33 "Tennessee" Category Articles

Online ordination is free in Tennessee with American Marriage Ministries. Get ordained online free with AMM & learn about officiating a wedding in Tennessee!

American Marriage Ministries (AMM), a Seattle-based church, has sued officials in Tennessee, challenging the constitutionality of certain provisions of Tennessee law that restrict the rights of AMM ministers to officiate weddings.

Learn about marriage legislation in Tennessee that would ban marriages between first-cousins – plus a bill that would create a separate marriage license for opposite-sex couples, and one that would discriminate against LGBTQ couples by only allowing common law marriages for heterosexual couples in the state.

Learn about potential changes to marriage laws in your state in 2024, including proposed legislation in New York, New Jersey, Nebraska, Missouri, Virginia, Utah, West Virginia, California, and other states, and how these changes could affect AMM Ministers and other officiants who officiate weddings there.

American Marriage Ministries is headed to Nashville, TN, for a day of wedding officiant focused education, conversation, and networking! This Officiant Accelerator event will include presentations from expert officiants Cherise Klosner, Jimmie Berguin, and Bethel Nathan. See you January 17th, 2024!

Elope with wedding inspiration from Dolly Parton and Carl Dean’s 1966 Spring Elopement Ceremony in Ringgold, Georgia. These 5 ideas will help you plan a memorable, intimate elopement ceremony, filled with retro charm, vintage style, and lots of love.

A step-by-step guide to help you plan a wedding and get married in Tennessee - including how to find a wedding officiant, choose the best wedding venue, plan your ceremony, and how to apply for and return your Tennessee marriage license.

Proposed drag bans like the one in Tennessee impact LGBTQ+ weddings, ministers and wedding officiants, and the entire queer community. Drag performers belong at weddings! Learn ways to protect LGBTQ+ ministers and wedding performers. (TN SB0003 ; U.S. District Judge Thomas Parker)

Learn how HB878 and 2019’s paused anti-online ordination law work together in an ongoing attack against marriage equality in Tennessee. These bills would allow a person to refuse to solemnize (conduct) a marriage they object to based on their ‘conscience or religious beliefs,’ and make it illegal for an officiant ordained online to perform marriage. If passed, it will be easier for clerks and officiants to discriminate against same-sex, LGBTQ+, interfaith, and interracial couples in TN. (House Bill 878 / 2023 ; HB0213 / 2019)

Learn what HB878 might mean for the future of marriage equality in Tennessee. The bill, which recently passed the House, would allow a person to refuse to solemnize (conduct) a marriage they object to based on their ‘conscience or religious beliefs.’ Opponents believe the bill would make it easier for clerks and officiants to discriminate against same-sex, LGBTQ+, interfaith, and interracial couples in TN. (House Bill 878 / 2023)

Meet 'Ordinary' Margaret Hall, an AMM-ordained minister and wedding officiant, and proud owner of The Matchbox Drive Thru -- an inclusive Vegas-themed wedding and elopement chapel located in Lafayette, Georgia, just outside Chattanooga Tennessee. Learn about Margaret's path to ordination with American Marriage Ministries, how she started a successful wedding officiant business, and how her unique marriage services support diverse communities in Georgia and beyond.

The most recent update from American Marriage Ministries on the fight against Tennessee's discriminatory anti-online ordination law SB 1377 / HB 0213. With information on how ministers and couples can protect themselves in 2022 when applying for or filing marriage licenses with the county.

Lawmakers in Tennessee introduced legislation that would create an alternate form of marriage restricted to ‘one man and one woman’ and eliminate the minimum age to marry. The bills have drawn criticism from marriage equality advocates and those opposed to child marriage. (SB 562, HB 233)

An update from American Marriage Ministries on the fight against Tennessee's discriminatory anti-online ordination law SB 1377 / HB 0213, including the current federal lawsuit pending in District Court. With information on how internet-ordained ministers can protect themselves when filing a marriage license with the county.

How designations like ‘online church’ and ‘online ordination’ have changed after a year of connecting with loved ones and communities online, Zoom, and Skype, and the power of technology to bring us together.