The NZ Census takes place on March 6th (less than 28 days away). JEDI is now recognised as an official religion by the NZ Statistics Department. Previously the answer was out of scope, but last year a challenge through the Human Rights Commission acknowledged that a government department must protect an individuals right to religious belief. That change was hard won. Lets now stand together and be counted. May the Force be with you.

Thanks to a refresh of religious classifications in the upcoming census, Kiwis who affiliate with being a Jedi will soon be able to know how many others do, too. So will those who affiliate with Maoism, Marxism, and Falun Gong.

An update of the standard classification of religious affiliation means data collected in the 2018 Census of Population and Dwellings will more accurately reflect people's religious, philosophical, and spiritual beliefs. It is the first update to the classification since 1999.

While Jedi and Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster are both on the list, most of the changes involve more denominations for religions such as Judaism and Islam.

Those who identify as Jedis, Marxists, Taoists or Pastafarians may be officially registered as religious followers after the 2018 Census.

Statistics New Zealand has proposed to amend the categories of religious affiliation, and the aforementioned are some of the beliefs being considered.

The force is strong in New Zealand - but not strong enough for a tax break.

The Department of Internal Affairs has rejected a request by the Jedi Society Incorporated to be recognised as a legitimate charitable endeavour, with all the tax-free benefits that entails.

The society was established in April 2014, with an aim of acting as "guardians of peace" and keeping a particular eye on agents of the dark side of the force.

As well as protecting the galaxy, the society said it would promote the Jedi religion, build a temple and try to grow the number of Jedi adherents in New Zealand.

Statistics NZ want to hear your views about the content of the next census and invite you to take part in an online discussion forum. It will be open from 30 April to 10 June 2015. Specifically join the forum, and look for the religious affililation question.... https://2018census.loomio.org/d/pwmdML3I/religious-affiliation

May the fourth be with you all. We are a fantastic group now 9395 strong. I wish you all peace and harmony, from NZ, the first to see the sun of a bright new day.

Sorry we will not be printing any more Jedi certificates... We decided it was too hard to manage. Please remember you should look around and inside yourself to feel the force, you don't need a certificate on your wall to prove it.

This is a very special day in the Jedi Calendar

Our website forum is now closed. There is so much more going on in our Facebook Group forum.

Our website gets 12000 - 20000 unique visitors every month. We now have over 5000 members on our facebook group too.

Our website traffic quadrupled on this very special day. We got 2000 unique visitors for the day instead of the ordinary 500 per day. :-)
MTFBWY

Our hearts go out to all of those affected by the Feb 22nd Earthquake in Christchurch. This is a tragic tremor in the force!

The International Jedi Church, based in New Zealand, are terminating
discussions with the Libertarianz Party due to significant differences
in opinion.

We have Jedi Stickers available for New Zealand residents only, promoting Jedi as an answer to the religion question in the 2011 census. UPDATE: ALL GONE NOW!

fyi everyone, it's only 3 months until the next Nz census. We need to spread the word and remind people the importance of answering Jedi for the religion question.

In the age group of 15-29 years of age, there are over 20% who answered Jedi in the Census. As a percentage of the total Nelson population was almost 7% and the next top region was Malborough. The Force is strong at the top of the South Island.

After a long debate with NZ Census over several years, and even after expressing a desire to pay for the information, it has been several months, here it is...

On January 12th 2009. The Government of Canada granted Order of the Jedi Inc. The worlds first Federally Incorporated Non-Profit Religious Entity. The Order of the Jedi Inc. will continue to move forward, now applying for recognition within each province, and also help to establish other Orders who have been fighting for so long with a letter of introduction to their governement. A Federally registered Corporation is also recognized globally.

Chairperson = Master Zen Yobi
Secretary = Master Dale Akira
Treasurer = Master Boo
All nominated, seconded and accepted, all unupposed.