New York · MMXXVI

HALLOWED.

Seminary-Trained · Spirit-Led · No Membership Required

Your ceremony deserves someone who actually understands
what you are doing. This is that ministry.

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Ceremony · New York · MMXXVI

A Word Before We Begin

You are not looking for someone to read words over you.
You are looking for someone who knows what those words actually mean.

There is a difference between a ceremony that is performed and a ceremony that is felt. Hallowed. exists because you deserve the latter, and because you should not have to join a church to get it.

Who I Serve

I wrote this
for you.

If you are reading this, something brought you here. Maybe you believe in God but you stopped going to church years ago. Maybe you and your partner come from different traditions and you have not found anyone fluent in both. Maybe the church hurt you, and you are still holding that, and you still want something sacred at the center of your wedding day.

I see you. All of you. And I want you to know that you do not have to pretend to be someone else to stand at that altar.

I am not here to gatekeep your access to the sacred. I am not here to audit your theology or require your membership card. I am here because I genuinely believe that every couple deserves the depth of a seminary education working in their corner on the most important day of their lives.

If someone told you that your love was not the kind God recognizes, I want you to hear this clearly: that was their limitation, not God’s. It was not theology. It was fear wearing theology’s clothes. You are welcome here. Completely. Without revision.

That is why Hallowed. exists. Not as a product. As a calling.

I have never turned a couple away because of who they are. I do not intend to start.

— J. Michael Payne

You might be

My Why

I do not start with what.
I start with why.

People do not connect with what you do. They connect with why you do it. Here is mine, without apology and without abbreviation.

01

Because marriage is a covenant, not a contract.

The Why

I grew up in a tradition that taught me something most people never hear: the first wedding in human history happened in a garden. No priest. No institution. No membership required. Just two people, a divine witness, and a binding, sacred promise.

That is what the Hebrew word brit describes. Not a legal agreement. Not a transaction. A covenant. Something witnessed. Something consecrated. Something that changes the very nature of who you are to each other.

I spent years in seminary studying that word. And I have never been able to offer a couple anything less than its full weight.

The covenant is primary. The institution is secondary.

02

Because your story deserves a guide, not a gatekeeper.

The How

My Master of Divinity trained me in hermeneutics, homiletics, and pastoral care. Those are not credentials I collect. They are tools I deploy entirely in service of your story.

I hold a Safe Pastor certification because I know that some of you have been wounded by the very institutions I was trained in. That certification is my public commitment to a boundaried, trauma-informed, protective posture with every couple I serve.

I am not a religious authority. I am a trained guide. There is a profound difference, and that difference is everything.

Depth without dogma. Reverence without religiosity.

03

Because access to the sacred should never be conditional.

The What

The result of everything I believe and everything I have studied is simple: you should be able to access the full depth of a seminary education without converting, conforming, or joining anything.

No confessional requirements. No liturgical restrictions. Your ceremony is as sacred as you want it to be, as personal as your story demands it to be, and written specifically for the two of you, by someone who has spent years learning how to hold that kind of meaning without dropping it.

This is not generalist work. This is the most specific, credentialed, purpose-built offering in this city.

That means every couple. No asterisks. No exceptions.
Your ceremony. Your covenant. Your way.

In Genesis 2, the first marriage happens in a garden. No priest. No congregation. No liturgy. Only two people, a divine witness, and a binding promise. The covenant is primary. The institution is secondary.

The Theological Foundation · Genesis 2

What you need is not a building.
You need someone who understands
what you are doing.

J. Michael Payne, LGBTQ+ affirming wedding officiant in New York City. Seminary-trained minister serving same-sex couples, interfaith couples, and all couples seeking sacred ceremony without religious gatekeeping.

J. Michael Payne · Founder

Your Officiant

J. Michael Payne

Wedding Officiant · Minister · Theologian

I did not stumble into this work. I was called to it. And that calling has been refined over two decades of study, service, and showing up for people in some of the most sacred moments of their lives.

