The Order of Templars - Knights of the Holy Temple is one of the most powerful and useful movements in the Church today and can address many issues relevant to the life of a parish.
The Templars program is designed for 14 to 18-year-old male teenagers for their spiritual and developmental needs, which are addressed by actively serving the life and mission of the Church. In addition to their development, Templars offers your parish a well-trained group of young men who will accomplish work in the sanctuary, sacristy, and the parish community.
The fraternity of Templars brothers can significantly raise the quality and mystical nature of your liturgy. Your parishioners will be amazed at the dedication, piety, and care of your templars as they serve the liturgy and respond to what they witness in kind.
The basic structure of the Templars fraternity is this: Every chapter is led by a priest/chaplain who recruits the membership and at least two confrères, adult men of solid reputation who model Christian manhood. The role of the confrères is to mentor, form, support, and encourage the brother templars as well as provide support to the priest/chaplain.
A fraternity, by definition, is an exclusive group. And the young men who make a fraternity are to be strong and potent enough to “sharpen the mind of another” (Proverbs 27:17). And so just as you must recruit the best mentors as confrères, you must recruit the best young men as fraternity members.
The size of the chapter must be discerned prudently. Larger parishes may need a larger chapter. Ten active templars is the minimum recommendation for a high-functioning chapter; however, in most cases, a fraternity of about 15 men proves ideal, allowing for more intimate friendships and a more manageable membership.
Forming a local Templars Chapter will bear abundant fruit for your parish—and you have our support as you do so through a Templars Chapter Success Coach. The Success Coach assists with best practices in launching the Templars program, including how to select confrères and identify founding fraternity members.
The notion should be avoided that Templars exists to recruit seminarians, even though nearly all Templars chapters can boast of a seminarian or two. In one diocese, nearly 80 percent of seminarians have been either members or confrères of the Order.
That said, Templars is not a vocation club. The young men need to be encouraged to be the best men possible. Focus is better placed on creating an environment favorable to growth, formation, and maturity. After that, allow God to inspire the men to His own design.
If you are interested in transforming your parish with the brother templars, simply fill out the form below and we’ll be in touch.
