About Us
THE KNIGHTS TEMPLAR OF ALL BRITAIN
(WALES, ENGLAND, SCOTLAND AND NORTHERN IRELAND)
For the absolute avoidance of doubt we have NO connections whatsoever
with any Freemasonry or other Masonic organisation, British or Foreign.
In short we are NOT Freemasons.
[We would therefore suggest that any Freemason who might be interested in
becoming a Knight Templar should contact the national Freemason organisation
which we understand is based at Freemasons' Hall in London.]
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Please note that we NEVER respond to any enquiry about joining us unless the enquirer is prepared to state where they live AND is willing to meet or speak in person or on the telephone with either the Grand Prior or a senior officer.
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Some Arms or Banners of the Order
BANNER OF THE ORDER OF THE TEMPLE OF JERUSALEM KNIGHTS TEMPLAR OF ALL BRITAIN
[Registered Copyright]
[Note the design and use of the Banner above is very strictly Copyright and must not be copied in any way nor under any circumstances whatsoever]
The International Arms
WELCOME ON BEHALF
of
THE GRAND PRIORY OF ALL BRITAIN
including
THE GRAND PRIORY OF WALES, THE GRAND PRIORY ENGLAND
and
Houses in Northern Ireland and Scotland
This is the only Official Website of
The Grand Priory of All Britain
and also the above
being together members of the InternationalOrdre du Temple de Jérusalem
Registered in Belgium in 1933 & 2023
Registered in England & Wales in 2024[O.T.J.]
The Order of the Temple of Jerusalem
Registered in Belgium in 1933 & 2023
Registered in England & Wales in 2024
< > The Knights Templar <>
We celebrate the
900+ years
of the Order's foundation in
Jerusalem in 1118
Worldwide the Order of the Temple of Jerusalem is composed of autonomous Grand Priories. Subject to the direction of the Grand Master, the Order is governed by its Grand Priors.
In accordance with the Statutes only ONE Grand Priory may exist in any one nation or state.
For the avoidance of doubt therefore there cannot be a "Grand Priory of England and Wales" since "England and Wales" is not a 'state' nor a 'nation'. England is a nation; Wales is a nation Scotland is a nation and Northern Ireland is a nation. The internationally recognised 'State' to which they all belong is the "United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland".
There has been a Grand Priory of Wales for many years. The Grand Priory of England is of ancient origin and existed before the time of Magna Carta in 1215. For convenience an overall 'administrative' Grand Priory of All Britain was established in 2020 to oversee the development of these two national priories in Wales and in England. Since the beginning of 2024 we have formed new Templar groups in Scotland and Northern Ireland. The latter will not, of course, be part of any Templar organisation in the Republic of Ireland. The first new knights from Scotland and Northern Ireland were Invested in September 2024.
The supreme Legislative Body of the Order is The Grand Magistral Council. Its members include the Grand Master and the Grand Priors (amongst whom is the Grand Prior of All Britain).
The Grand Priory of All Britain, The Grand Priory of Wales and The Grand Priory of England are the only officially and internationally recognised Grand Priories of the Order of the Temple of Jerusalem (the Knights Templar) [OTJ] for All Britain, for Wales & for England. We have now established Templar groups in Northern Ireland and in Scotland. Hopefully these will become a full priories in due course.
Throughout the world there are about 42 other Grand Priories of this Order [OTJ] and together the membership runs into thousands of Christian men and women.
The Order also appears under a previously unregistered name as the Ordre Souverain et Militaire du Temple de Jérusalem (OSMTJ) and, unfortunately, this can cause some confusion and for this reason we are trying to maximise use of the ancient and duly registered name, Ordre du Temple de Jérusalem (OTJ).
