Spirituality Course

The Spirit-Quest course is just what I needed. From the very first lesson I received, my life started to change for the better. From the first lesson, I realized I needed to make a list of spiritual goals such as losing weight and quit smoking in order to be healthier and to be able to respect my body as well as my spirit better since I believe that my body is a temple that should be treated very well. With the lesson on forgiveness, I needed to learn how to forgive people including myself. I had built up anger and resentments through my life which cause me to have temper tantrums and anger outbursts. After writing some letters to the people that I felt anger and resentful towards, a lot of that anger and resentful feelings just disappeared. 

Another lesson I gained a lot from was the lesson that dealt with competition, both physical and spiritual. I was an athlete from elementary school through my sophomore year in high school. I was always driven to win that game that we were playing. But I was always telling myself and other people how much better I was than them which are spiritual competition which isn’t good. I realize that now after taking this course that I am no better and no worse than anyone else that I know or will come to know. Because of this spiritual competition, I spent a lot of time being isolated and separated from people and God. 

I also learned to speak in the positive since that is what the universe hears. I am still working on improving my speaking in the positive since I have been speaking in the negative pretty much all my life. I liked the lesson on amusement. Since I work in a big grocery store, a lot of people come through so I sometimes try to amuse the customers as they check out. I am working on be more amusing and less sarcastic which at times is amusing when the time is right.

Another lesson that stuck out at me is the lesson on music. There are some songs that just vibrate with me just the right way. If I am having a bad day, music will be able to turn that around and I will finish that day out pretty happy since the music resonates with me real good. The lesson in asking the right questions was a great lesson for me. A lot of the times, I end up asking the question in a bad way and then I get a bad response to that question or don’t get the answer I was looking for. Sometimes, I will have a question but don’t ask it which is considered omission and also a case of not asking the right question. I also found some things interesting from the lesson about pain. The thing that I really liked about the pain lesson was the Emotional Cellular Release Therapy that was mentioned and described how emotions like anger and resentment are stored in our bodies in different places and if these emotions sit there long enough, they will create illness. The money lesson was a very important lesson to me because I am one of those people who would never worry about money and I would go out and shop to buy things because that is how I valued money. But since reading this lesson, the way I have valued money is not the way I want to value it anymore. I did some meditating on this and decided to come up with a budget to live within and the budget includes pay off my credit card bill which has a sizable (at least to me) balance on it. I am viewing money as a safety net for the future, my retirement, and for unexpected emergencies. I think that money does symbolize power and status, at least here in the United States. I am not after money for the status of having it or the power that might come with it. I am just using it as a safety net so that I can lead a decent life so I can help others in their lives too.

I found this course very worthy while and will keep each lesson that was e-mailed to me so I can review them more times in the future. There are a lot of great things that I have learned from this course. I will keep incorporating things from Spirit-Quest into my life. 

Rev. Michael Barth

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Spirituality Course

Lesson 11

I find the concept expressed in this lesson very intriguing in view of its content to someone brought up with traditional Christianity. We have always been in this world and have difficulty in accepting that it is all an illusion. Our thoughts are too closely aligned to our world and the need to escape from the world is obvious. True prayer is the answer, I have no doubt, to bring us closer to God through the Holy Spirit, and to the real life that comes with that closeness. The prayer visualisations give me the chance to meditate upon the thoughts shown in each lesson, concentrating the mind more completely. I would recommend that the visualisations are followed closely to concentrate the mind on things beyond our immediate world.. This brings a closer union with God and should pave the way for miracles to happen.

I do not feel that I have yet experienced what I would call a miracle but I have found a certain peace and closeness in the Spirit. I am concentrating more on giving and receiving love and hope that, with a fuller knowledge of the Course, I may realise the light of miracles available to me.

Rev. Derek Kemp

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Ordination with the Universal Life Church, is free,  and lasts for life, so use the Free Online Ordination, button. 

The  ULC, run by Rev. Long, has created a chaplaincy program to help train our ministers and lots of free online sermons for your use. We also have a huge catalog of Universal Life Church materials.  I've been ordained with the Universal Life Church for many years and it's Seminary since the beginning and have loved watching the continual growth of the seminary.
 

