Press & media.
If you are a journalist, editor, religion-beat reporter, podcast producer, or researcher writing about new religious movements, secular spirituality, or the cultural moment around screen-time fatigue — this page is for you. Everything you need to verify the organization, confirm the founder, and source the story is below. Press contact: bobby@trainingties.com.
The fact sheet
- Organization
- The Observance of the Sun
- Legal form
- California religious nonprofit · IRC §508(c)(1)(A) automatic church · §501(c)(3) tax-exempt
- EIN
- 41-3900081
- CA Entity #
- B20260038755
- Founded
- January 2026, Encinitas, California
- Founder
- Bobby Morong (bio)
- Legal page
- Legal status · Governance
- Practice
- Watch sunrise or sunset in silence for 20 minutes. Full guide.
- Sacrament
- Cannabis is recognized as optional, governed by restraint. Doctrine.
- Website
- observanceofthesunchurch.com
- @observanceofthesunchurch
- Press contact
- bobby@trainingties.com
One-paragraph boilerplate
The Observance of the Sun is a California religious nonprofit founded in January 2026 in Encinitas, California. Its only practice is to watch the sunrise or sunset in silence for twenty minutes. The Observance is incorporated under California Entity Number B20260038755, holds Employer Identification Number 41-3900081, and operates under IRC §508(c)(1)(A) automatic church status. It has no salaried staff, no membership requirement, and no fee. Cannabis is recognized in the doctrine as an optional sacrament, governed by the principle of restraint. The organization was founded by Bobby Morong, a San Diego-based founder and operator, after several years of personal practice. The Observance does not seek converts and does not ask members to abandon other religious traditions.
Three pitch angles already written
1. "A new religion founded in 2026, and the founder wrote it down so it can't be changed"
The Observance's foundational doctrine is, by design, legally locked — the Board of Stewards cannot alter it. In a moment when most institutions are negotiating their foundations in public, an organization that has made its own irrevocable is its own story. Pairs with: questions about institutional decay, the durability of belief, and what "founder mode" looks like for a religious organization.
2. "The cannabis-sacrament church that's careful about it"
Indiana's First Church of Cannabis (Bill Levin, 2015) is the obvious precedent. The Observance's posture is notably different — cannabis is recognized as an optional sacrament for adult practitioners only, governed by the principle of restraint, and explicitly never required. The story is the contrast: a cannabis-recognizing religion that is making the case for less of it, not more. Pairs with: psychedelics-in-religion coverage, the Harris Sliwoski legal-blog beat, and the broader RFRA conversation.
3. "The screen-time pushback finally has a religion"
Wellness apps, dopamine fasts, digital sabbaths — the cultural exhaustion with phones has been looking for a frame. The Observance offers one: an institution whose entire architecture is "put your phone down for forty minutes at dawn or dusk." Pairs with: Gen Z religiosity coverage, the "secular religion" essay tradition (Tara Isabella Burton, Erik Hoel), digital-minimalism writers (Cal Newport), and "decline of meditation apps" angles.
Verifying the organization
If you need to independently verify the legal status of the Observance, start with our own legal status page and governance page, then use the following public records:
- California Secretary of State business search → Entity Number B20260038755
- IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search → EIN 41-3900081
- ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer → search "Observance of the Sun"
Founder availability
Bobby Morong is available for interviews by email, phone, and video. Preferred lead time is one week. Same-day requests are possible for breaking-news angles — message bobby@trainingties.com with subject line beginning [Press] and we will respond within twenty-four hours, often faster.
Press contact
Bobby Morong, Founder
The Observance of the Sun
Email: bobby@trainingties.com
Subject prefix: [Press] for fastest routing
High-resolution logo files, founder photos, and a downloadable fact-sheet PDF are coming soon. If you need any of these immediately for a story on deadline, email and we will send them within the day.