However, 'other' groups using numerous titles such as: the 'Grand Priory of England and Wales'; the 'Grand Priory of England of the Supreme Military Order of the Temple of Jerusalem [OSMTH or OSMTH-Paris]'; 'Knights Templar of Great Britain'; 'Knights Templar International' [legal title 'Knights Templar International Novus Ordo Militiae Limited']; 'Knights Templar UK'; the 'Grand Priory of Great Britain'; the 'Grand Priory of the United Kingdom'; the 'Templar Church of Great Britain'; and many similar variations do not represent and are not to be confused with us. In spite of any claim or website not one of these bodies is an actual member of the world-wide, registered and Christian organisation that is the Ordre du Temple de Jérusalem (OTJ) - the Order of the Temple of Jerusalem.
Quite a number of these 'other' organisations are also, effectively, merely Masonic groups since most of their senior officers and many members are freemasons. But many Christian churches across the world have established that Christianity and Freemasonry are incompatible since freemasonry admits that there are 'gods' other than our Lord Jesus Christ who, for true Christians and with the Father and the Holy Spirit, is ONE GOD, Lord of All and Saviour.So beware!!! We have no connections with any of these (false) organisations.
Sadly some so-called 'Templar' groups (especially those found on the Internet) are not even remotely connected with we true Templars but are merely recruiting organisations for political or other ideologies, whilst others may be 'breakaway' groups which left the mainstream of the Templars some or many years ago, and still others are completely self-made groups posing as Knights Templar. Unfortunately many of these groups are merely fund-raising for their self-appointed leaders even though they may offer some sort of 'document' or the like. They pretend that an applicant has joined the real Knights Templar. In contrast we are absolutely open about our aims and objectives and about all costs involved in joining and in maintaining an annual membership. Further, our Investiture events in particular are always open for the public to attend; so anyone who might be thinking of applying to join, could (if they wish) come along and meet us before making any sort of application.
Pages on this website are regularly updated - usually once a month (save perhaps in the summer months) and usually more frequently - but we always have a lot of material and information for members of the public to read. In contrast some so-called Templar websites are rarely updated or, indeed, completely static.
This website can be found at www.knightstemplar-wales.org
We are entirely a Christian and chivalric organisation - there are more details below:
We are NOT a political organisation and we have no connections whatsoever with any political organisation or political party. Similarly we are not a Re-enactor group.
We have NO connections whatsoever with any Freemasonry or other Masonic organisation, British or Foreign.
We do not 'recruit' to any such organisations under any circumstances.
As a matter of policy we do not have any sort of social media presence, especially with the insecure links of Facebook (Meta), Instagram, Twitter etc etc. Consequently no connections nor reliable information about us can be obtained via such media. If anyone does want to contact us it is easily achieved via our 'Contact Page' on the menu opposite.
Obviously we are not connected in any way whatsoever with a Mexican 'drugs cartel' who adopted the name 'Knights Templar' some years ago!
More recently (August 2024) we have been asked to clarify that we have no connection whatsoever with an American organisation going under the name of the "Knights Templar Church". We are NOT a church!
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The combined Banner
of
The Grand Priory of All Britain, The Grand Priory of Wales
and The Grand Priory of England:
The Banner of the Knights Templar of Wales
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ORDER OF THE TEMPLE OF JERUSALEM
(KNIGHTS TEMPLAR)
Grand Master of the Order, General Ronald Mangum [US Army
(Retd)]
We are the OTJ Knights Templar for All Britain (for Wales and for England and for Northern Ireland and for Scotland). OTJ stands for the French, “Ordre du Temple de Jérusalem” (The Order of the Temple of Jerusalem). We Knights Templar are an Christian (Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant) fraternal and chivalric Order. We have no Masonic or political affiliations.
We are ecumenical and by this we mean that we are not
affiliated to any single Christian denomination but seek to represent all Christians in accord
with Jesus’ prayer to the Father concerning his followers:
“That they may all
be one :
so that the world will believe that you sent me”
(John 17: 20-21).
