Is the Universal/World Life Church recognized in PA?

deusimus

Specifically in Delaware County, as I seem to find some information saying it's legal in come counties but not others. A friend is ordained via the internet with the ULC and I would love for him to marry us, yet I am finding conflicting information about whether or not it would be a legally recognized marriage under PA laws. Any knowledge on this? Thanks so much!

nancyr

Delaware County has a problem with any 'internet ordained' celebrants.  But you can get married in Delaware County but get your license in Philadelphia. Odd I know.  And a pain in the neck!  I'd been considering blogging about it since so many people ask.  We had considered having my uncle officiate since he frequently does it for his students in TX where he teaches college because we wanted a personalized service and we knew he'd give us that.  And we love him and wanted him to be a big part of our wedding.  Now it looks like we're going to have him co-officiate (hmm not sure that is a word) because we don't want to have to worry about problems later.  I'm not a lawyer but worry that if there was a flaw in the laws somewhere that would invalidate our marriage, they'd suddenly find it---guaranteed--just as soon as we got married that way!  Your best bet might be to have a co-officate or run to the court house sometime afterwards to be sure everything is tightly done.  I think in Delco it's more they won't issue the license than it's illegal since I believe it is a state law--but again NOT a lawyer. You can find the info from the lawsuits filed by the ACLU regarding the problems in Delaware County at: 
http://www.aclupa.org/pressroom/aclusuestovalidatemarriage.htm

PattySmith101

i read its not recognized in philadelphia but it is in bucks county!

[Deleted User]

You can get a self uniting license and then have your friend MC the wedding.  

lauren123455

Another option that you would have is something called a "self-uniting marriage license," because PA was founded by quakers who don't have any clergy to solominze a marriage. There's a little bit of info here: http://secureprod.phila.gov/wills/faq.aspx. There's a state statute that authorizes this type of marriage.  You should be able to get more info by googling "self-uniting marriage" or going to the court clerk's office.  I've read on a few boards that Delaware county was weird about giving self-uniting forms to non-Quakers, even though the law doesn't say anything about having to be Quaker, so you still may wind up having more sucess in Philadelphia county (which per the FAQ website I pasted above, is okay).

To do this, I think you have to get a different form (or an additional form) from the clerk's office, where you certify that you have solomized your own marriage and have witnesses sign it.  If you do that yourselves, you could have your friend have a ceremony anyway.

 FSIL did this a few years ago when she wanted her brother to perform the ceremony.   At FSIL's wedding, FBIL started his ceremony with a speech about how PA was founded by quakers who recognized community and togetherness, and in the spirit of its founders PA still recognizes this form of marriage.  Then he continued to explain that the bride and groom had chosen to unite themselves in that manner and requested that all of the guests be their witnesses.  At the end we all signed something as their witnesses.  It was actually lovely.  Otherwise the ceremony was like any other ceremony - they did readings, had a priest say a blessing, had FBIL assist them with vows, say the "you may now kiss the bride" part, etc. 

Hope this helps!

deusimus

Thank you everyone! It might just be easier to go with a regular officiant lol I have enough to stress about