Member Recruitment

Notes:

As a confrère + pastor team, list the young men to invite into Templars and send one of their parents an invitation through the Sign-Up Invitation tool below.

Be sure to list the name of the parent and son, as parents will receive the text message and email sent. You can edit the text as you desire; however, be sure to include the Templars signup link (www.TemplarsOrder.org/signup).

The goal of this step is twofold:

• Introduce parents and sons to Templars
• Generate momentum with early signups

When a young man signs up for your Templars chapter, the chapter chaplain will receive an email notifying him. Signups are reflected below.

Notes:

Parents and male teenagers are busy. A one-off email and text message will need a few complementary in-person invitations to ensure effectiveness. Below are a few reliable options. For best results, start with three:

• Pass out your QR Codes from the Launch Kit. Before or after Sunday Mass, especially for active servers, is an ideal time to extend a personal invitation. Whether at Mass or an event within or outside of the parish, give the QR codes to the young men in person, and encourage them to sign up for the chapter.
• Employ the early signups to recruit their friends. Male teenagers tend to travel in bunches. Focus your initial recruitment efforts on the natural leaders. Once they are committed, involve them in building the chapter with other motivated young men. Give them QR codes to pass out as well.
• Attend an in-person gathering where your parish's male teenagers will be. This could be youth group, Confirmation prep, a sporting or community event, 8th grade class visit (for springtime 8th grade recruitment).
• For priests in particular: your moral authority within the parish community will carry great weight for most of the male teenagers you invite into Templars. Statements like, "I want you to strongly consider being a part of Templars" are effective invitations.
• Print a Bulletin Announcement. Be sure to include the following information:

  What is Templars? A Catholic brotherhood for high schoolers.

  Who is Templars for? 14 to 18-year old young men in the parish.

  How does it work? Templars chapters form in parishes and consist of:

  • priest-chaplain

  • 3-5 lay adult mentors

  • 7 or more high schoolers

  The young men of the Templars chapter take the lead in accomplishing the Work of the Order, a fourfold fraternal commitment to:

  • Serve at the altar

  • Build the brotherhood

  • Give of themselves for the good of others

  • Attend to spiritual growth

  When and where does Templars meet? The Chapter Launch will take place on Sunday, {MONTH AND DAY} at {START TIME}, after the {LAST MORNING MASS TIME} Mass in the {LOCATION}. Lunch will be provided, and parents are welcome to join; dad's are encouraged.

  e.g. "The Chapter Launch will take place on Sunday, February 15th, after the 10:00 AM Mass, at 11:15 AM in the Knights of Columbus room. Lunch will be provided, and parents are welcome to attend; dad's are encouraged."

• Pre or Post-Mass Callout - Whenever your parish offers announcements, mentioning the Templars Chapter Launch event can be a helpful tool for reminding parents of the text and email invitation and the Chapter Launch event (especially when paired with a bulletin announcement). This callout is a copy and paste of the Printed Bulletin Announcement. It's best if Father is the speaker, as he can provide a brief reason for his desire to launch the chapter as a brief addition to the logistics provided.
• Call parents by phone. Talk to mom or dad or simply leave a voicemail reiterating the invitation and providing a brief reason for why their son is being invited.

  E.g. "Templars is a Catholic brotherhood for high schoolers. Father has asked me to personally invite your son to join the chapter. The chapter brothers serve at the altar for Mass together. They meet monthly at the parish, and they gather throughout the year for fellowship and service events. I will text you the signup link after I hang up."

  Signup Link: www.TemplarsOrder.org/signup

Notes:

The process of inviting your parish's male teenagers to join the Templars chapter is twofold:

Oftentimes, confrères will divide the list amongst themselves, each choosing the young men that they know best. Your pastor is more than welcome to extend each invite himeslf after Mass. Again, every parish is different. The goal is that each young man receives an intentional invitation to join the Templars Chapter.

That said, we tend to discourage bulletin announcements or broad invites from the ambo. Templars is - by its very nature - selective; and we want your team of confrères to take time to select the right candidates to join the chapter.

We recommend pairing the in-person invitation with a personalized letter to each prospective Templar. Beyond serving as an additional touchpoint, this letter provides essential details about the Win Event/Small Dinner (discussed next) and creates the impression amongst the prospective Templars that "Father never sends me mail, so this must be important."

You will find a template and an example of the Inviation Letter below.

Notes:

At last, we've arrived. This is where all of your recruitment efforts will come to fruition (and finally make sense). 😉

The approach to recruiting Templars will differ from parish to parish. We've recommend two approaches that work best:

Once you've picked the best approach for your chapter, go ahead and check the corresponding checkbox.

Regardless of the approach you select, it's important to cast the vision of Templars and emphasize the service that these young men can offer to their individual parish and the universal Church.

As you detemine a date for your Win Event/Small Dinner, bear in mind that you'll want to schedule your Inaugural Chapter Meeting within 1-2 weeks. This ensures that no momentum is lost amongst the Templars and that you won't have to restart your outreach.

Finally, you can find even more information in the PDF included below: Win Event and Small Dinner Planning Guide.

Notes:

With multiple invitations in front of your parents and their sons, it is time to give the young men a sample of what to expect from Templars. We call this Your Sunday Morning Chapter Launch. The Chapter Launch agenda will be covered in detail in the "Chapter Launch" Section. Here we will focus on the logistics and the invitation itself.

Logistics

• Date - Chapters with Sunday meetings have the best attendance.
• Time - Parish culture differs, but meeting right after Sunday Mass is a clear best practice. The final Sunday morning Mass has the highest attendance at many parishes. Plan your event 15 minutes after Mass ends.
• Location - Stick with the well-known locations on your parish campus; if your meeting room is not easily accessible, be sure someone is available to direct traffic at the main entry door.
• Food - Bagels, doughnuts, pancakes, sandwiches, etc. are all great options to draw the young men of your parish to attend your Chapter Launch. Whatever you choose, the presence of food at the Chapter Launch is a clear best practice.

Invitation Message

As a confrère + pastor team, list the young men to invite to the Chapter Launch event (likely the same as step 1). Anyone who has joined the chapter will receive the message whether you list them below or not.

Be sure to list the name of the parent and son, as parents will receive the text message and email sent, not the son. You can edit the text as you desire; however, be sure to include the logistics for the event: Date, Time, Location, Food.