I studied for a ministry career for nearly 20 years, but when it came time to be ordained I was denied that right, due to one slight small technicality: I was born female. I was allowed to study with the men, but I was not allowed to preach the gospel with them.
It was several years between than and now, and eventually I did find a church that would ordain women into the ministry, but by that time I had had time to rethink my goals of being a minister. Previously I had wanted to preach, more or less as a missionary to spread that one particular religion (the one that had refused to ordain me.) By this time though, I had time to realize that religions were really nothing more than glorified clubs with rules about who can and can not join. There is much in religion that excludes many and causes divisions among the human race. The result of this realization was that, though I still wanted to become a minister, I now no longer wanted to be affiliated with any one particular religion. My goal was to promote unity between mankind, not divisions. The end result is that in May of 2009 I became a Minister of Peace.
In the year that has passed since my being ordained and my writing this article, there has been much misunderstanding and a great deal of opposition to my becoming ordained. There have been accusations that I was starting a new church or a new religion. The church that had so many years earlier refused to ordain me, now threatens to excommunicate me for apostasy saying that women who preach are witches. I had to step back and ask myself what century we were in. Witches? Really? I have had family and friends stop associating with me, my fellow church members shun me, and relatives disown me and call me dead. I must admit I am at awed and baffled by people’s response to my becoming an ordained minister. To say the least, most of their responses have come as quite a shock to me.
In any case, it seems there is much confusion behind my goals and what I am doing, and I felt that therefore I should write an article to answer the oft asked question: “Just what exactly is a Minister of Peace and as one what do you do?”
A minister of peace is different than a traditional preacher or pastor or church leader. A Minister of Peace is a type of Chaplin, in that they are one who does not hold services in a church, nor do they preach only one faith or religious denomination. They are interdenominational, accepting of all religions and willing to learn all that they can about each and every religion. Their mission is one of hope, caring, understanding, and spiritual guidance. They strive to help and serve, rather than convert and preach.
Their purpose is to share a message of peace, and join all religions in a single goal. That goal is this: For human kind to love one another regardless of difference in race, creed, religion, gender, sexual preference, age, income, dress, disability, or anything else. Love and peace is their only message.
Their mission is not to preach Heaven, Hell, Brimstone, Fire, and Damnation, but rather to preach Love, Hope, Joy, and Peace. Their message is not to leave or change your religion. They do not tell you to join a new religion, but rather, to accept that every one has the right to choose a different religion than you, and that’s okay, because loving one another just as you are is more important that anything else. They believe that there are many religions because their are many ways of learning to love our fellow mankind. They believe that while one religion may be right for you, is not to say it is right for the next person, and for some people religion may not be right for them at all. Their message is simple: Peace.
A Minister of Peace, takes an oath to be a peacemaker.
Like any other member of clergy, they can officiate and preside over weddings, funerals, sacraments, communions, blessings, baptisms, and all other holy ceremonies. They may or may not preach sermons, depending on their mission, and are more likely to be in actual service to the less fortunate, visiting such places as hospitals and homeless shelters.
Regardless of what they do, they do everything with the goal of bringing about world peace and creating a Heaven here on Earth where each person loves one another without out conditions.
Me personally, as a Minister of Peace I believe in the following:
#1) I believe in universal love and peace.
#2) I believe that unnatural death (ie killing and murders) are wrong, and therefore also believe that military careers, executions, abortions, hunting, and the eating meat are all grave, vile, perverted, evil sins, because one can not promote either love or peace with the blood of another living being on your hands.
I believe in ecumenism (equality of religions). Which means I also believe in the following:
#3) All religious beliefs and practices should be considered equal and valid so long as they do not cause or promote physical or psychological harm to others.
#4) Women should be considered as equal to men in every respect and vocation to include ministry within their respective religions.
#5) Sexual orientation has no bearing on the practice of religion; homosexuals should be considered equal to heterosexuals in every respect and vocation to include ministry and marriage within their respective religions. One can be both homosexual and a good Christian, Jew, Muslim, Buddhist, Wiccan, Taoist, Native American Religion practitioner, or member or minister of any other church or religion.
#6) Any church or religion that discriminates against others due to race, creed, gender, sexual orientation, or any belief that does not cause or promote physical or psychological harm to others, is in error.
#7) All churches and religions that hold that immortality is gained by morality (care, concern, and action for the physical and psychological well being of others) are worshiping different spiritual manifestations of the same God; God is good!
#8) All churches and religions should welcome ecumenism and be open to any dialogue which may further ecumenical growth.
And while there is a lot more to my beliefs, these are the basic foundations upon which I build my life.
I am proud to be what is commonly known as “An Outlaw Preacher”. This means I’m affiliated with no religion, preach from any, all and every sacred text (not just the Bible), and hold to certain non-mainstream beliefs and theories that way overstep the bounds of a “conservative preacher”. I prefer to be called a “Minister of Peace”, though I am also an “Animal Chaplin”.
And that is my answer, what I say to those who would ask me, what it is that I am doing, and what it is that a Minister of Peace is.
Reference:
- www.squidoo.com/FaithNotReligion
- ministers.themonastery.org/profile.php?user=EelKat
- www.lulu.com/content/paperback-book/for-fear-of-little-men/5954979
