How I became a Reverend
In the spring of 2007 my friend Naomi asked me to perform the ceremony for her wedding to Chris, with whom I’d gone to college. I was the one who’d introduced them and I couldn’t have been happier when they fell for each other after their second meeting a few months later. Before Naomi’s phone call I had never really thought about doing weddings but it seemed like an interesting offer and a cool upgrade from bridesmaid, so I said yes!
My background is as an actor and writer, so I’m comfortable writing and speaking in front of a crowd and I’ve always loved going to weddings, but I’d never considered becoming a minister! Everybody’s ordained these days, though, so I searched out some websites and found the World Christianship Ministries. I liked the word Christianship and I really liked that the website let me choose my title from Minister, Pastor, Reverend, Evangelist, Bishop, Chaplain, Missionary, Elder, Deacon, Preacher or Other. I thought seriously about becoming an Elder, but it seemed a little bit pretentious, so I mailed off my check and a few weeks later a certificate arrived for Reverend Corrie Van Ausdal. I am ordained in all fifty states and I am happy to travel for a destination wedding.
Religiously, I was raised Unitarian with strong doses of Quakerism. During my formative years my mom tried out many belief systems to the far left of mainstream and bits and pieces of all of them have burrowed into parts of my personal philosophy as well. When writing a ceremony I choose words like benediction in place of blessing, and hopes, dreams and wishes instead of prayer. I feel comfortable with those words since I'm not a big churchgoer, but I feel that they're respectful to older family members who might be religious. They also help maintain the formality and structure of the wedding for those that are used to more traditional ceremonies. I don't feel like I'm qualified to vouch for Gods and Jesuses in the ceremony, but if a couple wants passages from the bible as readings, I'm fine putting them in.
Feel free to browse through the Sample Ceremonies to get an idea of my style.