A quick note for Universal Life Church ministers who are planning on performing wedding ceremonies in Louisiana:

It has recently come to the attention of the ULC Ministries staff that some Louisiana parishes (counties) have begun to require our ministers - and the legally-ordained ministers of other online ministries as well - to present ordination credentials with live signatures when they are filing for marriage licenses. Our standard ordination credential, the document the vast majority of our ministers order, does not feature a live signature and will thus no longer be accepted in the aforementioned parishes.

Fortunately, there is a quick and easy solution to this ministerial identification issue; the ULC offers a credential - the Ordination Credential for Ohio and West Virginia- that bears a live signature and can thus be used to satisfy Louisiana parish clerks' documentation requirements. This credential has been used by ministers who performed wedding ceremonies in Jefferson Parish to successfully acquire a marriage license in the past, and we anticipate it will meet other parishes' requirements as well.

Our ministers should also note that the ULC wallet card credential can not be used to file for a marriage license in these parishes as it also does not feature a live signature. We highly advise ministers who are looking to perform a wedding ceremony in Louisiana to not rely on this one form of ministerial identification.