Yet more Namings, and news from Tawy

More Namings happened in March, at a ceremony simulcast in IRC. On 28 March we welcomed Hetesibastmut, Sekherdjehuty and Minwywesir to the ranks of Shemsu.

The rest of the last two months have almost entirely been taken up in dealing with paperwork concerning the tax exempt status of the property on which Tawy House in Joliet stands. Last April we learned that the property had accidentally been entered into the tax rolls as a for-profit corporation by the title company at the sale back in 2003. As we'd never received a tax bill, and had never expected to receive a tax bill since we are a recognized 501(c)(3) in the US, imagine our surprise to be told we owed five years in back property taxes! Hijinks with lawyers ensued.

Most recently the state has been attempting to work with us rather than against us, which is a good thing considering that the city and the county have both already approved amendments to the tax rolls to fix the error, and we're simply waiting on the final notice from the state to go ahead. For a time the counsel actually suggested she did not believe we were "a real religion," prompting at least a hundred members of the faith to send in detailed and very heartfelt testimonials indicating what value the Kemetic Orthodox faith and the Tawy House temple had to their religious lives, and our legal team prepared almost 20 years of documented proof including all of the proof that the Internal Revenue Service had used to issue our original 501(c)(3). It was rather surprising to be challenged on this by the very entity that was the first entity to recognize us as a church back in 1994, but, thank Netjer, we seem to be working out the communication errors. After tomorrow I will have a full report on where we stand in this long, expensive and frustrating process. Now I know why so many minority religions don't even bother to try for legal recognition...

This weekend, we're hosting a special intensive weekend for new Remetj who wish to go through the Rite of Parent Divination. Yes, that means that on Saturday we'll have some new RPDs to celebrate. Watch the private mailing list, members, for more details on that. Supposedly the weather is going to cooperate and it will be one of our first real spring weekends. The flowers are coming up in the yard, though the high winds last week damaged one of the evergreens and I'll have to go out there with the hacksaw to remove the dangling branches. The neighborhood is starting to show signs of spring with some outdoor parties and all the children playing in the lot between us and the Catholic church. Schedule for the rest of year 16 will also be released soon, and I'm hoping we'll see more of you out at Tawy this year. Not to mention Wep Ronpet coming up in August!

More things to do for the lawyer, so I had best get to them. Love.

Some updates

Updating this and other websites is ongoing now that I've completed some offline work. "Real life first" sometimes means that this blog goes quiet.

There is a quick way to find out what I'm doing, though, if I don't post here. You can find out small things from the official Twitter feed (listed under Twitter name "nisut"). Since I haven't been able to figure out how to find other people there, I suppose you will have to find me.

Things are good in Illinois. More news soon and love to all of you.

Namings, New Remetj and more news

NAMINGS

On 28 January we Named Yineputjeryt and Senusenu as Shemsu of the faith, nekhtet! We also gave four rootnames to children of the faith: Iahemheb-khemet, Hatyt's son; Sherinutemhebet, Ikemwy's daughter; Hekauemhebet, Nai's daughter; and Biquemheb, Takhau's son. Nekhtet for all the people of Kemet!

WELCOME 30 NEW REMETJ!
A warm welcome to the 30 newest members of the Kemetic Orthodox Faith who completed their beginners' class and opted to stay with us:

Patricia B. of Kansas
Shannon B. of Missouri
Jade C. of England
Denise D. of California
Samantha F. of Arkansas
Clare H. of England
Holly H. of Pennsylvania
Raisa L. of Connecticut
Jamie L. of Portugal
Marina M. of England
Allati M. of Scotland
Samantha M. of England
Janice O. of North Carolina
Amber O. of England
Heather P. of Pennsylvania
Ya (Samantha) P. of Washington, D.C.
Nuria N. of Argentina
Kate R. of Texas
Miriam R. of Oregon
Jessica S. of New Zealand
Catlin S. of Pennsylvania
Dylan S. of Brazil
Zach S. of Kansas
Jacob S. of Connecticut
Kate T. of Washington state
Brent T. of Canada
Brittany U. of Pennsylvania
Rebecca V. of Iowa
Rachel W. of Ohio
Denise W. of Massachusetts

News
Our Los Angeles gathering scheduled for next week is being rescheduled for June. We're also having to reschedule the Texas gathering in April; however, the New York City gathering in April is still on. Contact your Imyu-ra, or my office, for more information on how to attend. I'm looking forward to several days of events with all of you on the East Coast!