I hold a Master of Divinity from Ashland Theological Seminary, where I graduated as a Kern Scholar and a member of the Hebrew Honor Society. I was the only African American in seminary history to attend on a full tuition scholarship in that program. I did not earn that distinction by accident. I earned it because I believed that the depth of what I was being trained to do demanded that kind of commitment.

Before seminary, I earned a Bachelor of Arts in Biblical Theology and Religious Studies from American Baptist College, graduating cum laude as President of the Baptist Student Union. I was licensed to preach in 2003, fully ordained in 2009, and have served in ministry contexts ranging from local church leadership to interdenominational parachurch work with Young Life.

In 2022, I completed my Safe Pastor certification through Kaleidoscope Ministries USA. This was intentional. I know that many of the couples who come to me carry wounds from the church. The Safe Pastor framework is my commitment to a trauma-informed, boundaried, fiercely protective posture with every person I serve.

I have never turned a couple away because of who they are. I do not intend to start.

I am also a trained Mental Health First Aid practitioner, certified through the National Council for Mental Wellbeing. I bring that awareness into every pre-ceremony conversation.

I am legally ordained through the Universal Life Church and registered with the NYC Marriage Bureau. Every ceremony I perform is fully legal and fully personal.

I am a husband. A father. A New Yorker. A man of faith who refuses to use that faith as a barrier. I started Hallowed. because I looked at this city, with its 30,000 weddings a year, and I realized that almost none of those couples had access to what I could offer. That felt like a calling I could not ignore.

Master of Divinity (M.Div.) Ashland Seminary
Kern Scholar · Hebrew Honor Society Full Scholarship
B.A. Biblical Theology, Cum Laude American Baptist College
Safe Pastor Certification Kaleidoscope Ministries
Mental Health First Aid NCMW
NYC Marriage Bureau — Registered ULC Ordination

Common Questions

Before You Ask & Pricing

Everything you are probably wondering, answered honestly.

Exclusive bespoke ceremonies are $500 for a limited time for 2026 to celebrate our launch of Hallowed. Every package includes a pre-ceremony consultation, a custom-written ceremony script, day-of officiation, and marriage license filing. Premium packages with extended consultations, vow-writing guidance, and rehearsal attendance are also available. This rate is available exclusively to couples marrying in the New York City metro area during our 2026 launch year. Begin your inquiry to hold your date.

Yes. I serve couples across Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, and Staten Island. I also travel to venues in Westchester, Long Island, and the Hudson Valley. If your ceremony is outside the tri-state area, let me know and we will work it out.

Absolutely. Your ceremony is yours. I can incorporate elements from multiple faith traditions, blend sacred and secular language, or build a ceremony that carries spiritual weight without any specific religious framework. There are no confessional requirements and no liturgical restrictions.

Yes. I am registered with the NYC Marriage Bureau and legally authorized to solemnize marriages in New York State. I sign your license on the day of and handle the filing with the Bureau on your behalf. You are responsible for obtaining the license beforehand, and I will walk you through that process.

You can and I hope you will. I also offer vow-writing guidance sessions to help you find the right words. Whether you want to write from scratch, work from a framework I provide, or use traditional vow language, I will support whatever feels authentic to you.

After you reach out, we schedule a consultation where I learn your story, your vision, and the tone you want your ceremony to carry. From there, I write a custom ceremony script tailored to the two of you. You review it, we refine it together, and on your wedding day I deliver the ceremony we built. I also handle the legal filing afterward.

Yes. Without condition. The covenant I help you make is between you, each other, and God. My job is to hold that with reverence, not to audit who deserves access to it. If you have ever been turned away from the sacred, I want you to know: that was not theology. That was fear. You are welcome here. Completely.

Begin Your Inquiry

HALLOWED.

Your day is coming.
Let us make it holy.

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Seminary-Trained  ·  Spirit-Led  ·  No Membership Required