Earlier this year, Westernesste ‘s adventures negotiating with the US Federal Government (the IRS) to confirm our nearly three year old application for 501(c)3 non-profit religious church status finally resolved positively. Our exemption extends back to the reformation of Westernesste (formerly a Nest of the Church of All Worlds ) as a separate religious entity in 2001.
One of the sticking points we wrestled with is the arbitrary line the IRS has drawn regarding their opinion that activities of a church in Cyberspace are somehow less valid than those taking place in the Outworld.
The IRS appeared to have formed an opinion about “online churches” that predated the burgeoning interactions made possible in the past few years by a variety of social media and more recently in virtual worlds. As is common, policy had not caught up with new technological developments.