To be fully compliant with general legal standards, ordination cannot be granted “for life.” Most ordaining bodies use expiration dates and require renewal to ensure an ongoing relationship with ordained ministers.

The renewal process functions as a concrete expression of the minister’s intent to continue a relationship with The Satanic Temple and is an opportunity for The Satanic Temple to review that relationship as well.

Without a renewal process, courts could invalidate ceremonies performed by the minister on the grounds that an insufficient relationship exists between the minister and the ordaining body (cf. Cramer v. Commonwealth of Virginia, 1974).