHQ affiliation, while you are part of the ULC you are still an independent congregation and have to apply for your own Tax ID (both Federal and State), incorporation with your state or municipality, etc... Its up to your congregations board of directors to make sure your congregation is within all laws relating to non-profit and/or tax exempt status's (if the congregation applies for these status's) and to know what activities are and are not covered by said status (ie holding a bake sale to raise money for say a new roof or to help operate a soup kitchen or homeless shelter is acceptable as a tax free venture but operating a gas station isn't, your congregation would have to pay taxes on all profits from the gas station). Remember in order to start a congregation you need at least three people who are 18 years of age or older, the Pastor (you?), the Secretary and the Treasurer 9these are the three required to sign the agreement), though I would suggest having a couple more members on the Board so it totals maybe 5-9 members (if you have your own building you can then have other officies for the additional Board members such as Director of Youth Services {Sunday School}, Director of Facility Maintenance {head of a committee that insures that the Church and its property are maintained}, etc...). One of the first things the Board of directors will need to do is come up with a set of by-laws for the Church and its operations, a good source to get an idea on running a Board meeting is the book "Robert's Rules of Order" this book is about the parliamentary procedures that your Board of directors will be using to make, amend, debate, vote, etc... on motions related to the churches operations, such as the motion to set aside funds raised to help Rev. Joe Blow offset the cost to go to the ULCHQ convention in Modesto, CA, or a motion for the church to purchase new robes for the choir to were for choir competitions and special occasions such as a Christmas service.
  8. TobyJ96, I am going to guess you received the order from the ULCHQ in Modesto, correct? The Universal Life Church Agreement is if you have a congregation that you would like to affiliate with (ie be sanctioned by) the ULCHQ in Modesto, CA. Before you can have a congregation affiliated with Modesto you do need to have a board of directors consisting of at least three individuals, the pastor, the treasurer and the secretary. if you do decide to go this route you are obligated to send in a $35donation (a filing fee) with the agreement, after that you have a $5 per month donation along with either monthly or quarterly reports (the $5/month can be sent in monthly or quarterly as a $15 "donation") If you don't have a congregation or you don't want to worry about being affiliated/sanctioned with ULCHQ right now you can ignore the Agreement. Even though I have a "congregation" (its a informal group of myself and now 8 others), we have opted not to go the sanctioning route since 1) we are an informal group, 2) the only money we handle is the money we all pitch in to order pizzas and 3) we dont have any board of directors nor do we plan on having one. Also welcome to the ULC family and the forums.
  9. While you might not legally able to perform the civil (legally registered) part of the ceremony you could still perform a Religious ceremony. For this the couple are married at the Courthouse, City Hall, etc... by an authorized public official, then they have a Ceremony done afterwards performed by you for the family and friends. The couple will still be legally married still get the Religious Ceremony performed by you. Instead of you signing and giving the couple the Marriage License (their copy) you would give them a Marriage Certificate, the ones sold by both the ULCHQ and the ULC.net stores (or the ones you print off if you have the Wedding Words and More disc available from the store here at ULC.net) are attractive certificates to give to the couples on their wedding day for them to put on display.
  10. Well finished the books for the Doctor of the Universe Course. My initial remarks above about re. Kirby still stand he was one unique (and interesting) individual from what he has to say in the Prophet series. Reread the the books 3 times before taking the exam (which I passed, yay). Definitely looking forward to doing some of the other ULC courses (SOUL Clinic is one of the top ones on my list).
  11. I am reading The Prophet Books for the Doctor of the Universe course right now (just got them Monday and just started reading them so still on book one: The Prophet as I type this), and I have to say it is interesting and Kirby was a unique individual. I already know I am going to have to go back and reread the books after I finish them. I think the Doctor of the Universe course is one that is intended to try to get one to think outside the box and not blindly follow a religion. As I said so far its an interesting read. I won't elaborate since if you haven't read the books or done the course I don't want to spoil it for you.
  12. email addy's are still available, got mine back a couple months ago in the later part of 2014
  13. As far as I know from my research, Mississippi doesn't require a Minister to Register. From looking at the Rankin County website it looks like only the Couple needs to register 9to get their marriage license). There are only 11 states and 2 cities (NYC and Washington DC) I believe that have any registering requirements, I posted the info for all of them that i could find in the New Members & FAQ section under Ohio Minister registration to Solemnize Marriages heres the link to the posts http://ulc.net/forum/index.php/topic/132910-ohio-minister-registration-to-solemnize-a-marriage/ Hopefully this helps.
  14. Looking forward to another great year with the ULC and ULC.net Forums. You guys are the Best.

  15. How about a Priest listening to Priest, Judas Priest that is, LOL Or how about a minister who is also a certified Diver listening to Holy Diver by Dio?
  16. That's one of the things I love about the ULC and you guys, it isn't all If you don't believe in the teachings of ______ then you are a) going to ______ or b) nothing to me and I don't care about what you think since you are wrong. we as the ULC are open to all beliefs. The ULC was founded by Rev. Kirby Hensley who was a Christian, he opened his church to those of all faiths, and held us all equally, recognizing that while we all might have different belief systems, we are one. The ULC and Rev. Hensley's belief of Doing that Which is Right, is one that is sorely lacking with some of the Major Religions, where members of those Religions feel that doing that which is right means forcing their beliefs upon others.
