Institutional Transparency • Editorial Accountability
Public trust, governance & coverage standards
Officiating a wedding carries real legal and emotional responsibility. This page explains who issues Agape credentials, what our ordination and verification do—and do not—mean under civil law, how our state guides are reviewed, and how to report any update.
Who issues ordinations on ordainedministers.org
Ordained Ministers (ordainedministers.org) is the public ordination, clergy-registry, and officiant-education ministry of Agape Church International, overseen by the Council of Presiding Elders and administered daily by the Office of the Presiding Registrar (registrar@ordainedministers.org).
The Agape Statement of Belief
Agape Church International is an independent non-denominational Christian fellowship rooted in the New Testament ethic of agape—selfless, unconditional love (1 Corinthians 13). We affirm three core tenets:
- Every human being possesses inherent spiritual worth, dignity, and freedom of conscience.
- Marriage is a voluntary lifelong covenant entered through free mutual consent.
- Ministry is measured by honest service, compassion, and integrity toward both families and civil institutions.
Can secular or interfaith friends apply in good conscience?
We believe in complete honesty before you apply: Agape ordination is an ecclesiastical (church) ordination, not a government civil-notary commission.
We do not require you to renounce your personal background or use religious language inside a couple’s ceremony, and we welcome ministers serving Christian, interfaith, and secular couples alike—provided you are at least 18 and can sincerely affirm our ethic of unconditional love and honest compliance in good conscience. If you prefer a purely governmental appointment without any religious affiliation, check whether your state offers a one-day civil deputy marriage commissioner program (available in select counties such as in California or Massachusetts).
Federal church status vs. state marriage-solemnization law
Agape Church International is structured and operated as a church ministry in accordance with IRC § 508(c)(1)(A) and traditional ecclesiastical governance standards (maintaining a distinct creed, code of ministerial ethics, elders’ oversight, ordination roll, and educational ministry).
Federal tax provisions under the Internal Revenue Code govern federal tax treatment—they do not decide who is authorized to solemnize a civil marriage in a given U.S. state. Marriage solemnization is governed exclusively by state statutes and local county or court procedures:
- Alabama (Act 2019-340): Abolished marriage licenses; civil validity comes from recording notarized Form ADPH-HS-47 with the County Probate Court within 30 days of the later spouse’s signature, making ceremonies optional.
- Nevada / Clark County (NRS § 122.062): Requires separate county officiant authorization (including a 30-day advance filing and training cutoff for Single-Ceremony applications in Clark County).
- Virginia (Va. Code § 20-25): Virginia Circuit Courts generally do not accept online ordinations alone; friends typically petition for a One-Time Civil Marriage Celebrant order.
- Tennessee (Tenn. Code Ann. § 36-3-301): Expressly restricts persons receiving online ordinations from solemnizing civil marriages.
What Agape Registry Verification (/verify) means
- ✓ That a specific Credential ID exists in Agape Church International’s database (unknown IDs return HTTP 404 Not Found).
- ✓ The minister’s recorded legal name and date of ordination issuance.
- ✓ Whether ecclesiastical standing is currently Active or Revoked/Suspended under church policy.
- • Does not verify government-issued photo identification or background screening.
- • Does not confirm that separate county, city, or court officiant registration has been completed.
- • Does not constitute government endorsement by any County Clerk or Secretary of State.
Minister Code of Conduct, Name Corrections & Credential Revocation
Public Fields vs. Private Data: Only your Full Legal Name, Credential ID, Selected Jurisdiction Code, Issue Date, and Standing Status appear in public lookup results. Email addresses, phone numbers, and mailing addresses are never displayed publicly.
Name Corrections & Voluntary Resignation: Credential holders may request a legal-name spelling update, name change, or voluntary removal/resignation from the public registry at any time at no charge by emailing registrar@ordainedministers.org.
Grounds for Revocation: Agape Church International reserves the right to suspend or revoke ecclesiastical standing for falsifying civil marriage documents, impersonating another individual, coercing a party, or misrepresenting local government authorization status.
Primary-source reviewed guides vs. statute-indexed directory entries
We distinguish clearly between jurisdictions that our editorial desk has verified directly against primary state or county government instructions and broader directory pages indexed from state statutory codes.
Primary-Source Reviewed State & Territory Guides (51 of 51 Jurisdictions — Checked Oct 31, 2026)
Primary-Source Reviewed Metro County & City Clerk Playbooks (62 High-Volume Wedding Jurisdictions)
Each metro playbook below has been individually checked against the issuing County Clerk, City Clerk, Probate Court, or State Vital Records portal to separate $0 church ordination from local government authorization, waiting-period timestamps, witness lines, and post-ceremony return windows.
All 51 state-level guides (all 50 U.S. states and Washington, D.C.) plus the metro county playbooks listed above are directly verified against official primary statutory and government portals. Remaining local county directory pages inherit their verified state statute while displaying FIPS county clerk reference cards. Because county clerk office suites, local fee schedules, and filing windows change periodically, every county page carries a visible reminder to confirm current local procedures directly with the issuing clerk prior to ceremony day—and County Clerks may verify any Agape Credential ID directly via our County Clerk & Government Verification Desk (/clerks).
Free ordination vs. optional physical documents
- Ordination Is Always $0: Applying for ordination, accessing your printable digital certificate, maintaining your public Agape Registry record, completing the 6-lesson officiant course, and using the custom ceremony script builder cost $0 with zero annual renewal fees.
- Optional Physical Document Reservations ($39–$98): Embossed cotton certificates, wet-ink notarized Letters of Good Standing, and padded black ceremony binders are optional physical goods reserved through our Notary Queue (no online card charge is taken during reservation while payment processing remains offline).
- Dispatch Speed vs. Government Deadlines: Priority Same-Day Notary Dispatch accelerates preparation and mailing from our office, not USPS/UPS carrier transit times (typically 2–5 business days) and never waives or shortens a government clerk’s statutory advance-filing deadline (such as Clark County’s 30-day Single-Ceremony cutoff).
- Cancellations & Replacements: Any physical packet reservation may be cancelled or corrected at no cost prior to shipment, and any document damaged in transit or containing a registrar typographical error is replaced free of charge via registrar@ordainedministers.org.
Report a legal update, clerk change, or registry issue
Did a County Clerk update their filing address, fee schedule, or officiant registration rule? Submit the details below and our Registrar & Editorial Desk will verify the primary source and update the guide.