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Spirituality Course

Comments on Lesson 13 – Dr of Spirituality Course

I must admit that I have found this a difficult lesson to consider. As a traditional Christian, I have always regarded death as something we all have to face at the end of our lives but now we discover that death does not exist! I can follow the theoretical reasoning for this but the practicalities are much more difficult. It needs much closer study and thought to come to an acceptance of this idea, but I hope that in the future I shall be able both to accept and put forward a reasonable explanation. I hope that buying the book on which this course is based will help towards greater understanding. At this stage , I would not like to try to explain this idea to someone else unless they had at least some knowledge of the subject of this lesson and an open mind to consider the impact of it.

My own view of death is of a door opening to reveal the light of Christ and the eternal presence of God into whose Kingdom we will all come eventually. This is how I would treat this matter if I  was involved  closely with a bereavement. I would  try to show that death is not the final end it looks like but a restarting of a life so infinitely better than the present one, however good that may seem to people now.

I realise that life lives in the mind as pointed out in the lesson and that life is love which cannot be destroyed and carries on as the spirit in the renewed life we shall lead in the future. We need to show love at all times as this brings out forgiveness allowing us to go forward in God's blessing having passed that forgiveness to everyone. I particularly like the homily and would use at least some of it should I be called upon to officiate at some future occasion. The prayer following in the lesson is more comforting than many of the prayers one finds in more traditional services and would be more acceptable, particularly if used at  a funeral service where those present and the families had no firm religious ties.

One must truly believe in the everlasting spirit in everyone, which is going to continue when this life is over, and pray for the Holy Spirit's guidance in our conversations on this subject to help us to put forward the Truth.

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Ordination with the Universal Life Church, is free,  and lasts for life, so use the Free Online Ordination, button. 

The  ULC, run by Rev. Long, has created a chaplaincy program to help train our ministers and lots of free online sermons for your use. We also have a huge catalog of Universal Life Church materials.  I've been ordained with the Universal Life Church for many years and it's Seminary since the beginning and have loved watching the continual growth of the seminary.  We enable people to use distance learning to improve their lives.

 

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Spiritual Course

Denise L. Graves

Lesson 2

1.       Think about something for which you have been praying. Now write a prayer that prays from the perspective of your new understanding of what God, His Son and you really are.

a.        I am the daughter of God who lacks nothing.  For joy, peace, love, completeness, unity, purpose and eternity: I am grateful.  The manifestations of things such as a comfortable fuel efficient vehicle, an airy comfortable, real wood and plenty of windows house with great green space, wonderful neighbors and a loving growth oriented life companion, a hosts of diverse friends, meaningful life giving work, vitality and perfect health are exceptional manifestations of my abundant inheritance from God.  I surrender to manifestations that are greater than what I know and accept the right knowing of God regarding those manifestations.  I let go of all barriers to my good and relax with love for divine right time for my life.

2.       Imagine the comfort you would feel if you were able to fully accept the fact that you are loved beyond measure. Think of the miracles that will occur in your life when you are able to accept the fullness of your complete worthiness. Write a prayer that asks for these conditions and a few paragraphs describing the way your world will change when receive that for which you have asked.

a.        Dear God,

I image radiance in my countenance, thought, and words and breathe as I experience complete joy and peace moving through time in my vehicle, living in my mansion occupied by loving family and friends.  I no longer experience tightness in my stomach as my life changes and transitions occur. I no longer see my present and future with my eyes of the past.

1.       My world is warmer and the sun shines constantly warming my body and providing me with more vitality to serve others.  I see myself unafraid of scrutiny by those I feel are in authority judging and criticizing me because God is my only means and answer.  Or because my reality of God is always loving, giving, informing and inviting me to be as I am intended by God at my birth.  I boldly love and speak with and before people, giving life sustaining words and actions. 

2.       The work I do does not conform to routines that rob me of energy, challenge the execution of my intuition of interfere with revealing work with others to their great original self.  In this world, these people and other move through families, communality and faith communities, healing and being healed.  The illusions of death are reduced, youth people find great joy and peace in a life as an offspring of God entitled to and provided with their greatest good.  In this world there would be career redirection.  There would be a decreased need for law enforcement and more peace makers.  Elected officials would see through veils of deception and ego.  They would represent earnestly the self interest of their service population.  And each person will see themselves and expressions of God, whose inheritance can be drawn upon at anytime.

