Blackwell v. Magee

ROBERTSON, Justice,

for the Court:

I

At issue this day is whether a minister of the California-based — and not uncontroversial — Universal Life Church (ULC) may in this state solemnize the rites of matrimony so that the persons participating in those rites are legally married. The case turns on whether the Universal Life minister is a “spiritual leader” of a “religious body” within the meaning of our statute law. We hold that the ULC minister was legally empowered and that the purported marriage at issue here was validly effected. The Chancery Court’s decision to the contrary is reversed.

II

In…