Chartering the New Royal Arch Chapter

by Senior Midnight Freemason Contributor

WB Gregory J. Knott

Admiration Chapter of Royal Arch Masons was established in 2015 with a dispensation by the Grand Chapter of Royal Arch Masons of Illinois.

From the beginning, we have sought to be something different in an era when so many other Masonic organizations are struggling for membership, purpose and even their very existence. We have focused on masonic education, and a meaningful experience for our members. Let me share our mission and vision statements.

Our mission; “Admiration Chapter intends to positively impact its members, candidates and visitors and through them their lodges, chapter, families and communities by emphasizing the notion that the highest exaltation of man is to love and serve God and to love and serve his fellow man.”

Our vision; “Admiration Chapter will be a Chapter of Royal Arch Masons that practices, exemplifies and shares our Masonic tenets and values in everything we do thereby improving, not only ourselves, but the culture of Freemasonry and our communities.”

So how are we doing two years later? We now have more than 40 members in our Chapter. Almost half of these are new Companions that were exalted in the past couple of years. We have had some outstanding educational sessions on topics such as civility, honor and masonic poetry. We held a St. John’s dinner in December of 2016, the first that I had ever attended.

We have portrayed all four Royal Arch degrees, with several Companions learning parts that they had not done before. This degree work was done well and spurred other Chapters to bring their candidates to partake in the work.

These first two years will come to a culmination on September 30, 2017 with an official chartering ceremony by the Grand Royal Arch Chapter of Illinois. A lot of hard work was put in by numerous Companions to get us this far. The leadership of the Grand Chapter has been unwavering in their encouragement and support along the way.

But the chartering is just a beginning, at our next Stated Convocation on November 30, we will be reviewing our mission, and our vision and goals to see if they still reflect where the membership want to go in the future.

When was the last time your lodge, chapter, council or other body sat down and chartered a course to where you want to go? Your organization doesn’t have to be brand new to begin a new path. You will be surprised how simple the process can really be once you embark on it. The rewards can be immense and the opportunity to experience success is very fulfilling.

I invite you to attend one of our chapter events if you are a member of the Royal Arch. If you are not a member, please consider joining your local chapter.

More information about Admiration Chapter can be found on our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/AdmirationRoyalArch/ or our webpage https://admirationchapter.blogspot.com/

~GJK

WB Gregory J. Knott is the Past Master of St. Joseph Lodge No. 970 in St. Joseph (IL) and a plural member of Ogden Lodge No. 754 (IL), Homer Lodge No. 199 (IL) and Naval Lodge No. 4 in Washington, DC.