Sir Knights,

It is my great honor and privilege to serve as your Grand Commander for this Templar year and I am truly grateful for the trust that you have placed in me. We will all work together to uphold and put forward the tenets of our fraternity for the betterment of our lives, families, and communities.

The theme this year is “By the Grace of God.” We have been blessed with God’s favor, let us demonstrate our Christian values by exhibiting love for one another in our actions, words, and activities, encouraging all by our example to share in the divine life and grace of the Lord. We can demonstrate this by continuing to serve our Commanderies and communities: helping to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and bind up the wounds of the afflicted. Thus, demonstrating the strong moral and character values of a true Christian Knight whose purpose is to serve God while serving and supporting others.

Project Recover is my designated personal charity. For over 30 years, Project Recover has been the nation’s leading citizen-led, non-profit organization to search, locate, document, recover, and repatriate the over 81,500 American service members still missing in action and to bring recognition and closure to the estimated five million MIA Gold Star families like mine. As the Eye Foundation Chair for Pennsylvania, my family and I will continue to support the Knights Templar Eye Foundation (KTEF) as one of our primary charities. Our goal is 100% Life Sponsorship for all of our constituent commanderies.

Our efforts will focus on improving communication, education, and values. We need to communicate what we do; do what we say we do; and do what we do well. Inspections and Workshops will continue to determine our strengths and weaknesses that deserve to be commended or addressed. Schools of instruction, including Divisional and Sectional workshops, will continue to reinforce and further develop our skills and knowledge. Let us focus on embracing and demonstrating those values which set us apart as Templars: values such as faith, family, truth, integrity, and honor as demonstrated in our Oaths and Orders. Let us take pride in our appearance and performance both within and outside of the asylum. Our goal will be to demonstrate to all that we strive to be the best we can be and By the Grace of God we can and will succeed.

Courteously,

SK Larry D. Horath, REGC