Thoughts:

After the visualization I fought myself unashamed that I truly love people and want our encounters to be harmonious with experiences of great peace.  I found myself forgiving myself for harboring negative thoughts, repeating negative words and stories and well as condemning myself for taking risks whose outcomes have not always appeared favorable.  I found myself surrendering to rest and release circular thinking. 

Early in life, I knew my deep spiritual connection. Later I became annoyed that I did not fit into the illusion of normalcy.  Most recently, I have shared close spaces with others and have not felt out of place, over loving, too affectionate or positive.  I don’t think it had much to do with other peoples’ thoughts.  It had to do with my surrender to my divine nature and willingness to be my most authentic self because nothing else fit.  I find myself teaching, listening, playing, having fun and standing up to religious authority figures with grace, truth and confidence.  I am peace.  I am loved. I am provided for.

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The Universal Life Church is a comprehensive online seminary where we have various classes in Christianity, one on Wicca, along with several Pagan courses, more than a few courses about Metaphysics with more being added regularly.

Ordination with the Universal Life Church, is free, legal and lasts for life, so please take advantage of our Free Online Ordination.

The  ULC, run by Rev. Long, has created a chaplaincy program to help train our ministers. We also have a huge catalog of minister supplies.  I've been ordained with the Universal Life Church for many years and am proud to have started the Seminary.

Try our new free toolbar at: ULC Toolbar

Spirituality Course

SPIRITUALITY COURSE

I was very pleased that the first lesson recognized that there is a re-emergence of Spirituality, even now, within the current extreme materiality that has been with us over the last century.  I was additionally pleased that the author has recognized that many individuals have gone beyond "traditional religion" in their Spiritual Lives.

I put quotes around the phrase "traditional religion" because anthropology and history have revealed that over the thousands of years of human history people have held so many different religions and religious practices that it is impossible to call any one of them "traditional". Among all cultures there are records of those who have gone beyond their traditions.  It is these individuals who are held as the shining lights of their cultures.

Never the less, Spirituality or the spiritual impulse has moved within humanity even longer and more universally throughout all cultures than religion, per se.  This becomes clear when we look at the most ancient of the Shamanistic traditions.  It is clear that Spirituality moved within the human heart from the beginning and that initially, religions formed naturally as a way for people to try and make sense of the spiritual experiences they were having.

Unfortunately, some denominations devolved to become only concerned with bureaucracy and cash flow.  As a method of revitalizing the Spiritual core of the human experience, Philosophy became a study.  The author has given us an excellent review of some of the key 'moments" in the history of philosophy.  But, these ideas are presented as if they had up sprung in a vacuum.  There has been no discussion of the religious ideas and historical events that were occurring at the same time and in many cases were the impetus for the philosophical explorations (such events as war, the Spanish Inquisition, the exploitation of the poor, etc.).  Never the less, the presentation has been extremely impressive and parallels my own studies.  I addition to the author's observation that "…mysticism was recognized by science as being the ultimate truth of all things" (Lesson #3) a quote was discovered by a prominent physicist who, after studying the nature of matter for a lifetime, concluded that the Universe is a thought in the Mind of God.

What is Philosophy?  For simplicity's sake, let us say that a philosophy is a set of guiding principles.  In this regard then, we can say that all religions have a philosophy, but, not all philosophies are religions.  Also, in this regard, Philosophy is not necessarily antithetical to either Religion or Spirituality and in many instances has illuminated many aspects of both.  As a mental exercise, philosophy has illuminated the minds of many who have then gone on to achieve profound levels of Spirituality.

Many groups have recognized Spirituality as the core of their culture and have indicated this realization in their symbolism.  In the West, the rose and in Egypt and the East, the lotus is used to illuminate this idea.

In this symbol each flower is a life and each unfolding pedal is an experience, a lesson learned, knowledge acquired or a skill mastered.  As our life unfolds the golden Spiritual core is gradually revealed.  What is also revealed is that, whether we were aware of it or not, the Spiritual was always there in the center of things. 

