Are you interested in being trained and licensed to legally officiate weddings?
Christian Leaders Institute has a program that may fit you. Thousands have become clergy and have been posted on the Global Clergy Directory at the Christian Leaders Alliance.
Licensed Christian Wedding Officiant Program
Step One – Enroll at Christian Leaders Insititute – Complete the Getting started Scholarship Class/Activity at Christian Leaders Institute. This takes less than two hours and grants you a study scholarship.
Step Two -Complete the Licensed Christian Wedding Officiant Course (1 Credit)
This Licensed Christian Wedding Officiant class teaches you the best Christian wedding officiant practices. This course may take you 15-20 hours to complete.
Step Three – Complete the Licensed Christian Wedding Officiant Recognition Class (0 Credits)
You must receive one recommendation from someone in your life that you are a person of Christian character.
After you complete all the class activities, you will be licensed to officiate a wedding with the Christian Leaders Alliance. You will be considered a licensed clergy member and appear in the global clergy directory.
You may also purchase a clergy recognition kit.
Richard Doolan’s Story
My name is Richard Doolan, USA, and I am studying at the Christian Leaders Institute to become a licensed wedding officiant (Learn more about online Bible classes, Click Here). I was raised in a religious family but had no relationship with Jesus Christ. When I left my boyhood home, I walked away from the church and wandered spiritually. I always had a belief in God, though I did not know the Bible. It was never anything anyone read in our home.
After my wife and I married, we waited 6 years to have kids. We both (miraculously) came together one day with the desire to go back to church. However, we did not just go back but wanted to learn, read, and study the Bible. Knowing no other church but what we grew up in, we searched for Bible studies in those churches. But, we could find none.
A year or so went by when, by God’s grace, my wife’s cousin came back home from the west coast for a short time. She began attending the church we have now attended for 27-28 years. Then, she invited my wife, who went with her several times before I began to attend. Feeling the power and love of God in that church for probably the first time in my life, I gave my life to Jesus Christ, my Lord and Savior, in 1983. My wife followed shortly after that.
Study at CLI to Become a Licensed Wedding Officiant
As I said, I have been a Christian for 27-28 years. Over this time, my wife and I have walked with the Lord in various ministries at our local church. I am currently a Deacon there, teach Sunday school, a prison Bible study (which will continue when Covid-19 restrictions relax again), and currently lead a men’s virtual Bible study.
My niece, who we are very close to even though she lives 1100 miles away, has asked me to officiate her wedding in June. I believe God has led me to the Christian Leaders Institute to become a licensed wedding officiant. I don’t know where God will lead me regarding CLI after this, but as in all things, I am open to His leading and direction.
Hi, my name is Ellen Gonzales. I live in Maricopa, Arizona. It is a blessing for me to further my education online at the Christian Leaders Institute (Learn more about online Bible classes, Click Here).
My Early Spiritual Journey
I am the oldest of two children. My family was Lutheran and went to church every week. I grew up in kid’s church and youth ministries. However, it didn’t become real to me until Jr High and High School. My parents went through a rough patch when I was in 6th grade that continued through High School. My mom became a born-again Christian and started taking my brother and me to a non-denominational church. It was very strange to me since we were accustomed to a more traditional church setting.
However, through the dysfunction in my family, I became more curious about faith and a relationship with Christ. I officially gave my heart to Christ when I was 17 at a youth camp. I was hungry for more and read the Bible like it was going out of print. Also, I spent as much time as I could at our church, volunteering all my extra time to help our youth and worship pastors.
When I was 18, a ministry like Masters Commission came to our youth group. The leader gifted me a 3-week summer ministry camp experience because she saw something in me. I was ecstatic, and I went! I experienced God and ministered to others and knew this is what I wanted to do. This was it! I went on to attend their year-long ministry program and grew in so many ways.
Challenges and Drifting
Since I promised my dad I would finish traditional college as he let me attend these various Christian programs, I chose John Brown University to study worship ministry. Unfortunately, I became distracted with more family issues and slipped into a depression. I could not get myself out of bed to go to class. I was scared to go home, and I felt like I failed my dad. At this point, my parents had divorced, and my mom had moved to Michigan. Therefore, my escape was to move and live with her. I got a job and distracted myself with other things. So, my relationship with the Lord began to drift. I felt lost and alone.
