As stated on the Church page of this site, the Church is a firm supporter of individualism. The Church embraces the notion that individuals are the ultimate arbiters of truth. Religious authorities have entirely too much power in many parts of the world. Groupthink often rules and ruins people's lives. Until individuals undermine the efforts of religious leaders to influence the mobs towards hate and strife, humankind will not know peace.

The Church does have ministers, but only in the sense that all members minister to one another. We do not have any formal ordination for our ministers at this time, although the Church, as a legal entity, certainly is empowered to do so. If members of the Church should want to marry or bury their fellow Deists in legal religious ceremonies of their own creation, obtaining an ordination from Universal Ministries is a good choice. Nothing about Universal Ministries is incompatible with the Church of Nature's God's belief system, and relying on Universal Ministries to provide ordinations and legal ministry status frees the Church of Nature's God from this administrative burden. If the members wish to amend our Guidelines (Bylaws) to include certificates to recognize members' status as ministers, it will be simple to do so.

Remember that the Church of Nature's God has no dogma, no prescribed rituals. The closest the church comes to preaching is the Reflections Blog and in the Services forum . A church, nonetheless, does minister to its members. Some may want a Deist to officiate at their wedding, some may want some words of comfort from fellow Deists at a funeral or memorial service. Members may ask other lay members to be officiants at ceremonies. Only with marriages or formal counseling will you usually find that there are legal requirements to be met. Check with local authorities beforehand, and do what you think is right.

A member of the Church of Nature's God may also simultaneously be a member of any other church or organization or none at all as that individual member sees fit. There are many Internet Deist discussion groups and websites providing a wealth of information about Deism, Freethought, science, ethics and living a good life. The Church tries to point out as many good sites as possible.

The Church is mindful of the fact that the clergy is what drove many people away from their former church. That is not an outcome that the Church desires here. The Church will never have a priesthood or any officer with claims to authority over any other member.

“Question with boldness even the existence of a God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason than that of blindfolded fear." -- Thomas Jefferson