Greetings Sir Knights,

It is my great honor to serve as your Grand Commander for this coming Templar year.  I am looking forward to the challenge of getting back on track, meeting in person, making new Sir Knights, while still utilizing the tools that were made available to us during the pandemic.

My theme this Templar year is “Make a Statement, Take a Stand”.  Find something that you believe in and help to make it better. 

Sir Knights this Templar year has been most challenging.  We have said goodbye to some family and friends because of what is happening around us with this pandemic, but we have also persevered and stood tall.  Now more than ever the world needs good spiritual values to believe in.  Values similar to our Christian values that can help us all join together as one voice to eliminate hate and promote tolerance, understanding, friendship, and Brotherly love toward all mankind.  This world can rise up to be a better place, but that won’t happen if we don’t try to change hearts and minds so they can see the light from above.

Our Masonic Youth Groups can use our help as well.  If you have the time to give, I know they would appreciate it.  Just having visitors there to see the work they are doing and the progress they have made can be a big boost for them.  The Holy Land Pilgrimage and Knights Templar Eye Foundation are very worthy charities that we already support.

Sir Knights, together we can recover from this pandemic and the virtual world we were forced to exist in. We can make this world a better place one step at a time.  We can come back out into the light in the hope that one day our swords will be beaten into plowshares and our spears into pruning hooks; that nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.  We can Make a Statement and Take a Stand!

Yours in Templary,

Mark G. Mattern, REGC