I am an Ordained Minister and I find useful Inspiration from three Sources:

Liberal Christianity & Heterodox Christianity.

I started my religious journey in a Southern Baptist church, where I was baptized in my teens. I was a Baptist by birth, having parents of that denomination. When I came of age, I left the Baptist church behind because I came to see that they had doctrines I could not support. Christianity is the culture and faith in which I was raised, and my struggles within it and with it have taken up a good part of the past four decades. Much of what passes for Christianity is a religion about Jesus and about the Bible, rather than the religion of Jesus. This means that the influence of Paul and other preachers have overwhelmed what Jesus was teaching. I am heterodox in that I have moved away from the about toward the of . Part of this movement is a recognition that worshipping the Bible more than you worship Jesus is a form of idolatry; part of it is also studying the history, strengths, beauty, barbarity, contradictions, and background of Christianity and the Bible so I can better understand how they fit into my path.

Unitarian Universalism.

This is the church which I sometimes attend and I find more value and support in the UU church than in any other. Being a UU is about following your own spiritual path while giving others the freedom to do the same; it is also about learning all you can about those other paths so you can find inspiration wherever it may be.

Discordianism.

This is the philosophy that most closely follows the calling of my heart. You can read about Discordianism online & I will probably add a page about it here with links to some of the better sites and sources eventually.

 


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I was ordained by the Universal Life Church, which cites the authority of John 15:16 (in the King James' Version of the Bible) and the Protestant tradition that all believers are priests as justification. The ULC further states that they do not stand between the believer and God, as most churches do. They stand between the believer and the government, to tell those in government that they have no right to say who is and who is not a minister. The founders of the ULC were, like me, raised Baptist, and the world Headquarters of the ULC is an actual church building where weekly services are held. The ULC has one creed -- Do Only What is Right.

As an Ordained Minister, I have authority to perform weddings, funerals, naming ceremonies, and other religious services, including ordaining others. At this point, my studying is ongoing .  I currently serve as the Chaplain for two local bodies of Masons and have been the religious officer within several others over the years. Please check back here or contact me (see card above) for information on weddings and other services that I offer.

Here is a short video of the first wedding at which I officiated:

May the One who is above all Bless and Keep you and yours.
-- Rev. Tim Gatewood