Is Universal Life Church A Denomination?

[BpCorey]

my karma just ran over your dogma

[Pete]

There's a scene in Dogma which expresses this concept nicely. I stumbled across it again this afternoon, and since I love me some good irony I'll quote the passage as if it were scriptural canon:

Bethany: "So if we're wrong, then what's the right religion?"

Serendipity: "When are you people going to learn? It's not about who's right or wrong. No denomination's nailed it yet, because they're all too self-righteous to realize that it doesn't matter what you have faith in, just that you have faith. Your hearts are in the right place, but your brains gotta wake up."

"A rose by any other name would smell as sweet" - Shakespear

[Fawzo]

I just noticed that denomination spells out "I Demon nation" just a coincidence, methinks NOT

[Seeker]

ULC denomination is "a cult do in nomine". Or maybe just an Unclaimed notion.

Just sayin'

Edited August 30, 2013 by Seeker

[Rev Douglas Trouten]

IIRC the We are One Introduction Booklet that comes in the Credential kits says to put on the marriage license Universal Life Church for the Denomination or Church name, I think did read somewhere else if it asks for the church put the ULC down and if it asked for a denomination then just pule Universal Life.

I can fully see us claiming Universal Life as our denomination, as Rev. Kirby J. Hensley said we are all one people no matter what religion we follow (at least that is what I was told or that I read somewhere).

[Qryos]

~ Just simply a church that legalizes the ordination of individuals of whatever denomination...

Jeepers y'all, ya wanta go denominating & such, how about starting with politicians before they're nominated?

... I'm not gonna be politi-polluting anything, so don't worry about denominating me!

[sean4554]

Thank you to all who responded. It appears that beyond form instructions ULC hasn't actually said much on this. Is it *important*? Not really, I guess not, but I wanted to have an informed answer to what many people (at least those outside of the ULC) might think is a pretty basic question. I'm surprised that it seems as though few of us have been asked this, when it came to me literally within weeks of joining. The lack of a solid consensus certainly is interesting though.

PS/ Welcome to the forum Sean4554

Thanks Pete! Much appreciated. :-)

[BpCorey]

wait until you get our bill

[Kingfisher]

my karma just ran over your dogma

Jesus' karma ran over my dogma, now when I see him on the street I pretend I don't know him.

[Seeker]

So you're the anathema!

[sean4554]

wait until you get our bill

I got it...the check's in the mail. :-)

[Pete]

Thank you to all who responded. It appears that beyond form instructions ULC hasn't actually said much on this. Is it *important*? Not really, I guess not, but I wanted to have an informed answer to what many people (at least those outside of the ULC) might think is a pretty basic question. I'm surprised that it seems as though few of us have been asked this, when it came to me literally within weeks of joining. The lack of a solid consensus certainly is interesting though.

Thanks Pete! Much appreciated. :-)

I guess (and others may have a differing opinion) that what matters is what denomination you personally are. I have been very conservative to very liberal in my faith, but the ULC has still been there for me.

Whats this about a Cost and a Bill ? The ULC has never charged me a penny but I have got so much from the organisation and its varied and wonderful members.

[emalpaiz]

I have "A TEXTBOOK About The Universal Life Church" which clarifies a lot of things about the ULC. This is a Church; this is a universal church in the true sense of universal: everyone is welcome.

[Jmacfry]

Interesting debate! I love the reference to Dogma. This is an issue I will have to meditate on before posting a firm stance, but at the moment I am leaning towards universal life as a denomination.

[ULCneo]

On 8/26/2013 at 6:35 PM, sean4554 said:

I was discussing the ULC with a friend and he asked if the Church is an actual denomination. My reply was the ULC is a liberal religious organization, and I am not sure if 'denomination' applies here as it isn't exactly a Christian religious organization (like the Methodists, Presbyterians, etc.) - although many members/ministers are Christian, many are not.

Are there any official statements on this, or...?

In ULC V. United States, way back in the 1970s, the ULC admitted under oath to being formally organized as a Christian Church.

[mark 45]

if you keep in mind that kirby was a christian minister before he started the church,you would be correct.however to say that the ulc is a christian church would be incorrect.

[Rev. Calli]

23 hours ago, mark 45 said:

if you keep in mind that kirby was a christian minister before he started the church,you would be correct.however to say that the ulc is a christian church would be incorrect.

Greetings to you all my sisters and brothers,

I agree with our brother mark45.  If I remember my ULC history correctly, Rev. Hensley used this passage out of the Gospel of John to justify ordaining anyone who asked for ordination:

John 15:16  You did not choose me but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask him in my name. 

So in a sense, the ULC does have a Christian basis to it  But, and this is really key here, at no time Rev. Hensley ever intend the ULC to be just another Christian Church.  The ULC was founded in large part because Kirby did not believe that any religion had it right in regards to God.  All, without exception in his view, were wrong.  

To be perfectly truthful, the ULC was also founded as a tax protest movement.  In the book "Con Men:  Fascinating Profiles of Swindlers and Rogues from the Files of the Most Successful Broadcast in Television History"  Morley Safer of "60 Minutes:" states that Hensleys mission was, in fact, to make every American a tax-exempt Minister.  

Now in fairness, we have to keep in mind that this was in the 60's and 70's.  Personally, I believe that the UC has grown and become something very different than what Rev. Hensley originally envisioned.  It is not a Christian church or an atheist church.  It is a church that encompasses all beliefs and no beliefs.  It is a church that empowers all people to proclaim their own understanding of God.

In solidarity,

Rev. Calli

 

 

[cuchulain]

All things have a basis to them...that does not mean all things retain that same basis in their evolution, nor that they have the entirety of that basis within them.  Learning means changing.

[Rev. Calli]

1 hour ago, cuchulain said:

All things have a basis to them...that does not mean all things retain that same basis in their evolution, nor that they have the entirety of that basis within them.  Learning means changing.

Greetings to you my brother,

Very true.  Just as individuals change and can become something quite different that what they started out as so to do institutions.  

In solidarity,

Rev. Calli

[FredClaus]

On 8/26/2013 at 3:39 PM, Pete said:

Denominations usually have a common belief. The ULC opens its doors to all beliefs and does not stipulate a creed. It leaves that up to each individual. So I would go with the ULC is a Universal Church and not a denomination but some of its members may also be members of other differing denominations of their choosing.

PS/ Welcome to the forum Sean4554

In my area we now have plenty of "Non-Denominational" churches. Would that be where the ULC falls?