How Much Does it Cost to Get Ordained?

A lot of people want to know, "How much does it cost to get ordained online?" The short answer is: it's free.

 

Generally, the cost of getting ordained online is determined by the religious organization offering ordination. With most religious institutions there is a cost to become ordained. This can be a nominal fee or thousands of dollars and years of seminary study. We'll unpack this concept later on, but for now, let's talk about why AMM's ordination doesn't cost anything.
 

With American Marriage Ministries there is no cost to get ordained online. We believe that there should be no cost to get ordained if your intention is to officiate wedding ceremonies.

 

From a practical standpoint, our one-page application and instant ordination are so fast and efficient it doesn't cost us much, so why should it cost you anything either?

 

From a philosophical standpoint, AMM doesn't want to impose our beliefs on anyone (other than our core tenets) and when it comes to your faith, our ordination is a tool that you can use to deepen your practice. From this standpoint, you are the one doing the spiritual heavy lifting (or light lifting) and we don't want to monetize that. All we want is for you to have the standing and tools to bring your light into the world.

Our ordination is free for people from all walks of life, whether they are religious, non-religious, straight, gay, or prefer eating kale salads over pizza. How much it costs to get ordained is not reflective of these differences.

 

In practical terms, our mission is to lower the barriers to entry so that all people can exercise their right to officiate wedding ceremonies. Part of lowering those barriers is by removing the financial barrier. You don't have to pay for Google Maps and you shouldn't have to pay to become an AMM minister.

That being said, we truly appreciate donations and purchases from our store. Purchases of physical documents, books, and officiating tools cost money to make, sell, and ship, and we pass those along to our ministers.

 

We are a brick-and-mortar institution after all, even if we offer most of our services online. And just like any other institution we have overhead and costs to maintain our Church. If you choose to donate or buy something, we are deeply grateful. Those contributions make a tangible difference in perpetuating our organization.

Beyond ordination, there are no annual fees, or other ordained minister costs to keep your ordination in good standing. You only have to get ordained once for free and you will be one of our ministers in Good Standing for as long as you wish to remain an AMM minister.

 

How Much Does it Cost to Become an Officiant

The question of "How much does it cost to become an ordained minister?" usually has the follow-up question of "How much does it cost to become a wedding officiant?" These are two related but distinct questions. As stated above, we do not charge for ordination. However the question of how much does it cost to become a wedding officiant is not determined by us at AMM but by the state, county, city, or town where you plan on officiating the wedding.

In most states, there is no officiant license cost, and along with our free ordination, you can officiate weddings for free. That being said, some localities require that officiants register with a government office prior to officiating any weddings. In such cases, there are wedding officiant license costs, as you will likely need to order paperwork from us as well as pay a government filing fee.

 

Check out the list below for the places in the US that require ministers to register with the government as wedding officiants before performing marriage:

1. Arkansas
2. Delaware
3. Hawaii
4. Louisiana
5. Massachusetts
6. Minnesota
7. Nevada
8. New Hampshire
9. New York
10. Ohio
11. Puerto Rico
12. Vermont
13. Virginia
14. Washington DC
15. West Virginia

 

If you're wondering how much it costs to become a wedding officiant in jurisdictions where there is registration and fees, the answer is a bit more complicated. Local governments sometimes charge a fee for wedding officiant registration because they are tasked with regulation and oversight.
 

By requiring wedding officiants to register and pay a fee, local governments can control who is authorized to officiate weddings within their jurisdiction. These places want to make sure that officiants are qualified and meet certain standards.

A good ordination provider (like AMM) will make sure that their ordination is accompanied by training and the right certification, and local governments want to see this.

Local governments also want to pass along the costs of registration and processing to officiants and couples. Processing registrations, maintaining records, and other related work can get expensive. Charging a fee helps cover these expenses.