WHY BE ORDAINED?
Increasingly, energy and/or spiritual healers are considering ministerial ordination as an enhancement to their work.
In the U.S., federal and state laws throughout the country strictly limit the instance in which an individual may, for therapeutic purposes, touch another, to licensed physicians and health-care workers, licensed massage therapists, and ordained ministers. Additionally, ministerial credentials allow healers to more easily gain admittance to the hospital rooms of their clients, when visitors have been limited to immediate family only.
Ministerial ordination for healing purposes does not entail changing one's chosen religious affiliation. Many ordaining bodies offer ordination as a Minister of Spiritual Healing.
The Universal Life Church may be the most well-known of organizations which offer ordinations for healers. Founded several decades ago, the Universal Life Church has long offered ordinations for the price of a postcard and a stamp. ULC now offers instant ordinations over the Internet, with certificates which can be downloaded and printed on your local printer.
The disadvantage of ordinations through such bodies as the ULC is that local state administrations might balk at granting the official recognition. While the ULC does have a record of taking on state governments in order to establish legal recognition of the church, not everyone has the time or economic wherewithal to sit out a court battle against their own state's government.
Increasingly, providers of training for healers, following the traditional route for healers worldwide, are incorporating within their own states as healing ministries, in order to grant ordination to their students, and others, who seek ordination in order to continue their healing work under legal auspices. To find an ordaining church, ask your own teacher(s), or other healers in your area.
The Open Heart Sanctuary, a New York State registered ministry of Spiritual Healing offers on-line ministerial training, with subsequent ordination. For further information, contact Margaret Gamez, Pastoral Vicar, at manifestnow@yahoo.com
