I am a chaplain. Can I be authorized to perform marriages?
Yes, and this is one of the most common situations we see. People who have sat with families through the hardest moments of their lives, for years, and cannot legally stand at the front of the room when those same families marry.
Chaplains are among our members, alongside pastors, missionaries, church planters, camp and youth directors, hospice care providers, Christian educators, and people leading works they started themselves.
Do I need a theological degree?
No prior degree is required, though our own training is required of everyone. Standing with us rests on agreement with our beliefs and values, and on remaining a member in good standing.
Do I have to be ordained through you?
Yes, without exception. Everyone authorized through Celebrating Life Ministries is ordained through Celebrating Life Ministries, whatever your background or existing credentials. It is what allows us to request your registration as a governing body on record with the Office of the Registrar General.
Do I have to build a wedding business?
No, and most of our members who come to us already serving have no intention of doing so. We ask no minimum number of ceremonies. If you lead two a year, that is entirely as it should be.
What is the difference between the two ways of joining?
Everyone ordained through us holds exactly the same standing. What differs is how much you need from us in order to do this well.
If you already have a ministry and want to add weddings and other life celebrations to it, you need ordination, authorization and the legal grounding. That is what membership here provides, and nothing further is asked of you.
If this would be your ministry — if you are setting out to serve families at the crossroads of life as your work — you need all of that plus the training, the templates and scripts, the coaching calls and the working resources. That path runs through our sister site, becomeanofficiant.ca.
The two are not a menu. You do not pick pieces from one and add them to the other. If you join here and later want the training and resources, you simply move across, and it is a conversation rather than an application.
Do I have to give up a Saturday?
No. The reading and research projects are self-guided and done in your own time. The interview call with Wayne or Rosanne is arranged around your schedule.
We know that working clergy cannot give up Saturdays, and we know that requirement has kept people out of this for years.
Does Celebrating Life Ministries restrict membership by gender?
No. We do not place gender requirements on ordination or membership.
Do I need to be good with computers?
Not required, but it helps. The projects are completed online and the resources are online. If technology is a real barrier for you, say so and we will work with it.