My Marriage and Spiritual Journey
I met my husband in our youth ministry when I was 17 though we didn’t know at the time we would marry. We began dating mostly long-distance in 2004. I moved back to Arizona, and we married in July of 2007. I was still struggling with my faith and the failure I felt. In 2014, with two kids, ages 4 and 5, we began attending a church. We plugged into it and connected with the worship pastor. He invited us to join the worship team. I still felt insecure and anxiety-ridden, but this small step of joining a team and beginning to serve started to bring life back to my heart. The desire and passion for knowing God, spending time with Him, and serving His people began to re-ignite.
The Lord delivered me from my fear, and I learned to redirect my thoughts, bringing them into the obedience of Christ. He healed my broken heart and began to show me that I still had a purpose. Just because I made a detour, it did not disqualify me.
The Opportunity to Further My Education Online at CLI
My husband and I since then have attended the leadership academy at our church. We serve on the worship team, the children’s ministry and host small group studies. I am currently a coach for the online service team. I love the body of Christ, and I love the Lord! My heart is that I am an igniter for the Lord. I want my passion to be contagious to those around me. Further, I want to encourage others to read the Word and know God personally in their walk with the Lord. Then, they will know who they are in Christ, know their purpose, and walk boldly in the confidence of Christ empowered by the Holy Spirit.
I am excited to be learning and growing with the Christian Leaders Institute. I am incredibly thankful for the opportunity to further my education online. As a wife, mom of two kids, working a full-time job, and serving in my local church, attending and having the resources for Bible college at this time would not be feasible otherwise! Thank you, CLI!
Learn more about ordination at the Christian Leaders Alliance. Interested in a low-cost college degree? Check out the CLI’s Leadership Excellence School.
My name is Wade W. I currently live in the United States of America. For the most part, it’s a pretty good country to live in and serve Christ in. I went many years from my youth not being faithful. Then, I began to come back to the Lord in my late twenties before I drifted away again. When I went through my divorce and had to fight in court for my kids, I fully came back to the Lord. I learned that even though I wasn’t faithful to God for a long time, He had never left me. God was always faithful to me even when I wasn’t faithful to Him. God even made sure I had the right ministry school for my busy life. He led me to free higher education at the Christian Leaders Institute (Learn more about online Bible classes, Click Here).
Drawing Close to God and Called to Ministry
Getting to know our Lord more fully happened while He was helping me with my divorce. I wasn’t in good shape at the time, but God helped me. I took responsibility for my offenses by stepping up to the prayer plate, learning to be faithful, and trust our Lord. God even taught me to fight for my kids in court.
The day I learned of my call into the Ministry, I spent trying to find a ministry school without success. The next day a friend at work approached me and asked if I’m faithful. I told him I was. He then told me about this school that he had learned about the night before. He didn’t know why, but it made him think of me. The school he had found was the Christian Leaders Institute.
Afterward, I found myself growing in my prayer life. Eventually, it grew into an untamable hunger that led me to enroll in the CLI’s Leadership Excellence School. Since rejoining the Christian Family, my life has become better in every area. I have a drive that is almost as if I’m not driving me but being driven by this new purpose.
If I could pass on one thing to my kids or anybody for that matter, it would be faith. Being faithful, learning the Bible, and more about God has changed my life in a way I could’ve never foreseen. I thank God every day for making my life and me better. I wish I had learned the importance of being faithful when I was a child.
Free Higher Education at CLI and CLI
My dream now is to serve our Lord and help people. CLI has been a great resource for me to learn and grow in my faith. I’m still unsure how I am to serve, but I know that I’ll need the education to serve properly, whatever it is.
The last class I took helped me really understand confrontations better. I also learned how to help people find a healthy outcome in a difficult time. Some confrontations can hit close to home and bring out our own personal emotions. It’s those confrontations that I think all peacemakers need to be aware of.
This free higher-education at CLI has been an amazing asset for me and my challenging schedule. I really don’t think I’d be as successful with my old college.
Learn more about ordination at the Christian Leaders Alliance. Interested in a low-cost college degree? Check out the CLI’s Leadership Excellence School.