We understand that Templars is new to everyone, especially you and your team of confrères. That's why we created the Confrère's Guide - Inaugural Chapter Meeting Agenda. This document will be your lifeline for the Inaugural Chapter Meeting. We have spelled out everything that you - as the Lead Confrère - need to say during the meeting. Print a copy in preparation for the meeting.
As for the Brother Templars, they will need copies of these three documents to get the most out of the meeting:
1. Inaugural Chapter Meeting Agenda - As this is the first chapter meeting, much of your time will be spent discussing the Templars' Honor Code and Work of the Order. You will also review the Chapter Offices and nominate members for each position.
2. Chapter Officer Nominations Resource - Simply print one out for each member. Each Templar will fill this out during the Inaugural Chapter Meeting.
3. Templars Altar Serving Plan - This document, while distributed to everyone, will be handled by 3-5 members of the chapter who volunteer to complete this document and present it for Father's approval.
Finally, before you go, there are two more documents we'd like to surface:
1. Minutes Template for Inaugural Chapter Meeting - As this is the first chapter meeting, a confrère—not the one leading the meeting—will handle this task. It will offer the eventual Draper a model to imitate, and it will allow your confrère team to pass chapter leadership to the Brother Templars after Officer Elections (discussed below). After the meeting, the confrère should 1) upload it using the submission box below, and 2) use the email template below to share the minutes with the pastor, confrères, parents, and Brother Templars with digital communication approval.
2. 📧 Email to Parents → Inaugural Meeting Minutes - Like our other templates, you just need to edit the relevant information and hit send.
3. Confrère's Guide-Inaugural Chapter Meeting Agenda - This document outlines everything that the lead confrère will say to guide the first chapter meeting. Just print it out and you're ready to roll!
This, admittedly, feels clunky. We promise this process will become much easier once your chapter officers are elected in your 2nd Chapter Meeting.
The 2nd Chapter Meeting is when the baton is passed from the confrères - who have been spearheading the chapter's efforts thus far - to the Brother Templars. But before we get to that point, we do have a few things to take care of:
1. Confrère's Guide - 2nd Chapter Meeting Agenda - Just like the Inaugural Chapter Meeting, we've provided a guide for leading the 2nd Chapter Meeting. Once again, the lead confrère will model the chapter leadership that the newly-elected Master will assume at the next chapter meeting.
2. 📧 2nd Chapter Meeting Pre-Reads Email Template - As the Templars are not fully in command of the chapter - at least not yet - the Lead Confrère will need to distribute the Templars, their parents, fellow confrères, and the pastor. Again, this email will serve as a model for the Master. It is ideal to send the pre-reads three days prior to the meeting.
3. 2nd Chapter Meeting-Minutes Template - Again, a confrère - not leading the meeting - should spearhead taking meeting minutes for one final time. The Draper elected during the 2nd Chapter Meeting will take meeting minutes for future chapter meetings.
As far as the Brother Templars are concerned, you'll want to print and bring the following:
1. 2nd Chapter Meeting Agenda
2. Inaugural Chapter Meeting Minutes - one of your fellow confrères will have saved this document in the prior step. You can retrieve it there.
At last, the moment you've all been waiting for: the election of chapter officers.
The officer elections process is outlined in paragraphs 97-106 of the Rule of the Order. Chapter brothers may also benefit from reviewing the responsibilities of each office (paras 61-77).
Once officers are elected, invite them to join the Templars Platform. This will provide a central hub for officers to keep track of documents.
| First Name | Last Name | Role | Last Login |
|---|
While your responsibilities as a confrère will lessen after officers are elected, they will still need your guidance and input to effectively execute the duties of their office.
Your Chapter Success Coach is also an excellent resource to help your officers understand their new duties. Feel free to book time on your coach's calendar for you and any chapter officer who desires more guidance. Here is the link to book time on your coach's calendar.
In the early weeks of your chapter's existence, coordinating and executing the first Templars-served Mass is the primary goal.
At your Inaugural Chapter Meeting, 3-5 members volunteered to review your parish's current serving norms to then propose to Father norms for a Templars-served Mass. The newly-elected Marshal will now spearhead the process of visiting with Father to propose and approve a norm for Templars-served Masses. Once Father has approved a norm for serving, the Marshal will ensure each chapter brother commits to memory the serving norms in place for Templars-served Masses. This will likely require setting time aside to rehearse these changes as a chapter.
Once your chapter's Marshal has met with your Pastor, it's time to train the chapter on the new altar serving norms. Click here to access the Marshal's communication center where you can email or text the details of the altar-server training session to all parents, chapter brothers, confrères, and your pastor.
