The Keepers Notes
Totjo Original Thread link
http://www.templeofthejediorder.org/forum/114-Announcements/106097-2013-year-end-report
Hello to all of you lovely people...
I apologize on the lateness of this post, I wanted to get it posted by the end of January, and well, with the weather, water main breaks and snowplowing on my day job, (and a bit of confusion in Council, lol) I am running a bit on the late side...
Not that anyone would be upset, but, the end of January is my goal....
Akkarin posted on this once, but, I felt that some things were still needed, and rather than just add what I had to add, which might have looked disjointed as we both wrote something, I removed Akkarin's version... He is aware, lol...
So, this has a bit more, and I apologize to all of you that have already read and thanked Akkarin's post, but, if you know me at all, you know I am WAYYY wordy-er, lol...
What a year, HUH?
People stepping down from Council, familiar faces stepping up into the craziness of Council, new members joining, some long lost members returning, a few folks lost to the universe for now, probably still have some exploring to do before settling in, and making TOTJO their home...
As I mentioned, we had some changing of the Councillors here at TOTJO, and we wanted to take a minute and say thank you to those that stepped down....
War Beauty stepping down in January....
Knight V-Tog stepped down in October...
Master Knight Mark Anjuu stepped down in December...
Ren stepped down in December....
Each brought something unique with them in their contributions... While we didn't all always get along, we all ALWAYS have the best interest of TOTJO in our hearts, I really believe that... The holes that were left in their absences were noticeable, and still are...
But, of course, we had 'new' Council members step up and bring what they have to offer with their thoughts and opinions....
Knight Wescli Wardest promoted in December...
Senior Knight Akkarin Hanlar promoted in December...
Knight Reliah promoted in December...
Knight Alexandre Orion promoted in December...
And, while not an official member of the Council, Proteus has taken over the admin duties...
Boy, are you guys in for it...
These new Councillors had already been helping TOTJO in many capacities, and, this was the next logical progression...
There are many here, doing the task of helping the Temple in day to day capacities...
And, we love and appreciate you all...
You may not have any idea that what you do, no matter how insignificant it might seem to you, makes TOTJO better and better...
Whether its greeting new members, answering questions, or just being a part of the wonderful conversations, you are all vitally important toward the future of Jediism...
Thank you all again...
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Department Y.E. Reports...
Membership Affairs, sad to say, our numbers were down slightly from last year, but, we had more serious inquiries, so, hopefully, less "I wanna be a Jedi" folks, and more "Im looking for a spiritual home" people...
lol...
From January 1, 2013 to December 31, 2013, we had:
3,363 new usernames (3842 in 2012)
Of those:
695 applications filled out (810 in 2012)
Of those:
402 Temple Members
Of those:
4 are currently Initiates and 6 are Apprentices...
159 people have some kind of issue, either incorrect Oath, App, revoked it, or their application was questionable...
All of these numbers are only concerning the members who joined in 2013..
As well as those newer folks, we have had a considerable number of promotions of members who joined prior to 2013...
Here is our list of promotions in 2013:
To Knight:
Adhara 8/Jan
Alexandre Orion 28/Apr
Reliah 5/May
Desolous 20/Nov
To Master:
Damion Storm to Master: 25/Apr
We have also had a number of clerical promotions:
To Licensed Minister:
Connor Lidell 5 Jan
MCSH 14/Apr
To Deacon:
Alexandre Orion, Deacon 28/Apr
To Priest:
V-Tog, Priest: 30/Jul
Alexandre Orion, Priest 6/Dec
Ryujin, Priest 6 Dec
Not to mention Alexandre Orion's promotion to Pastor in December...
You missed Connor being clerical secretary in 2013
And, our Apprentice list in 2013, was pretty long as well..
Apprentices
Wendaline 13/Jan
Metsu Desal 15/Jan
Adservio 26/Jan
Kalkho 29/Jan
hellisforhorses 13/Feb
PcoronaF 20/Apr
Proteus 28/Apr
Arcade 25/Apr
Alan 1/May
Leandros Von 14/May
Trose 14/May
Brenna 17/07
Elizabeth 23/Sep
Archon 5/Oct
Kohadre 7/Oct
Reacher 1/Nov
Naya 12/Dec
Garwa Mayharr 29/Dec
Raikoutenshi 31/Dec
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Finances
We currently have $174.94 in our Paypal account (17th Jan 2014).
