Supposedly, as a young child, he liked to PRETEND that he was a minister and gave quite an amusing performance, which garnered him the nick name, "REV". :-)
And FWIW, Jesse Jackson's NOT ordained either, though he did manage to take a few divinity classes. During the Civil Rights marches, everyone who was anyone, really was an ordained minister and Jesse wanted sooooooooo badly to belong and to be taken seriously, that he took a few classes. Lots of times, truth is stranger than any fiction could possibly be. LOL
What's the matter Al, Tawana busy today!
No, that's actually exactly what Sharpton claims:
http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20010416&c=3&s=sherman
http://www.csmonitor.com/2003/1203/p01s04-uspo.html
But I believe you're closer to the truth as to what the real situation is/was.