If you are getting married in Ontario, you may have a religious marriage
or a civil marriage.
Religious Marriage
A religious marriage is
performed by a religious official of a recognized religious organization
who has received authorization from the Office of the Registrar General
to perform marriages in Ontario under the Marriage Act. The marriage can
be solemnized under the authority of a marriage license or the
publication of banns, depending on the religious body.
Note: Banns
shall not be published where either parties to the intended marriage had
a previous marriage which has been dissolved or annulled.
List of
Religious OfficialsCivil Marriage
An Ontario judge, justice of
the peace or municipal clerk may perform a marriage under the authority
of a marriage license. Each municipality will set its own fees and now
has the option to offer civil marriage services. Contact your municipal
office for more information.
List of Ontario Municipal OfficesAs
you can see there are three groups who can officiate a legal wedding
ceremony in Ontario. Judge or Justice of the peace, City Clerk and
Clergy...end of story. These are not our rules they are the rules of the
Province of Ontario. Most people who wish to perform weddings are not
interested in becoming a judge or city clerk. The other option is
clergy. In order to qualify as clergy a person must connect, get
ordained and take all necessary training with a government recognized
religious denomination. Every denomination had fulfill the requirements
of the marriage office memorandum to qualify as a recognized religious
body. They were required to submit bylaws, rules and many written
statements to the Registrar General in order to qualify for
denominational status. Every denomination is obligated to abide by their
bylaws or risk losing status.
Now it is possible to connect with a
handful of denominations in Ontario that will "give out" ordination and
licensing with out consideration of proper training, accountability and
performance quality. These values cannot be ignored or the entire Life
Celebration world will become compromised.
Celebrating Life
Ministries is committed to proper training, legitimate certification and
investing in the lives of people who have passion and giftedness for
performing Life Celebrations in the Province of Ontario. Please know
that this means abiding by all government and denominational standards.
We cannot bend the rules and we certainly will not break the rules to
see people licensed. If you are willing to take all the steps necessary,
according to the standards of
CLM and the Province of Ontario and commit
to ongoing accountability and training then
register for an upcoming
training course. If you are excited to proceed with certification with
CLM, please follow these
steps.
