Grand Commander’s Message (August 2022)

Greetings Sir Knights,

It’s August. In Texas. That means it’s hot, dry, and wonderful. Don’t get me wrong, we desperately need some rain and cooler temperatures, but every day is another gift from God. While we complain about the hot temperatures let us not forget just how beautiful this world is. It’s an amazing combination of beautiful landscapes, varying temperatures, towering mountains, and vast open plains, all created by God for us. Let us all take a moment to be grateful for blessings of this world and the one yet to come.

In case you haven’t seen it on Facebook, let me tell you about the great membership program that has evolved out of my visits to various Commanderies. Lubbock Commandery has challenged the remainder of the state to a Knighting Contest. This once sleepy Commandery is now thriving and has claimed they will Knight more new members this Templar Year than any other! Your membership Chairman, Sir Knight Michael Malone, and I have turned that challenge into a membership program. The Commandery that knights the most new members from April 2022 through March 31, 2023, and gets them into the MMS system by April 1, 2023, will be declared the Champion. We are working on
what the prize will be (perhaps some sort of Stanley Cup type award that is passed to the new winner each year) and it will be awarded at the Banquet at the Annual Grand Conclave in April 2023. I will keep you posted throughout the year in these messages and on Facebook.

Mark October 1, 2022, at Camp Post in Post, Texas in your calendars now! We will hold the
first outdoor Order of the Temple! This will be a full day of activities culminating in the Order of the Temple after the sun goes down. It will be tiled by Knights on horseback and conferred by candlelight. Accommodations are in the area for those that will need to stay over for the evening. Be on the watch for a flyer with more information as we finalize the details. In the meantime, lock this date into your calendar, you do not want to miss this! This event is sponsored by the Grand Commandery of Texas and hosted by Lubbock Commandery. Courtesy candidates will be accepted.

I’ve conferred the Order of the Temple on about 15 new Knights this year. Each time is precious to me as I learn more about our Order and Christianity. In our ceremony we are told to bring no disgrace upon ourselves, this Order, or the Christian faith. That is a big calling and responsibility. None of us completely live up to it. We are, after all, sinful beings. All of us sin at times, we all struggle with something in our lives; if we did not, Jesus would not have been needed to cleanse those sins from us. Being a Christian is hard at times. We know God wants us to live perfect lives without sin, but we can never quite do it. Often, we even know some things are wrong, but we do them anyway. Non-Christians will use this against us. They will say, you are not Christian because you did whatever. They simply do not understand Christianity. Christianity is not about being perfect, it’s about striving for perfection, accepting God’s forgiveness when we fail and trying to do better. We know we cannot be perfect; we know we are going to fail God at times, that does not lesson our love of Christ or our fellow man. It does not make us less Christian or less of a Knight Templar, it makes us human. I have news for you; God loves humans. God loves you. Tell Him when you sin, thank Him for Jesus Christ, accept His forgiveness, then you will not have brought disgrace upon yourself, this Order, or the Christian Faith.

If you need or want me to confer the Order of the Temple upon any of your candidates, please contact me. I will do my absolute best to be there. I am continuing my visits to your Commanderies, check the website for my schedule, but understand it changes from time to time. I am trying to visit all of you, but I may not quite get there. I do have a tentative schedule set for the remainder of the year so if you want to know when I am coming to your location, email me and I will let you know. I love being out in your Commanderies and getting to meet you. You are the Knights Templar of Texas, and you are my heroes for what you do. You are a blessing. Thank you.

God bless each of you and God bless the Grand Commandery of Texas.

Richard R. Jernigan
Grand Commander 2022 – 2023