We currently have $210.68 in our bank account (17th Jan 2014).
Expenses:
$50 Bank service charge
$699.76 Server hosting fee
Our finances are in slightly better shape this year than last but we are still wholly dependent on member donations to continue running.
We do not like to advertise for money, because that is not what we are here for. All of the time given to the Temple is volunteered for free by the members.
But for those that wish to donate, the 'Donate' button is on the upper-right of the page beneath the FAQ link.
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Gatherings and Meetups
The Arizona Jedi (PloKoon, Daniel, and Sikiksoulja) have gotten together twice in 2013, and the second time, they met up with an Illinois Jedi, Apprentice Alan...
Once in January: (J.R.[Sikiksoulja], Daniel L., and PloKoon)
And once December: (Daniel L, PloKoon, Alan, and J.R. [Sikiksoulja]
And, on the last weekend in July, the Heartland Jedi, not a TOTJO group, but its some of their members, are members here, hosted a community wide gathering in Tennessee... All Jedi are always welcome..
(See if you recognize anyone, lol... Alethea Thompson, and Andy Spaulding, as well as Lightening Strike are there I know, but not sure of many others being known here...)
Who knows what 2014 may bring?
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Public Relations and Marketing
The PR Team is looking to expand, as per membership demand, our range of merchandise stores and products.
Currently we have only our Cafe Press store: www.cafepress.com/jediorderchurch
But we are looking to see if we can open up some other online stores which offer a greater range and quality of items. The PR Teams newest member, Knight 666 has been tasked to look into this exclusively!
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Jedi Community in the News
It has been a very busy year for "Jedi in the news". In March an offhand comment about a change in the law which would allow Jedi to perform marriage ceremonies sparked a media outburst: www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-21842269
We were directly linked to or mentioned on articles published on the BBC, Daily Mail (UK), Yahoo and CNet as a result.
Br. John was featured in an interview by Huffington Post streamed live over the internet on the same topic.
Which is now also stored in our library.
Akkarin wrote a comment article about the Temple for Politics UK (A UK political website): www.politics.co.uk/comment-analysis/2013/03/25/comment-jedi-weddings-should-not-be-dismissed-so-readily
And was interviewed for an article on the same topic for a French News website: www.lejournalinternational.fr/Jediism-in-the-name-of-the-Father-and-of-the-Son-and-of-the-Holy-Light-Saber_a799.html
And an email discussion in May: columbianewsservice.com/2013/05/jedis-not-so-far-far-away-after-all/
There have been seven email inquiries (mostly students) with one leading to Akkarin travelling to London UK for filming a media students final project.
The Tennesee gathering was mentioned in the news:
www.details.com/culture-trends/critical-eye/201311/star-wars-religion-church-of-jedi
www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2465445/Jediism-THOUSANDS-believe-religion-based-Star-Wars-franchise.html
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Training
Our three areas of training continue to undergo changes...
To quote a recent post, "they are living documents" and ever changing, growing and adapting....
The seminary, under the guidance of Mark Anjuu, was reunited from its separate site, back to the TOTJO site....
Under the current Pastor Alexandre Orion and the Associate Pastor Alkarin, the clergy has begun having meetings to clarify and further refine its purpose and direction
The Initiate's Program (IP), a source of occasional criticism, lol, has undergone some changes, and more are planned for 2014...
Finally, the Degree Scheme (DS)… The DS continues to grow as well... New knights are always adding further lessons, and there are talks of improvements on this as well....
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I'm sure I've missed many topics, there were "lows" as well as "highs"...
Please post what you remember from 2013...
We are only human, so if a topic was missed, all we can do is apologize, and ask you to post it for everyone's attention...
But remember, we are just touching on the past to nod an appreciation to it, for getting us to this point...
More important than the past, is the NOW....
May the Force be with you....