TribLIVE s Daily and Weekly email newsletters deliver the news you want and information you need, right to your inbox.
An online church that ordains ministers is suing officials at the Allegheny County Department of Court Records for failing to allow them to perform wedding ceremonies.
Universal Life Church Monastery Storehouse, a nonprofit in Seattle, identifies itself as a non-denominational religious organization “that champions religious freedom, social justice and spiritual expression of all kinds.”
“Its ecclesiastical belief system is derived from the fundamental belief that we are all children of the same universe,” the lawsuit said.
To further its mission, it ordains those “who feel called to be a minister of the church,” often to officiate weddings.