Friend getting ordained online (WCM)

[OhhhChristina]

I had no idea where to post this so I wanted to post here and get some opinions. One of my close friends has been wanting to become a pastor for a long time. He has felt called for many years into the ministry, but because of his very progressive views he has yet to find a seminary or bible college of any sort that fits into his belief system. He only gets to see his children every other weekend so also needs to stay local to them, which is hard. He started reading up on getting ordained and licensed via online. Originally he found the Universal Life Chuch but quickly realized that the are basically void in our state, seem non-legit, and on top of that he wants to be part of a Christian organization, not an interfaith one. He sent me an e-mail last night that he found a legitimate online one called World Christianship Ministries. He said that because of his progressive views he thinks it may be in his best interest to pay to be licensed through their site and then study the ministry on his own time as well as going to a community college on top of that to take theology and religion classes.

I don't know anything about WCM but haven't found anything saying that they are a scam other than one link online where it was quickly disputed within the comments by people who were certified through WCM and now have their own churches and have been in the ministry for 20+ years...the girl who made the "they're a scam" post based it on the fact that they gave a license to her ex who ended up being physically abusive.

Anyways long story short, has anyone heard of these folks, and what are your opinions? I know that some people go through online ordination routes because they just want to be able to marry two people that other people won't marry etc etc, but I feel that *if they're legitimate* this could be an option if he actually plans to study further and make being a pastor his full-time career.

Thoughts?

 

[tdiddy]

Why does your friend feel the need to be ordained so bad? You can be a pastor without being ordained and you can be ordained without being a pastor. To me it looks like he is just trying to take a shortcut in order to gain credibility instead of being ordained the old fashioned way. That is, serving in a local church and becoming licensed after proving that he is a dedicated Christian for a period of time (6 mos., 2 years, etc.).

That being said, I briefly checked out there website and didn't find anything wrong with it per se, but the fact that I couldn't find some sort of Articles of Faith or Doctrinal Statement readily posted anywhere on their website throws up a red flag to me... but then again that's just me.

What is your friend trying to do? Is he trying to plant a church or trying to get a position is an established church somewhere?

 

[OhhhChristina]

He's trying to begin with having a position in an established and then he wants to eventually start his own and was going to bring me on as youth pastor. I'm not sure what his exact reasoning is other than saying that all the seminaries, bible colleges,etc that he can find (including online courses) are very traditional and since he can't move to a more progressive area (because of his kids) he wants to be able to study on his own but have a "license"

 

[tdiddy]

If he does want to get a position in an established church, some might frown upon the fact that he did get his license online as opposed to the more traditional means. They might be thinking "well why did this guy need to get ordained online instead of in a church or by a denomination? Are his beliefs so different that he had to get his license online?" Now that's not what I would say, but some churches might.

It seems like he wants to have a "license" so that people will take him seriously. But unlike fishing, hunting, driving, etc., God does not require a license to be in ministry. Peter didn't have a "license". Paul didn't have a "license". But one thing they did was spent a significant amount of time (both for about 3 years in fact) in training before taking it to the streets.

For now he should just find a local church to volunteer in, even if they don't line up with all his views. If that doesn't work then he should just start his own church. You already have a congregation of 2. Jesus sent out his disciples in groups of 2. Paul and Barnabbas were a group of 2. Whats stopping you guys?

I guess what I'm trying to say is, he should worry about getting involved in ministry first (as in right now), and then let all of the licensing/ordaining/education/ part of it work itself out later as he is going along.

 

[Macrina]

I would advise against the online-ordination route. Ordination, in my opinion, is a recognition of one's call by a faith community, and that isn't something that can be ordered off the internet.

I really sympathize with your friend's difficulty, though, in not living near a seminary with which he feels a theological connection. Is he a member of a church/denomination? Does he know of a denomination with similar beliefs to his?

Some seminaries offer online coursework, and that might be a possibility.

May I ask what beliefs he holds which makes it difficult to find an appropriate school? I know a bit about some different seminaries, and might have ideas. Is he in the same area as you (I see you are in NC)?

Please feel free to PM me if you'd like. I'd be happy to help if I can.

 

[Child of JC]

things must be different in Canada. Here our pastors have to go to school for 4 years before they can become ordained.

 

[Macrina]

things must be different in Canada. Here our pastors have to go to school for 4 years before they can become ordained.

Most denominations in the US require some kind of Bible college and/or seminary training. My denomination requires 7 years of school with particular academic requirements, and passing a group of tests (as well as other requirements which involve the testing of the call by the faith community, etc). But there are online "churches" which will "ordain" people, meaning that they have legal standing to perform weddings and that kind of thing. An independent congregation might recognize that as a sufficient credential for a pastor, but in most circles it isn't considered a "real" ordination.