MEMBERSHIP, what is it? It can be hard cold numbers, or it can be the lifeblood of your Commandery. It can be the reports of the past, or it can be the sharing of Christ's love with your Brothers. It is indeed what you, as a Christian Mason, make it. If you are reading this magazine, it is only because some Sir Knight cared enough about you to urge you to become a part of Christian Masonry.
Many times Masons make the mistake of thinking all of Masonry is Christian...it is not. In fact, every branch of Masonry, for men, is nondenominational, except for the Commandery, and here we have to profess a belief in Christ.
I am proud to be able to wear the uniform of a Knight Templar. I am proud enough to share with my Blue Lodge Brothers the path to becoming a Christian Mason. Each of you also has to make the choice. Do you care enough about Christian Masonry to take that extra effort to talk with a Brother about the Commandery and our beautiful Orders? It is also easier to wait until someone else makes the effort, but what if we all made the effort? Well, we could double the number of Christian Masons. What if, at the same time, we made an effort to make our Commandery a place where we were proud to take our new Sir Knights, where we opened and closed every meeting in full form, where we had programs and Christian fellowship every meeting?
We can do it! And you can be the man in your Commandery who makes the difference! You can be the man who says "we can" instead of "we can't." The only difference between "can't" and "can" is an apostrophe t...three marks with a pen. The only difference between a successful Commandery and a failure is YOU! YOU can make it happen!!! Show the Pride!
This article was written by Sir Knight Louis Hopkins, Most Excellent Grand High Priest, Grand Royal Arch Chapter of Texas and State Membership Chairman, Grand Commandery, Knights Templar of Texas.
James P. Smith
Grand Commander
I wish to make a correction to my editorial that appeared in the October 2003, Knight Templar magazine. It was called to my attention that the Ten Commandments were removed from the Alabama State Supreme Court building instead of the Federal building. I thank the Sir Knight that called this to my attention. The removal was still not right, no matter from what building. In my humble opinion, this was a matter for the State of Alabama—not a Federal judge.
Doye Sudduth, Editor
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