Universal Life Church Elects New High Bishop

TUCSON, AZ - In the same way the throngs of eager Romans let out a thunderous roar upon glimpsing the white smoke rising from the Vatican City to usher in a new Pope, those who somehow heard of Dan Stubbler’s election to lead the Universal Life Church as its next High Bishop also seemed to not be too irritated.

But this doesn’t mean there isn’t some ambivalence in the large community of Universal Life Church ministers, who become ordained through a process of filling out a brief form on the church’s Web site and clicking “Submit.” “Apparently this guy (Stubbler) has only married like two couples and they were just his friends,” said Daniel Woo, who, when he’s not attending to his ministerial duties, works 50 hours a week at his IT job, trains for triathalons, raises his children, and teaches youth Bible study at the nearby Emmanual Methodist Church. “Doing your friend’s wedding: If you stumble or crack-up or something while you’re doing that, you’re not going to get in big trouble. But family: I did a wedding for my brother, and that was nerve-racking. If I screwed up, my dad would have been pissed.”

Having endured the grueling selection process of locating the nearly impossible to find “High Bishop” link on the church’s Web site and literally writing a little more in the online form than the typical minister, Stubbler looks forward to his tenure. “I’m gonna make some changes when I get some time. Er…I don’t know.”

But the worry is that Stubbler will impose a new conservatism to the church. This weighs heavy on the mind of Woo and his fellow ministers, who, once a year during the summer months, don’t have a Church Leadership Congress in Tucson. “I’ve heard that he plans to extend the wait for the e-mail that tells you you’re a minister to 48 hours. It’s now 24 hours.” Woo shakes his large head. “What if you didn’t think to apply before only a day before the wedding you have to do? You’d be in trouble. Now, you gotta think of it a day sooner.”

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