Editing Universal Life Church (section)

===Later expansion and division===
The Universal Life Church ran into difficulties as new branches of the ULC were granted charters and began moving off in different directions. The Modesto group struggled to maintain control over these other entities as ULC affiliates grew in number.<ref name=":2">{{Cite news|url=https://www.modbee.com/living/article3118424.html|title=Universal Life Goes On|work=Modesto Bee|access-date=2018-09-16|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180916164008/https://www.modbee.com/living/article3118424.html|archive-date=September 16, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> There are multiple groups operating under the ULC name, most of which are unaffiliated in practice.<ref name=":1" /> During this period, the [[Internal Revenue Service]] (IRS) became suspicious about tax avoidance efforts within the church, eventually determining that Hensley, the Modesto ULC, and affiliated churches chartered under its name were promoting tax avoidance schemes within church periodicals. As a result, the IRS withdrew ULC Modesto's tax-exempt status in 1984. Over the next 16 years, Hensley and his family battled the IRS in court over disputed tax payments. The matter was eventually settled in 2000 when the Modesto group agreed to pay $1.5 million in back taxes.<ref name=":1" />

By 1999, the ULC had begun offering ordinations online. News coverage about journalists and celebrities getting ordained to perform weddings helped boost the popularity of online ordination. As more people became aware of non-traditional officiants presiding over wedding ceremonies, ULC membership rolls rose. Between 1962 and 2008, the ULC issued more than 18 million ordinations worldwide.<ref name=":2" /><ref name="Bishop">Lauren Bishop, ''Ordained for the Occasion'', ''[[The Cincinnati Enquirer]]'' (April 14, 2007), p. A1, A9.</ref> A large number of people seeking ULC ordination do so in order to be able to legally officiate at weddings<ref name="nytpersonal" /> or perform other spiritual rites. A 2007 article noted that "[a]bout 70 percent of people who become ordained through the Universal Life Church do so... to officiate at weddings".<ref name="Bishop"/> According to a 2016 internal survey conducted by wedding website ''The Knot'' and reported by the ''Baltimore Sun'', 43% of couples in the U.S. in 2016 chose to have a friend or family member officiate their wedding, up from 29% in 2009.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.baltimoresun.com/features/weddings/bs-lt-wedding-officiant-20170219-story.html|title=The new normal: Friends, family presiding at weddings|last=Britto|first=Brittany|work=baltimoresun.com|access-date=2018-10-28|language=en-US|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171013222806/https://www.baltimoresun.com/features/weddings/bs-lt-wedding-officiant-20170219-story.html|archive-date=October 13, 2017|url-status=dead}}{{cbignore}}</ref> Another example of a person becoming ordained through ULC in order to perform a religious ritual is that of a Native American in [[Cincinnati]], [[Ohio]], who needed such an affiliation to perform [[smudging]] ceremonies as part of the prayer ritual for other Native Americans in area hospitals.<ref name="Bishop"/>

Following Kirby Hensley's death in 1999, an organizational split led to the creation of the [[Universal Life Church Monastery|ULC Monastery]] (ULCM, also using the name Universal Life Church Ministries; now based in [[Seattle]]), which remains unaffiliated with the Modesto group.<ref name=":0" /> The ULCM formally split from the ULC in 2006 following financial, legal, and philosophical disputes between the two bodies<ref name="usatoday2007">{{cite web |title=Pa. judge nullifies weddings by online ministers |publisher=USA Today |url=http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/religion/2007-10-24-online-marriages_n.htm |access-date=December 27, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141113091604/http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/religion/2007-10-24-online-marriages_n.htm |archive-date=November 13, 2014 |url-status=live }}</ref> and began ordaining ministers independently.<ref name="dailyiowan2011">{{cite web |title=UI students serve as ordained ministers |publisher=The Daily Iowan |url=http://www.dailyiowan.com/2011/05/12/Metro/23511.html |access-date=December 27, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141113083317/http://www.dailyiowan.com/2011/05/12/Metro/23511.html |archive-date=November 13, 2014 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name=wsj2008>{{cite news |title=Chapel Bound: Getting Ordained Online |newspaper=The Wall Street Journal |date=June 12, 2008 |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB121322275524265889 |access-date=December 27, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141228052618/http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB121322275524265889 |archive-date=December 28, 2014 |url-status=live |last1=Hodges |first1=Jane }}</ref>