Whomever we are counseling or teaching or ministering, whether they consider themselves religious or not, still have within them that Golden Heart of Spirituality.  Knowing this can enhance our effectiveness if we seek to speak to that core.  Each group has a vocabulary with which they are most comfortable and the first rule of communication is 'know your audience'.

With that in mind I would like to add to the discussion of the definition of the word 'sin' on the last page of lesson #18.  Originally the word was an archery term that means 'missing the bull' (bull's eye).  Far too many use the word to mean 'shooting arrows up into the grand stand', when it fact we are hitting the target but we just need more training.

Adding the above meaning to our understanding may allow us to use more kindness and thoughtfulness into our ministries, it has in mine.

Thank you for the opportunity to study this course with everyone.  I am always grateful for the opportunity to achieve greater understanding.

Again, thank you and Blessings upon all.

Rev Dr Kenneth A Thompson DD PhD

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Ordination with the Universal Life Church, is free,  and lasts for life, so use the Free Online Ordination, button.

As a long time member of ULC, Rev. Long created the seminary site to help train our ministers. We also have a huge catalog of Universal Life Church materials.  I've been ordained with the Universal Life Church for many years and it's Seminary since the beginning and have loved watching the continual growth of the seminary.

Try our new free toolbar at: ULC Toolbar

A Course In Miracles

The Doctor of Metaphysics Course Essay

Reverend Stephen J. LaJoice

The course on metaphysics is a positive foundation for shedding ego driven beliefs that are the milestones of ones personality.  It is a platform for changing oneself and understanding the nature of ones mind and spirit.

It is a course in self help that defines the parameters of what and who you can become. How ones prior beliefs define the past and how new beliefs shape the future.  How believing in yourself and using the tools of Miracles can cut through fears that bind one to their past beliefs. 

We can experience the awakening that comes with accepting who we really are, the awakening that comes with believing in ones true self by casting away the shackles of the past. It releases us from all of the negativity that supports the fears that has we have cultivated all of our lives.  I truly believe that the very thing that holds us back from our true self is the fear of becoming who we might truly be.

Through the art of visualization we can easily come to understand who we might be and what we might become.  It allows us to project the future and accept who we can become.

One must allow the heart to guide oneself and give up our conscious thought in favor of a higher form of thinking.  One must think beyond the level of ones current thinking.  By doing so, you will be able to live well beyond your limitations.

As one travels through life one can continually create new comfort levels to fit a changing life style. Although there are many who continue to stumble along the same path at a comfort level created by there own egos.  There lives are continuously rewinding along the same track.  They seem condemned to repeat the same mistakes over and over.  They fear change; they fear what they can become in a new life.

To change one must believe in the end product.  One must take the small steps until a comfort level is met that fits our lives. With each success we take another step to the next level until we finally achieve what we want to be.

One must keep in mind that each of us has the right to be happy; we have the right to be who we are and who we want to be.  We have the right to change for the better, the right to reach that higher understanding.  We have the right to accept who we are and what we can become.  No one should settle for anything less.

Many of us are bound by the beliefs of others. Whether through strong family beliefs, religion or group association these beliefs make us who we are.  They define our purpose in life.  If we accept them and can live with them then socially we feel are the better for it. 

If our purpose is to grow spiritually then one needs to step away and seek our true self and our true beliefs.  We need to better understand the woven fabric of life and how each and everything is connected to the whole.  How our actions fit into the balance of this life.  We need to cultivate the power of positive thinking.  We need to believe that we are as important as the next person and that we can contribute to the goodness of the world.

Rev. Stephen LaJoice

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The Universal Life Church is a comprehensive online seminary where we have various classes in Christianity, one on Wicca, along with several Pagan courses, more than a few courses about Metaphysics with more being added regularly.

Ordination with the Universal Life Church, is free, legal and lasts for life, so please take advantage of our Free Online Ordination.

The  ULC, run by Rev. Long, has created a chaplaincy program to help train our ministers. We also have a huge catalog of minister supplies.  I've been ordained with the Universal Life Church for many years and am proud to have started the Seminary.

Try our new free toolbar at: ULC Toolbar

 

Spirituality Course

Lesson 11

Dear Amy,

Attached are my comments on Lesson 11 of the above course. I am rather behind with my assignments due to some medical spinal problems which I am being treated for at the moment. I shall catch up eventually.

