Subjects: LAW, REL
Universal Life Church Wins Settlement in Lawsuit Against Tennessee
The Universal Life Church announced Tuesday it had won a settlement in its lawsuit against Tennessee state officials regarding the ability of its ordained ministers to solemnize marriages.
SEATTLE, Aug. 30, 2023 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- On August 29, 2023, Waverly Crenshaw, Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee, entered two Federal consent orders protecting the religious rights of ordained ministers of the Universal Life Church in Tennessee in Case No. 2:19-cv-00049.
The orders include a pledge from Tennessee officials that they will never prosecute a Universal Life Church minister for solemnizing a wedding, and an acknowledgment that denying marriage licenses to couples married by a ULC minister could be a constitutional violation on their part. The Tennessee officials also acknowledge that ULC ministers will rely on the court order to solemnize weddings in the future.
Importantly, the orders, which the church published online on their website at ULCCaseLaw.com, specifically address ministers of the Universal Life Church ? meaning individuals who were ordained online by other organizations may not have the same protections as ministers of the ULC and may not be able to legally solemnize marriages anywhere in Tennessee.
In an emailed message to its ministers declaring victory, the ULC thanked its members and vowed to circulate the order to all county clerks in the state of Tennessee. The ULC also promised to re-address the issue if or when any other county clerk ever chose to challenge the ability of one of its ministers to solemnize marriage.
The orders stem from a legal dispute that began in June of 2019, when the state legislature of Tennessee passed a law that was specifically designed to prohibit ministers who were ordained by the Universal Life Church from solemnizing legal marriages. The Church immediately took state officials into federal court, and were successful in winning an injunction that blocked that law from taking effect as this litigation was pending.
Media Contact
Br. G. Martin, Universal Life Church, 1 2062851086, [email protected], https://www.ULC.org
SOURCE Universal Life Church
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