  17. It all depends on, there are times where the forums has very little activity for a few weeks, then you have an influx of activity for a couple days, then it slows down again. Over all I would say we have a core group that is active of about 18 or so members (this includes the Admin Team and Mod Team).
  18. Welcome back Brother Geordon, Glad you found your way back to the ULC fold. We are a pretty laid back group here. Feel free to jump in any of the topics here, and if you have any questions don't hesitate to ask them.
  19. Everything I was able to find pertained to the couple getting married. Such as they have to have all required documents translated into Spanish by a Consulate of the Dominican Republic, and need to contact the American Consulate in Santo Domingo for permission to marry, and the couple needs to have a notice of the intended wedding to be published. If the couple is set on getting married down there they can do a civil ceremony where a government official marries them and then have you perform a Religious Ceremony afterwards.
  20. Ask almost any school aged child and they will tell you that any book that they are required to read is evil, especially those school text books they have for each subject. LOL
  21. I know where you are coming from. I myself am a nerd, played AD&D, Magic: The Gathering, etc... in middle school and high school. Had a friend of the family constantly trying to tell me that I was going to Hell for playing those Demonic games. The thing is for AD&D, majority of the players play Good Characters fighting Evil, yet you have people who still claim that is is an evil game. Its all because of short sighted people who look for the easiest scapegoat to blame for everything. Granted you have had some individuals who have difficulty telling fantasy from reality. Take the Tom Hanks movie, Mazes and Monsters, it was supposedly based on a true story of a Michigan State Student who disappeared,which at the time the news in accurately reported it was due to Dungeons and Dragons, even though this wasn't the case, he went to the Steam tunnels below the campus to commit suicide due to sever depression, and when that failed he ran away, only later to be found down in the Southern US. This movie and the false news reports are a couple of the things that has lead to a Negative Perception of RPGs. I don't play AD&D anymore other then on the computer (Baldurs gate, Icewind Dale and Neverwinter Nights). I have moved to playing some miniature wargames by a company called Two Hour Wargames, specifically their Zombie Survival game and post Apocalypse game, along with one of their Starship/Spaceship combat games. What I like about THW is that the games can be played solo, co-op or against other players, and you can combine the rules for different games such as their WWII squad level combat game, Nuts, with their Zombie survival game, All Things Zombie or if you do the Zombie/Post apoc game combo they have rules for gladiatorial fighting that you can use in your game along with another post apoc style game called Qwik (based on the game in the movie Salute of the Juggers). Luckily these games can't really be called "Evil" since technically depending on the game they can be viewed as a Historical re-enactment (Nuts the WWII game or FNG the Vietnam.Modern Day combat game) or as a Sci-Fi re-enactment (All Things Zombie you can re-enact Movies like Night of the Living Dead, or 5150: Fighter Command, the Space fighter combat game, can be used to re-enact the dog fights in Star wars of the Rebels vs the Empire), though you probably will have those who try to claim they are evil.
  22. I thought the tickle conspiracy was real, what what was they you said pickle not tickle, sorry my bad had earplugs in due to having to use a jackhammer to chip away at the granite for the base of the Solid Murphanium statue of the Murph. as for the questions posted by M Palmeri 1) When the subject of your Ordination surfaces up do you disclose where you were ordained and do you ever meet resistance as a result? Not really the one time I did, I was able to point out that the ULC is an established church with an actual building and offices where regular services are held, and if in Modesto Californiaone can even visit the church building it one has doubts about the legitimacy of the church and the ordinations they issue. I also stress that I wasn't ordained online, only thing that happens online is the submission of the request for ordination and the comfimation of ordination, the actual acceptance of the request and ordination is done by a real living person who works at the church itself. 2) What, if anything, did you decide to do with your status of minister? I have used mine to perform a couple ceremonies, and I do hold services for a small congregation of 5 or so friends of mine. 3) Has anyone created a non-profit in the interest of growing your ministry and has it been helpful? What hurdles have you faced when doing so? Nope havent went the non-profit route.
  23. For those of us who live where Thanksgiving is celebrated, I hope everyone has a Safe Thanksgiving, and enjoys the time they spend with friends and family. Please remember if you are going to be partaking in libations to drink responsibly and have a designated driver who hasn't been drinking lined up to drive you home, if you are celebrating away from home.
  24. Just got some Avery Gold Foil 2" Notarial seals (Avery Product 5868). They took the embossing pretty good, can't wit to start using them on the wedding, marriage, vow renewal, affirmation of love and baptism certificates. Image of one of the foil seals has been attached.
  25. Other then local cover bands or local bands that play at the local festivals and/or battle of the bands, I have only been to three "big name bands" concerts Grand Funk Railroad (a local band that hit it big) Styx The Commodores would love to see Alice Cooper. Boston, Creedence Clearwater Revival/Revisited, REO Speedwagon, Rush, Kansas, Bruce Springsteen, Bob Seger, and just about any other classic rock band.