The Chaplain Corps

APPENDIX N – The Chaplain Corps

 Establishing Authority

The Chaplain Corps of the Autonomous Grand Priory of the United States, Sovereign Military Order of the Temple of Jerusalem, was established by Proclamation of Grand Prior XIII on 12 May 2002.

 Purpose

The purposes of the Chaplain Corps are:

  • to establish within the Order standards for members of the Chaplain Corps and for pastoral care and service within our Priories, including the Grand Priory;
  • to develop a forum for mutual understanding of, the enhancement of and the promulgation of the Chaplains’ roles in this Order1;
  • to facilitate the recruitment and entry of ordained clergy2 into the Order by creating an environment in which clergy can be members without having to take secular vows that could be construed as a violation of ordination vows; without an inappropriate rank structure; and without dubbing or any other procedures or matters that may be inconsistent with the ordination  vows of clergy within their particular denomination and/or order.

 Status

Members of the Clergy, who are also members of the Order, and who qualify for membership in the Chaplain Corps, may hold regular membership as a Chevalier or Chevaleresse, as well as membership in the Chaplain Corps.

Chaplains shall have full privileges as members of the Order, but may choose not to be considered for elected or appointed positions at the local or national levels, except as senior members of the Chaplain Corps.

Structure

The Chief of the Chaplain Corps shall be the current Grand Chaplain. The Grand Chaplain, together with the Deputy Grand Chaplains, shall serve as the Ecclesiastical managers of the Order.

A. Criteria for Membership

  • The applicant must believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and subscribe to the ecumenical creeds of which the Nicene Creed is the primary form of presentation. This creed is from the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Ecumenical Councils.
    1. The applicant must be an ordained member, whether active or retired, of a faith
    2. community/denomination which is Trinitarian in doctrine.
    3. The applicant must provide written documentation on appropriate letterhead from his/her ecclesiastical or judicatory authority, that he/she is a clergy person in good standing in his/her denomination or religious order, and that he/she is free of any unresolved accusation or judgment of clergy misconduct.
  • The applicant must hold at least an entrance level degree (i.e. BD, MDiv or equivalent) from a theological school or seminary accredited by The Association of Theological Schools or an accrediting agency recognized by the United States Department of Education or the Council for Higher Education Accreditation.
  • The applicant should expect to pay his or her entry fees into the Order, unless a waiver is requested and granted through consultation with the Grand Chaplain and the Grand Prior.

B. Duties and Responsibilities

It is the duty of the Chaplains of the Order to:

  • Give spiritual guidance to the members of the Order, and along with the Chaplain of the Priory, to be the chief advisors to the Prior of the Priory in religious matters and to assist the Prior to strengthen the Spiritual depth and sensitivities of the Priory and its Knights and Dames;
  • Conduct the services of the Order;
  • Promote the charitable works of the Priory and the Grand Priory;
  • Carry out such other duties and responsibilities as are determined by the Grand Prior, the Chief of the Chaplain Corps, or the local Prior; It is expected that members of the Chaplain Corps will be, in teaching and in generosity, examples in support of the Order’s charitable works, even as they encourage Knights and Dames to grow in their generosity and charitable giving;
  • In some instances, clergy may hold membership in Orders within their denomination that forbid the payment of oblations. In these cases, a request may be made for a waiver of oblation payments upon the approval of both the Grand Chaplain and the Grand Prior. Even so, Chaplains are expected to make voluntary charitable gifts to the charitable work of the Order and other charities as they choose.

C. Ranks of the Chaplain Corps (Ascending)

When one is received into the Chaplain Corps, either at Investiture or by transfer, one receives the appropriate rank of the Corps and remains in that ascendency of rank as long as one remains in the Corps.

  • Assistant Chaplain (ACTJ) corresponding to Chevalier (KTJ)
  • Chaplain (CTJ) corresponding to Commandeur (KCTJ)
  • Senior Chaplain (SCTJ) corresponding to Grand Officier (GOTJ)
  • Grand Croix Religious (GCRTJ) corresponding to Grand Croix (GCTJ)

D. Promotions

While any officer of the Order can suggest the promotion of a member, it is the prerogative of the responsible Prior to recommend a member of the Chaplain Corps for promotion. Any such promotion must have the approval of the Chief of the Chaplain Corps.

When the Chief of the Chaplain Corps decides to make a recommendation for promotion, he or she must prepare a written recommendation citing the reasons for recommending this particular member for promotion. A recommendation for promotion generated by the Chief of Chaplain must contain the favorable endorsement of the parent Prior.

In order to be eligible for promotion to any rank, the Chaplain being considered must be a member in active status.

The Recommendation for Promotion form, which is used for all promotions, including Chaplain Corps promotions, is found in Appendix L (Standard Forms and Reports) of the Manual of the Order which is available on line in the members-only section of the GPUSA Website www.smotj.org. The form is an interactive fill-in format document, i.e., a pdf Adobe Reader enabled format document.

Promotion criteria for Chaplains will parallel the prescribed criteria (including time in grade) used for the promotion of a Chevalier or Chevaleresse. Please refer to Appendix E for promotion criteria. For promotion to the rank of Chaplain, the nominating statement may be brief, stating that the individual being recommended has been productive for the good of the Order, and in what manner. For the rank of Senior Chaplain, more descriptive detail must be provided and the accomplishments described must be significant, involving considerable effort and time.

A recommendation for promotion to the rank of Grand Croix Religious, however, must either recount extraordinary effort on the part of the member or detail his or her long, effective and sustained effort on behalf of the Order. A recommendation for promotion to this rank would normally be initiated by either the Chief of the Chaplain’s Corps (Grand Chaplain), or by the Grand Executive Committee if the nominee is the current Grand Chaplain. In all cases, a nomination for promotion to this rank will be referred to the Grand Priory’s Grand Croix selection board for review along with the current slate of other nominees; however, selection to this religious rank will not count against the annual quota for Grand Croix selections. The Board’s recommendation for approval of this promotion shall be forwarded to the Grand Prior for final approval.

The Prior or Prior Delegate forwards all Priory and Commandery recommendations for promotion, including Chaplain Corps promotions, along with the rest of the Priory’s Personnel Action Processing (PAP) package electronically to the GPUSA Administrative Services Provider at accounting@smotj.org, with a promotion passage fee of $25 for each recommendation. This fee covers the costs of processing the recommendation and producing and engrossing the promotion certificate. Multiple forms may be forwarded with the Priory PAP and must be detailed within the Priory cover letter worksheet.

All Priory PAP requests are submitted together electronically and emailed to the Deputy Grand Prior not less than 90 days prior to the anticipated Convent date for review. Once the DGP has completed his/her review, the entire Priory PAP package is emailed to the GPUSA Services Provider at accounting@smotj.org, not less than 60 days before the anticipated investiture date. This allows sufficient time to obtain the Chief of the Chaplain Corps approval, prepare the promotion certificates, and forward the certificates to the requesting Priory in advance of the anticipated promotion date. Please refer to Appendix V for proper procedural processes.

 E. Committees

  • Necrology Committee – to record and appropriately commemorate the passing and life contributions of members of the Order.
  • Religious Ceremonies Committee – to develop, expand, and modify the religious ceremonies of the Order as appropriate, and to recommend such revisions to the Executive Committee of the Grand Priory.