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FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
ABOUT DeMOLAY
FOR PROSPECTIVE MEMBERS
(you're
interested in joining)
What's a Chapter?
A Chapter is a group of DeMolays in a
community that meet together in
Brotherhood, usually at a lodge.
What is Mother
Chapter?
Mother Chapter is the first chapter of
the Order of DeMolay.
What's a Lodge or Blue
Lodge?
A Lodge is were the Freemasons meet,
also commonly referred to as a
blue-lodge.
Who are Freemasons?
The Freemasons are generally our
sponsors. They are men that meet
together in brotherhood and Fraternity
in a common bond with ignorance to race,
creed, religion, or financial stature.
What's an Advisor?
An Advisor is an adult volunteer of a
DeMolay Chapter. An Advisor could
be your parents, a Freemason, or any
trusted adult in the community.
What do DeMolays do?
A DeMolay does what he likes to do... as
long as it is lawful respectful and
keeping with the principles of DeMolay.
Activities that we have done include but
are not limited to Flag Football,
Bowling, Civic duties like "Adopt a
Road", Dances, Night Prowls Video Game
Lock-ins, Paintball, and many others.
As stated above we do what WE want to
do.
Who makes the plans?
As a DeMolay you and your brothers
decide plan and enjoy the events and
activities that you do. The
Advisors are there to do just that,
Advise.
Do I have to pay to go
to things?
Most of our activities are rather easy
on the wallet. If your chapter
plans things right and has a good
fundraising program then most things
will be free to the individual DeMolay.
What's a Petition?
A petition is like an application for
membership in DeMolay.
What's a Prospect?
A Prospect is a male 12-21 years of age
that is interested in joining DeMolay.
How do I Join?
Here's how; find a DeMolay at your
school and ask for a petition, send an
email to this address and ask for a
petition, any way you do it ASK FOR A
PETITION FOR MEMBERSHIP!
What happens after I
hand in my petition?
After you fill out your petition for
membership and give it to a DeMolay,
there are few things to do before you're
initiated. First you Petition for
membership is read in the chapter, then
a group from the chapter comes out to
visit with you to get to know you, then
your petition for membership is voted on
to decide whether to let you join based
on the Visitation Group's recommendation,
then if voted yes you will be initiated
as soon as possible either by your home
chapter or by another that has one
scheduled, which ever is sooner.
What is an initiation? / What's it
like?
The initiation of a DeMolay is like a
play that the members of the chapter put
on to tell you about DeMolay and what
it's ALL about. They will tell you
about the Precepts or values of our
organization, and then there is a play
to tell you about why we take Jacques
DeMolay's name for our organization.
Will I be made to do anything
during
the initiation?
NO! Aside from walking around the room
and watching and listening to the ceremony
and play those are the ONLY things that
we require. THERE IS NO HAZING or
making you do some goofy prank to be
admitted. Hazing is NOT tolerated
and is NOT allowed in DeMolay. If
you don't like something that you hear
during the initiation your are able to
leave at any point.
What is this "Ritual" I hear about?
DeMolay's Ritual are ceremonies that we
use to open and close our chapter
meetings or initiate members into
DeMolay. It's nothing spooky or
anything like that. To put it
simply we say what our values and
lessons are, ask GOD for his Blessings
it's that simple. Your parents can
even attend to make sure there's nothing
"weird" going on.
FOR THE PARENTS
What events can I attend?
Parents are always welcome, and wanted,
at any of our meetings or events.
Siblings and other family members may
attend some of our events, but not our
meetings.
What is my son doing? Who is with him?
DeMolay members should go to the
Chapter's meetings, fund-raising events,
and fun activities. Occasionally,
members will visit other Chapters and
attend other youth group activities.
Many of these are joint activities with
the Job's Daughters or Rainbow, girls'
organizations supported by the
Freemasons. When the members of your
Chapter attend any activity, there will
always be adults present. Usually this
will mean an advisor or a parent. All
DeMolay, Job's Daughters, and Rainbow
activities are always chaperoned.
What is happening in the Chapter? How do
I know what is going on?
The Chapter year is divided into two
terms. Each term the Chapter and its
Master Councilor set up a Term Plan.
This is like a calendar of events for
the term. Your son should be given a
Term Plan at the beginning of each term.
In addition, he is encouraged to make
notes about additions, deletions or
changes as these occur.
Try to communicate with your son after
each Chapter meeting and make notes as
needed on your family calendar. We
periodically do send home flyers for
many activities, but you may need to ask
your son about them.
REMEMBER: Chapter meetings are held
twice each month. Members should be at
the Masonic Temple between 6:30 and 7:00
pm, as meetings start at 7:30. Over the
summer months, our meeting nights may be
a casual meeting or a fun event.
Why is DeMolay important for my son?
DeMolay is different from most other
clubs or youth groups your son could
join. In DeMolay, your son is expected
to memorize certain parts of our
ceremonies and recite them in a Chapter
meeting. This will help him to develop
public speaking skills that will last a
lifetime. Your son will have the
opportunity to travel a great deal
through DeMolay and meet people from
across the state and across the country.
DeMolay tries to incorporate many types
of activities to give each member varied
experiences. Also through membership in
DeMolay, your son will have scholarship
money available to him that is not
available to the public. DeMolay
encourages the young men to set up their
own activities, advisors are there to
advise, not do the work for them. This
teaches its members how to become
leaders.
Good character development happens
through the contacts with many prominent
people. There are many exemplary people
among the youth and adult leaders in
DeMolay. They are role models for
positive active citizenship throughout
our community, state and nation.
Who are advisors?
The advisors are a group of adults who
have volunteered to work with the young
men in the Chapter. Each advisor goes
through a training program and has a
background check. Each year they must
update their background check and
refresh their training.
How can I get in touch with my son's
advisors?
At the beginning of each term, your son
should be given an updated copy of our
contact list. This list includes the
addresses, phone numbers and email
addresses of all their Chapter and State
advisors. If you do not get one speak to
your Chapter Advisor or Chapter Chairman
to request the contact information.
What can I do to help?
First, help your son get to meetings.
Meetings are the place for him to hear
what is going on and sign up for
activities. If your son is going to be
absent, he should call the Chapter Dad.
Absences are either "excused" or
"unexcused".
Next, come to a meeting with your son.
We love to see parents attend our
meetings. You may be surprised by what
your son can accomplish and the young
men always do a better job when they
have an audience.
Consider volunteering to help the
Chapter as a chaperone or driver for an
activity. Even if you do not want to
become an advisor, there is still a lot
you can do to help us. We frequently
need drivers to get the boys to events.
If you want to help in another way, you
might want to help with refreshments for
one of our meetings. Please help by
supporting our fund-raisers. Many of our
fund-raisers are supported by going out
to dinner for one night or buying ice
cream for one evening. The fund-raisers
help the DeMolays keep the costs of ._.,
our events low so that more may
participate. This also means there is
less of a chance that the DeMolays will
ask his parents for extra money to pay
for the real costs of various events.
Help your son recruit prospects for
DeMolay. Suggest young men, who are his
peers, to him that he may not have
thought about and talk to the parents of
theses friends if you already know them.
Let them know how you feel about
DeMolay.
How do I become an Advisor?
We would love to have more parents
become advisors, please see Chuck
Ridgeway, the Maryland DeMolay Director
for Adult Recruitment, if you are
interested. All parents are welcome to
attend our Advisors Meetings. Check out
this link and
visit a chapter's website in your area
to find out more information on meeting
times and events to get involved
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