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. 

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Late last month, an online church sued the Cleveland County Register of Deeds in North Carolina, alleging that the County’s Register of Deeds Betsy Harnage denied a marriage license to an unnamed couple because their officiant was ordained online. A few days later, local media reported that they were dropping the lawsuit. 

It turns out, the real problem was that the couple got married before applying for their marriage license – which is against the rules. You need to apply for the marriage license before the ceremony!

That's just the way things work. ...(continued)