If having an ‘ordained wedding minister’ is important, then very important to verify the wedding officiants’ ordination. Many people who present themselves as authentic ordained wedding officiants, when actually they purchased their ordination on the internet. True ordination is a ‘Calling from God’. It is a ‘sacred office’ and it was never meant to be bought on the internet as a business license!! ‘Online ordination’ cheapens both the office and the role of ministry. It also cheats the wedding couple who think that they are paying for an ordained wedding officiant but don’t really get one.How do can you tell if the wedding minister has an internet ordination? Some wedding officiants won’t openly admit it, so ask them about their church ministry. Do they use their ordination in other ways to serve others (or just to do weddings)? What churches have they served? What denomination ordained them?It’s all too common for people to get online ordination and then call themselves a wedding officiant. Several states house stopped acknowledging ‘online ordination’. Tennessee is the most recent. The Florida Statutes 741.07 state: That all ordained ministers authorized to solemnize marriages are to be ‘in communion with some church’. Florida and many other states are realizing that the ‘internet’ is not fulfilling the requirements of a valid Church-therefore the ordination is invalid. The institutional Churches (Methodist, Presbyterians, Episcopal, Catholic, etc.) are joining forces and petitioning to the states stop acknowledging the counterfeit ordinations.Online ordination should not be used as a business license to become a wedding minister. A better alternative is to become a notary or a justice of the peace. A justice of the peace can perform weddings without portraying a false image of ordination. Justice of the peace weddings do not have to be a nonreligious or civil, as many provide faith-based ceremonies. Becoming a justice of the peace is easy and can be done online as well.All of the wedding officiants with A Beautiful Ceremony are fully ordained in mainline institutional churches except Teresa. Teresa is a wedding officiant but performs weddings as a notary and a justice of the peace. If you want a non-religious wedding ceremony, then all of our wedding officiants can accommodate you. It does not have to be a justice of the peace to perform a nonreligious wedding ceremony.