With blessings,

Derek Kemp

*******************************

The Universal Life Church is a comprehensive online seminary where we have various classes in Christianity, one on Wicca, along with several Pagan courses, more than a few courses about Metaphysics with more being added regularly.

Ordination with the Universal Life Church, is free, legal and lasts for life, so please take advantage of our Free Online Ordination.

The  ULC, run by Rev. Long, has created a chaplaincy program to help train our ministers. We also have a huge catalog of minister supplies.  I've been ordained with the Universal Life Church for many years and am proud to have started the Seminary.

Try our new free toolbar at: ULC Toolbar

 

Spirituality Course

Denise L. Graves

   Lesson 1

The obstacles that prevent me from recognizing Love’s presence within me are:

a.       Doubt that I don’t know God, really

b.      A tendency to look over my past and judge episodes of pain as my shortcomings.

c.       Surrender to “normative” pictures of love and feel I have fallen short to obtain love.

d.      Overwhelmed by acts of violence and hate as they create the loss of dignity, provision and life.

Nothing real can be threatened and nothing unreal exists

God exists.  God is tangible, describable, and visible and feels all space.  Accepting the previous statements moves my mind toward an expanding vision of God as light.  A light that reaches all places at all times.  There is no place that God is not.  I am continually encouraged to “see” what I believe God sees.  I am accepting that God knows what it formed me as and intended my purpose to be.  I am accepting that all is right and well and thought I can make to logical sense of my fit into my now, I accept that God and I are real, consequently, I am breathing into the truth that nothing real can be threatened. I cannot be threatened.

Every moment in my life has spiritual significance to God.  Whatever my presumption of shortcomings, they do not control me now or label my presence or determine my future.  I made the best decision every time, using the tools and information I had at that time.  As time passes, I have control over how I interpret the past.  I have control over how I think about it, repeat it, learn from it and let it stay in the past.  I can undo nothing. I choose to be in the present benefiting from the wisdom of yester “minute.”

I choose to see love and I look at the pain.  I see the tears of the bereaved, broken hearted, sick and hopeless.  I identify with the hurt of the moment.  I allow it to move me back to memories of my own pain. And then, I remember to send love and light to the person and situation.  I allow my own contradictions of what I believe about good and the situation at hand to sit in tension.  I allow my desire for what I want to struggle with what is and then ask myself what is mine to do. I do what I am led to do. I accept I do not know God’s plan for that action, moment and person.  I just allow myself to be with those who will heal, those who will live changed lives and those who must find their way to wholeness and reconciliation. 

I speak to the situation out loud, declaring better, help, healing and wholeness.  I declare love.  And when I am hesitant to demonstrate the unconditional acceptance of my brother’s or sister’s God light, I ask myself, what part of this situation is reflective of my own woundedness.  I work to find that place in me to love and be healed.

Visualization

Nothing real can be threatened. Nothing unreal exists. Here in lies the peace of God

I thought about sitting in this kitchen enjoying the warmth of the oven on this cold January day.  It feels comforting.  I reminds me of the fun times in my family of origin and the when my children were little.  I looked around to see my companion and realized I am in the process of declaring my own new partner direction.  I prayed for the man who struggled to leave me.  I thought about my mature decision to give him the time needed to rebuild a relationship with his wife, whom he’d been separated from.  I thought about the last words I said to him and the grace at which we engaged.  I remembered he is a reflection of God and whatever I said or did to him, I am doing unto God.  I also thought about how long I struggled with this disentanglement.  Shortly after the meditation he called to check on me.  I willed and wished him well and gave myself to realize that love I have for him is real and pure enough to release him to his highest good and me to my greater good.

*******************************

The Universal Life Church is a comprehensive online seminary where we have various classes in Christianity, one on Wicca, along with several Pagan courses, more than a few courses about Metaphysics with more being added regularly.

Ordination with the Universal Life Church, is free, legal and lasts for life, so please take advantage of our Free Online Ordination.

The  ULC, run by Rev. Long, has created a chaplaincy program to help train our ministers. We also have a huge catalog of minister supplies.  I've been ordained with the Universal Life Church for many years and am proud to have started the Seminary.

Try our new free toolbar at: ULC Toolbar

Spirituality Course

Greetings!

