Rev. Raymond Muñoz has been a seeker of religious and spiritual
knowledge ever since he can remember. He attended Catholic school from
pre-Kindergarten through 5th grade and that played a major role in
laying out the future for the founder of United Interfaith Ministries.

Rev. Ray was an altar boy from 2nd grade through 12th grade, and in
fact, was in a preparatory program for those considering the Roman
Catholic priesthood. After deciding that he really enjoyed interacting
with the fairer sex, and that the celibacy requirement would be
extremely hard to keep sacred, Rev. Ray enrolled in Texas A&M University
as an undergraduate in Computer Science. Four and a half years and 5
major changes later, Rev. Ray graduated with a degree in business
management. While in school as an undergraduate, Rev. Ray stumbled
across the website for the Universal Life Church. Being able to get
ordained as a minister through the ULC really prompted Rev. Ray to
reevaluate his calling as a minister and thus began the journey towards
becoming an interfaith minister.

Since those days in Texas, Rev. Ray has gone on to work on a graduate
degree in nonprofit management with Capella University and completed a
non-traditional PhD program in Biblical Studies with the St. Luke
Evangelical School of Biblical Studies. After completing the program
with St. Luke's, Rev. Ray completed a year-long Wiccan minister training
program, and soon thereafter, the idea for the United Interfaith
Institute was born.

The United Interfaith Institute was originally designed as an
educational tool for those that were ordained through non-traditional
churches and groups such as the Universal Life Church and Universal
Ministries. It provided a way for ministers involved with these
churches to grow their pastoral education background while at the same
time saving the costs and time involved with a more traditional seminary
or minister training program.

A few months after the Institute came about, Rev. Ray moved to Kansas
and founded United Interfaith Ministries. The ministry is organized as
a nonprofit religious organization with the State of Kansas. The United
Interfaith Institute became the educational branch of the ministry, and
the ministry was able to offer ordination to those that completed the
year-long interfaith minister training program. Since its inception in
January of 2004, the ministry has grown to include over 100 members and
10 ordained ministers. There are currently over 45 students enrolled in
the ministry training and world religions programs.

Rev. Ray's favorite religions for discussion are Christianity, Buddhism,
the Baha'i Faith, and Paganism. He is especially fond of curanderismo,
which is a faith healing belief system incorporating Catholicism and
ancient Native beliefs of Central and South America. Interfaith
ministry and non-traditional ordination are also two favorite subjects
of discussion!

What has been your experience with the acceptance of non-traditionally ordained ministers? Do you consider them real ministers?

I first heard of Interfaith Churches back in the late nineties. I attended a little church in Dublin PA, called Pebble Hill Interfaith Church, and was charmed and delighted by the energy there.
So here is my question:
Is there an expanded role for Interfaith Churches in the near future? And does the Interfaith Church have any doctrine or dogma of their own?


Peace

Mark

My own experience with the acceptance of non-traditionally ordained ministers is that they are often ridiculed and shunned by "traditional" clergy as well as lay individuals. I've found that the main reason for this negativity is that many people think that those that are ordained through churches such as the Universal Life Church, Universal Ministries, etc., are becoming ordained as a joke and are not serious about ordination. While many people have become ordained through the ULC, et. al., as a joke, there are a great number of non-traditionally ordained clergy that ARE in it for all the right reasons, they just don't agree with mainstream denominations or religions, or perhaps they just cannot afford a full 3-year M.Div. or other similar program.

I myself consider any person ordained through non-traditional or traditional means a "minister" if they are in the business of providing spiritual comfort and support and are serious about what they do. While the term minister may not be the best word to use, it's best to use it as a generic term for someone that provides this type of spiritual comfort and support.

Mark,

That's a GREAT question... or I suppose TWO great questions! I personally think that there definitely is an expanded role for Interfaith churches in the near future. I think that a good number of people, from all religious and spiritual backgrounds, enjoy good, productive dialogue on religion, spirituality, and faith. I envision an Interfaith church more as a fellowship of dialogue and learning rather than the usual church and religious environment of adhering to any particular doctrine or dogma. I am in the process of starting up an Interfaith church here in Lawrence, KS, and the way I envision it is something like this:

People of all belief systems are invited to come and share their thoughts and views on religions, on the premise that an open mind and open heart will prevail throughout. Each week a short service will be performed, which will consist of aspects of a particular belief system, and this service will be conducted by the officiating "minister" and, hopefully, a clergy member from the belief system being introduced that week. For example, a Catholic priest may come in and share particular aspects of the Sunday mass so that everyone present will gain insight as to what goes on, and then on another day a Wiccan priestess may come in and perform a ceremony of her particular choosing. The officiating "minister" may have a sermon prepared based on principles of the particular belief system and then dialogue can take place wherein members of the "congregation" can ask questions about the beliefs being discussed. This is only how I envision my own Interfaith church, and I'm sure others will have their own opinion on how things should go.

I have given this a lot of thought over the years and the conclusion I came to is what is important is what is in the Minister's heart and that a good Minister helps a person find their own truth. I am thinking the intent is more important than the education.

What are some of the things your graduate Ministers are doing now?

Does everyone who takes your course graduate?

Ahh there is so much beauty in the things our graduates are doing! You, for instance, have this wonderful forum where everyone can interact and share their thoughts and views!

Here's what some of the other graduates are doing:

Don Campbell is a very well known author and wrote a book called The Mozart Effect. If you haven't read it, you REALLY should! You can find it on Amazon and most likely at your local bookstore. Rev. Campbell is of course continuing his authoring work, but at last communications, he's possibly considering an Interfaith music ministry!

Marcia Kovner is an attorney and an all around wonderful person. She is dedicated to using her skills as a lawyer for the betterment of society, and she is now pursuing studies in a rabinical training program.

Melissa Alvarez has an amazing wedding ministry and she performs ceremonies primarily in Ohio and Pennsylvania. Her wedding ministry website can be found here http://www.ministerofpeace.com/

Stuart Malkin has a very effective public speaking program teaching teenagers the benefits of living life on the "Right Action" path. His talks have reached many students in California, and Rev. Malkin is also the author of several books including Looking for a Better World: What Every Person Can Do!. His book can be found here http://www.bbotw.com/author.asp?Firs...n%2C+Ph%2ED%2E

You can see that there are a variety of paths to follow in Interfaith ministry!

Anyone who takes the courses, and passes them all with a grade of 70% or better, graduates from the program. If they wish to pursue ordination, there are a few more factors involved such as agreeing to our "code of ethics for ministers" and being a member of the organization.

Do I recall that one graduate is a minister at a UU Church?

Actually, we have an ordained minister that is a minister at a UU church in Texas. He had completed seminary training elsewhere and thus met our criteria for ordination after completing the code of ethics and becoming a member of the organization.