It was joined a few years later by the Houston Church of Freethought. A Northern California Church of Freethought was founded in 1999, but has since disbanded. On May 18, 2006, the Texas State Comptroller's office granted tax-exempt status to the NTCOF as a result of actions taken by Americans United for Separation of Church and State, who had previously secured tax-exempt status for the Ethical Society of Austin. This status had been previously denied to the NTCOF and other non-traditional churches because they did not profess "a belief in God, or gods, or a higher power."