What is needed to start a DeMolay Chapter?

To Start a DeMolay Chapter you will need three things:

Starting a DeMolay Chapter in your area is different than starting a new Lodge in that you first form the “shell” of a chapter and then get individuals to become members of the new chapter.

A Sponsoring Body may be a Masonic Lodge, York Rite, Scottish Rite, Shrine, or any other group whose members are made up of Masons. A sponsoring body should provide for a place for the Chapter to meet, approves people to serve on the Advisory Council of the Chapter, and generally supports the Chapter in their endeavors.

Each Chapter must have a minimum of 3 Advisors. There must be three Master Masons as advisors for any chapter. However, any other adult (male or female) who is willing to work with the Chapter can also be advisors. There can be more than three advisors for a Chapter, but three is the minimum. Each Advisor must have a background check done (see below) and go through Advisor Training before they are allowed to work with the Chapter.

To become a Member of the Chapter, a boy must be between the ages of 12 and 21 and believe in a Supreme Being. No relation to a Master Mason is necessary for membership. Members may be initiated into the Chapter after the “shell” of the Chapter is formed.

Process of Starting a Chapter

If you are thinking of starting a Chapter, please contact:

Dad Kevin Breitzmann (kbreitzmann@anab.org), New Chapter Development Advisor for Wisconsin DeMolay.

He will walk you through the steps, answer any questions, and work with you to get everything done to make your Chapter a reality.

So you can get a feel for what will happen though, the process for starting a chapter is as follows:

The requirements for a Sponsoring Body are mentioned above. It can also be two or more of those groups that go in together to sponsor a Chapter. Whatever organization is the Sponsoring Body must pass a resolution to sponsor a DeMolay Chapter at one of their meetings and put it in their minutes. When it comes time to complete the paperwork to start the Chapter (usually done at the time the first Advisors go through training), the presiding officer and the Secretary will have to sign it. The Sponsoring Body will have to decide on a name for the Chapter. Usually the city the chapter meets in or a name relating to the area would be a good name. (For example Madison Chapter in Madison or Fox Valley Chapter if the chapter was being formed somewhere in that area.) The fee paid to start a Chapter is $100 submitted with the paperwork.

After a sponsor is decided, there needs to be Advisors. As stated above, a minimum of 3 advisors are needed to form a chapter. The more there are the easier it is, but there needs to be at least 3. The advisors do not need to be members of the Sponsoring Body however. Each Advisor has to go through a training session that will take about 3 hours and can be scheduled in your area whenever it is convenient. There currently are 5 people in the state qualified to do the Advisor Training so we can work around your schedules. At the training, each Advisor fills out paperwork giving some personal information about their driving record, education, references, etc. There is also a background check done on all potential advisors. (This is the same type of check that an employer would do for potential employees.) This is done so that the risk to the members of the Chapter is minimized. There is a fee of $48 that needs to be paid for each advisor. Of that, $38 is for the background check and the rest is for the annual registration cost. The initial fee covers all of the current and next years’ registrations. The background check cost is a one-time fee. After the initial registration cycle, there is an annual cost per advisor (currently $20) which covers ongoing background checks every 5 years.

At the initial training, all the paperwork to start the chapter is completed and collected. It is then sent along with the proper fees to DeMolay’s International Headquarters in Kansas City, MO. We usually have the paperwork all filled out at the time we come and do the training session since all parties are there. DeMolay International will then issue Letters Temporary (which the chapter will operate under until they initiate 15 boys and receive their Charter).

Once the Chapter has Letters Temporary, they can initiate boys into the new chapter and operate independently.