American Weddings Blog

It’s been more than half a century since we put a man on the moon, but in some parts of the US, same-sex and interracial couples are still routinely discriminated against. It’s also un-American.  That’s why months after getting ordained by American Marriage Ministries, Tim Hooker found himself in demand to officiate weddings for couples that were turned away by mainstream churches in his area. 

I visited Tim earlier this year to talk about his experiences. Driving into Cleveland Tennessee, the first thing I noticed was that there were a lot of churches. It seemed like there was one on every corner, but they weren’t of much use to same-sex or interracial couples looking to tie the knot.

“In Southern Appalachia, the ministers probably weren’t going to do it,” Tim said. 

 ...(continued)

Couples suing Virginia claim that the state’s marriage license application process is "offensive," "unconstitutional" and "reflective of a racist past.” And it’s not hard to see why...

In one county, the list of races that couples can choose from includes "Aryan," "Octoroon," "Quadroon" and "Mulatto.”

If your list includes designations used by slaveowners to designate ensure that mixed race children of slaves and their white owners would stay enslaved (and separate from “pure” white folk) you’ve got a serious problem.

A “mulatto” person is half black (one black parent). A "quadroon" was one quarter black (one black grandparent). An "octoroon" is one eighth black… ...(continued)

You are the future of American Spirituality. It doesn’t matter if you’re an Atheist or a Zoroastrian, or anything and everything in between, this is your chance to transcend the failures of mainstream religion and practice faith on your terms. 

Welcome to American Marriage Ministries. 

Church attendance is dwindling and people are looking for something new. For generations, brick-and-mortar churches have failed to provide moral leadership or a vision for the future. 

That’s because inspiration comes from within, not the pulpit, and most certainly not from bureaucrats that want to tell you how and where to practice your religion. It’s inside you right now. We want to empower you to lead, to inspire, and to create community by helping people that love each other to celebrate that incredible emotion....(continued)

Several weeks ago, American Marriage Ministries embarked on an in-person ordination tour across the state of Tennessee, stopping in six cities to offer ordinations in response to the state’s discriminatory marriage law that targeted ministers that were ordained online.

Now that we’re back in Seattle and have had time to collect our thoughts and recover, we want to express our gratitude to the nearly 2,000 individuals who took time out of their busy schedules to line up and get ordained with us in Tennessee. 

Folks from every walk of life showed up at our events (some coming from across state borders). Countless Tennesseans volunteered their time and resources, places for us to stay, hot meals when we were too busy to leave our posts, space to host future ordination sites, and anything else we didn’t think of ourselves. ...(continued)

“I called the county clerk and they told me that I can’t make an appointment, and that they don’t know who will perform the actual ceremony,” one bride told us during the Chattanooga stop of our Tennessee Ordination Tour. “This is the biggest commitment of my life,” she said. “No thanks, I don’t want a stranger.”

That's how poorly planned out Tennessee's discriminatory new marriage law is, and why it's going to be overturned, sooner or later!

This morning, we learned that opposition to the law is still growing. The Universal Life Church is getting involved now, filing a lawsuit against the state of Tennessee to prevent Public Chapter No. 415 from entering into force. ...(continued)