A new religion, founded in 2026.

It is rare to be able to say precisely when a religion began. The Observance of the Sun can: January 2026, in Encinitas, California. It is a recognized religious nonprofit — not a concept, not a content brand, not a wellness company — and this page is about what it means to found a religion in 2026, and why this one was worth founding.

The facts of the founding

Founded

January 2026, Encinitas, California

Legal form

California religious nonprofit · IRC §508(c)(1)(A) automatic church · §501(c)(3) tax-exempt

EIN

41-3900081

CA Entity

B20260038755

Founder

Bobby Morong

The practice

Watch sunrise or sunset in silence for 20 minutes

Why found a religion now?

The honest answer is that the gap was specific. There are meditation apps. There are wellness brands. There are ancient traditions, most of them magnificent, most of them carrying centuries of accumulated doctrine. What there was not — in 2026, in modern life — was an institution dedicated to making it free, simple, and dignified to stop and pay attention to the natural world. Not a product. An institution. Something with legal standing, a locked doctrine, and no one taking a salary.

That absence is the reason the Observance exists. It was founded to occupy a space nobody else was occupying: a religion you can practice in twenty minutes, that asks you to believe nothing supernatural, and that treats restraint — of attention, of consumption, of speech — as the sacred thing.

What "new religious movement" means here

Scholars of religion use the term "new religious movement" for any faith tradition founded in the modern era. It is a neutral, academic category — it includes a great many serious, durable organizations. The Observance fits the category by date, but we are careful about what we are not: we are not a high-control group, we have no membership requirement, no doctrinal test, no proprietary teaching you must pay to access, and no authority who governs members' lives. We address that directly on our "is it a cult" page, because it is a fair question and it deserves a real answer.

The doctrine is locked on purpose

One unusual choice defines the 2026 founding: the foundational doctrine is, by design, legally locked. The Board of Stewards cannot alter it. Most institutions keep their foundations negotiable. The Observance made its irrevocable — so that the religion someone joins in 2026 is the same religion in 2056. You can read more about the philosophy behind that on the doctrine of restraint.

How to look into it further

If you want to verify the organization independently, the California Secretary of State business search (Entity B20260038755) and the IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search (EIN 41-3900081) both confirm it. If you want to understand it, the fastest path is the practice itself — the Observance is more legible from the inside of one sunset than from any amount of reading. And if you're a journalist, the press page has the fact sheet and the founder's contact.