NZ's Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster Now Performing Marriages

If you’re looking to get married, can’t decide on a church, and happen to live in New Zealand, then boy—do I have some good, noodly news for you. The Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster’s NZ branch is now legally able to officiate weddings.

The church started to prove a point about faith: that a spaghetti-and-meatballs deity is just as likely to exist as Jehovah, Allah, Jesus, Zeus, Wotan, or Captain Marvel. Over time, it evolved its own religious traditions and customs. Adherents call themselves patsafarians.

The head of the church, Karen Martyn, is now a “Ministeroni”, or a legally recognized marriage officiant.

“We have swords, we have noodles and pasta involved in the ceremony. It’s a bit of fun,” she says.

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We’ll let Dr. Martyn explain some of the church’s official convictions:

“While some claim this is a parody organisation, members have rebutted this on a number of occasions,” she says.

“Our religion has no dogma. It’s one of our rules. So we have no dietary restrictions. You can wear any clothing you want. You can look like what you want. You can speak what you want. You can act like what you want. You can even belong to other religions and we don’t care.”

She went on to explain the overall message of the church:

“You can make fun of us because we really believe all religions should be subject to scrutiny and to humour. And they should be for the greater good — not something that tears people apart, communities apart, or pits people against each other.”

Finally, she summed up pastafarianism in a single sentence: