ARMANNIN.SEP


                     DeMOLAY AND SCOTTISH RITE

                     JOE R. MANNING, JR., 33ø
                  Grand Master, Order of DeMolay
10200 North Executive Hills Blvd., Kansas City, Missouri 64190-1432

     The Order of DeMolay is the largest fraternity in the world
for young men, ages thirteen to twenty-one years of age, who are
seeking to better themselves by learning leadership skills and
practicing civic responsibility.  DeMolay's origin, birth and
development can be traced directly to the Scottish Rite of
Freemasonry and it shares with the Rite the same constellation of
American values.
     Today, for instance, DeMolay is based around the identical
seven precepts it had when founded in 1919:  Love of Parents,
Respect for Others, Courtesy, Comradeship, Faithfulness,
Cleanliness and Patriotism.
     The dream and inspiration for the Order of DeMolay came from
the mind of Brother Frank Sherman Land, a Kansas City Scottish Rite
Mason.  Land, as an employee of the Scottish Rite Social Service
Bureau of the Kansas City Valley, befriended a fatherless young
boy, Louis Lower, and gave him a job in his office.  Brother Land's
association with Lower gave him the desire and opportunity to form
a boy's organization that would grow into the Order of DeMolay.
     The first meeting of the organization was held in Kansas
City's Scottish Rite Temple by Frank Land, Louis Lower and eight of
young Lower's friends. As the number of young men who wanted to be
a part of this new organization grew, Frank Land turned to a fellow
Scottish Rite Mason and friend, Frank A. Marshall, to write the
ritual for the Order.  Marshall, an editor for a Kansas City
newspaper, created a ritual which is just as relevant to the lives
of the young men of today as they were over 70 years ago.
     The first conferral of degrees was presented by a team made up
entirely of 33ø Scottish Rite Masons and was held in the Kansas
City Scottish Rite Temple.
     As the Order of DeMolay grew, it was Scottish Rite Masons who
helped institute chapters all across the country.  The Rite
supplied DeMolay with advisors and was an instrumental force in the
developmental years of DeMolay.  With the growth of the Order came
the need for the establishment of a governing body to generate
programs and regulate uniformity.  The Scottish Rite responded to
the need.  To coordinate this task, the Sovereign Grand Inspector
General of Missouri, Illustrious Alexander G. Cochran, 33ø,
accepted the duties and responsibilities of becoming the first
Grand Master of DeMolay, a position he held until his death.
     Frank Land, similarly, devoted his life to the Order of
DeMolay and the Masonic Fraternity.  He would eventually go on to
become a 33ø Scottish Rite Mason and a recipient of the Scottish
Rite Grand Cross.  He was active in Shrine and served as the
Imperial Potentate of the Shrine of North America.
     Sponsorship of Chapters within the Order of DeMolay provides
a two-fold opportunity for the Masonic Fraternity.  First, the
young men of DeMolay are exposed to the ageless principles of
belief in God and right living, the hallmarks of our Fraternity. 
Further, DeMolays experience the opportunity of leadership,
fellowship and self-reliance at an early age.  These teachings
become the basis for a lifetime of successful accomplishments.
     The second benefit to our Fraternity is that we are given a
unique opportunity to expose the finest young men of our
communities to Masonry.  We can explain to them where the Masonic
Temple is located, what goes on inside that mysterious building,
and what the Masonic Fraternity stands for.
     Too often Freemasons believe that somehow the young men of
DeMolay will learn about the teachings of our Fraternity through
osmosis.  We forget it is necessary to visit DeMolay meetings to
explain Masonry and create a desire in young men to want to join
our Masonic ranks.
     Many young men of DeMolay do not spend years of activity
within a Chapter.  Contact, therefore, must be made often in order
to explain Freemasonry to each of the young men as he moves through
a DeMolay Chapter's ranks.
     The results of Master Masons working with a DeMolay Chapter
can be vividly pointed out in the example of a Chapter I know.  All
of the Senior Members of this Chapter did indeed go ahead and join
Masonry at the conclusion of their active DeMolay careers. 
However, they did not join the Lodge that was the Chapter's
sponsoring body.  The reason?  No one from the sponsoring Lodge
served on the Advisory Council of that DeMolay Chapter.  Those
Senior DeMolays joined the Lodges of the various Advisory Council
Members who were working and sharing with them on a daily basis.
     The opportunities and challenges for DeMolay and Freemasonry
are just as relevant today as they were seventy-plus years ago. 
The only difference today is that it is OUR opportunity and
challenge.  Will we have the foresight to seize the opportunity and
meet the challenge?  For information on Demolay activities in your
area or for information on DeMolay Alumni activities, write to me
at:  DeMolay International Service and Leadership Center, P.O. Box
901342, Kansas City, Missouri 64190-1342.

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     [These passages may be highlighted in the text.]

     DeMolay's origin, birth and development can be traced directly
to the Scottish Rite of Freemasonry.

     The ritual imparts teachings which are inspired by the Masonic
Fraternity and are just as relevant to the lives of the young men
of today as they were over 70 years ago.

     The SþGþIþGþ of Missouri, Illustrious Alexander G. Cochran,
33ø, accepted the duties and responsibilities of becoming the first
Grand Master of DeMolay.

     Sponsorship of DeMolay provides a unique two-fold opportunity
for the Masonic Fraternity.