The Hegel lesson was exceptional, thank you. Next to the Kant discussion, this one is my favourite. Hegel has had a tremendous effect on political thinking in the world.

I do have one excepttion to your thoughts, however. As a polytheist, I do not see that the natural progression of thought points to a single if self-aware deity. I do not see the requirement that all divinity moves towards a singularity nor that it has any thing to do with a historical figure named "Jesus". Most of your course is delightfully neutral when it comes to this matter, but I do think, majority thinking notwithstanding, that individual religious figures detract from your overall arguments.

Yours in the Way,

JP

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The Universal Life Church is a comprehensive online seminary where we have classes in Christianity two courses in , Wicca, several in  Paganism, two courses in Metaphysics and much more. I have been a proud member of the ULC for many years and the Seminary since its inception.

The Universal Life Church offers handfasting ceremonies, funeral ceremonies and free minister training.
 

As a long time member of ULC, Rev. Long created the seminary site to help train our ministers. We also have a huge selection of Universal Life Church  minister supplies. Since being ordained with the Universal Life Church for so many years and it's Seminary since the beginning, I've watch the huge change and growth that has continued to happen.
 

Try our new free toolbar at: ULC Toolbar

Spirituality Course

Spiritualism The Spiritual Journey     I remember my first spiritual experience in my life when I was a child, but it took many years and several adverse circumstances to enter the realm of spirituality I enjoy today.     I was five years old when my Grandmother Hattie died of cancer. After the funeral we all went back to our house to mend our broken hearts sharing stories, and partaking in the food and drink. After a while all the company had left for home, and it was time for us children to retire for the night.     I went to my room confused about the days events. My Dad followed me into my bedroom . He was concerned as to how I was handling all that had transpired throughout the ordeal, and tried his best to comfort me with a pat on the head. We sat silent on my bed for several minutes with his big hand rubbing my back, and looking at the night through the window in my room. The sky was dark and clear with millions of stars shining brightly.     My Dad was not a religious man, but did have a sense of a higher being…God?     I always pictured God sitting in the biggest wooden chair ever seen with all of his angels around him. My Dad stated," pick a star in the sky and say a prayer to it, then Grammy will hear you and will  know that you loved her." He also said that I should ask God to" let her into heaven," because she had been a fine mother and grandmother. With his paternal part completed, he left the room to leave me to do what was instructed.     The first thing I did was recall an exercise that the Sunday school teacher had taught us about Jesus on the cross. She had us hold our hands out to our sides for as long as we could to show how much pain that Jesus may have gone through for us. For some reason I held my arms out like she had instructed us in school, and closed my eyes. I'm not sure how much time had passed, but my arms were tired. I then picked out the star, and got on my knees and said, " God, please take care of my Grammy, because I love her. Will you please take her to heaven with you. Amen!"     A feeling of great peace fell over me, and I knew that my prayers would be answered.     I never had another experience like that for many years to come, but I sure searched for it, in all the wrong places. It was not until I was thirty six years old that I was able to re-connect with God, and use him to manage my life on a daily basis. After battling Alcohol and drug addition for many years, I got sober through a gift of desperation , Then, a kidney transplant, multiple bone surgeries, contracted Hepatitis C from multiple transfusions, and living life on free will all caught up to me at once. I was empty with no self worth, but saw a little hope through a caring friend...God!     The classes on spiritualism has enlighten my perception in the spiritual concept, explaining the patterns of spirituality played out in different times, for different people, and the evolution individuals and cultures have experienced. The spiritual life is not a theory, but has to be lived to become a valid and functional benefit of the believer. An abstract concept that creates possibilities through faith, love, and an open mind.     Some individuals become spiritual through forbidden avenues, learning lessons the hard way. Spirituality may not get you to heaven alone, but will let you out of hell. Thank you for the enlightenment.    Rev. Mark England                                               ******************** Ordination with the Universal Life Church, is free,  and lasts for life, so use the Free Online Ordination, button. As a long time member of ULC, Rev. Long created the seminary site to help train our ministers. We also have a huge catalog of Universal Life Church materials.  I've been ordained with the Universal Life Church for many years and it's Seminary since the beginning and have loved watching the continual growth of the seminary. Try our new free toolbar at: ULC Toolbar