We are part of a world-wide organisation for the fellowship and networking of like-minded individuals. Our Order is organised Internationally under the “Ordre du Temple de Jérusalem”. Each Grand Priory translates this French (not Latin) title into their own language and in English it is simply the "Order of the Temple of Jerusalem". The Grand Master of our Order is His Excellency, General Ronald Mangum PhD JD (U.S. Army [retired]).
Our Order vows to hold to the virtues of Honesty, Loyalty, Perseverance, Charity, Humility, Courage, and Honour. We take our vows seriously and hold each other accountable as our ancient statue proscribes: “Each day we must help our brethren for whom we are responsible, for one day God will say, ‘Where is thy Brother?'”
In contrast with much of today’s society, with people moving from place to place, and from relationship to relationship, this Order calls Knights and Dames to live a committed life of purpose.
Historically, the Knights Templar were a Christian order of soldiers of 'noble' birth, founded over 900 years ago in 1118 A.D. Named after the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, the Templars initially protected pilgrims travelling through the Holy Lands, but eventually evolved into a powerful military force protecting the Holy Land.
The reasons for the Order today are to:
Ꚛ Spread the light of Christ in an increasingly dark world. Today’s Templars are faced with a spiritual battle instead of a physical one.
Ꚛ Practice works of mercy, charity, and benevolence.
Ꚛ Act as a force to unify all Christians, Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant, under the banner of Christ. Today, Christians are under attack by extraordinarily powerful enemies. As Benjamin Franklin expressed it: “We must all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately.”
Ꚛ Perpetuate the traditions of the Knights Templar by defending Christendom, now through non-violent means.
Ꚛ Live a life of Chivalry and hold each other accountable to a lifestyle of excellence.
Ꚛ Promote historical studies, heraldry, and the genealogy of the Order.
Ꚛ Promote through the values of friendship, loyalty and respect, feelings of universal brotherhood and ideals of solidarity between all people.
The 12th century Cistercian Abbot, St Bernard of Clairvaux wrote, ”The Knight Templar is truly a fearless knight and secure on every side, for his soul is protected by the armour of faith just as his body is protected by armour of steel. He is thus doubly armed and need fear neither demons nor men. Not that he fears death – no, he desires it. Why should he fear to live or fear to die when for him to live is Christ, and to die is gain?”
Being a Knight Templar means being committed to an ancient holy order 900 years old. It is not a remnant of the past, it is a way of life for today.
We Knights Templar are looking for those upstanding Christian men and
women interested in becoming exceptional. Few are chosen and the standards are rigorous,
but the reward of Knight- or Damehood in this ancient Order awaits. Interested? For more information on how to join us, click
the “Contact Us” tab opposite.
the OTJ GLOBAL MEMBERS
All Britain
Armenia Austria
Belgium Bosnia and Herzegovina Bulgaria
Brazil Canada Costa Rica
Croatia Cyprus Estonia
France Greece Georgia Germany
Hong Kong Israel Italy
Indonesia and Malaya Luxembourg Mexico
Netherlands Norway Pakistan
Peru Poland Puerto Rico
Romania Serbia Slovenia
South Africa Spain Switzerland
Philippines
United States of America
Arms of other OTJ Global members not yet available:
Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Monaco and Portugal
Additional information added on 1 August 2024 but not yet fully incorporated into the main text:
What is the mission of the Order? We are an international Christian humanitarian
Order dedicated to the betterment of humanity, and our humanitarian activities
are carried out within our autonomous Grand Priories in each nation. But that really does not explain who we are, nor
what we do, so, firstly, we carry out the formal, legal purposes contained in
our Statutes by planting and nurturing Commanderies, Priories and Grand
Priories throughout the world to bring the words and works of Jesus Christ into
the secular world through doing humanitarian works and deeds.
Today, Christianity encompasses nearly 2.4 billion believers. While Jesus Christ founded the Church, he left no written directions or instructions. Instead, he selected twelve disciples to be his ‘apprentices’ and to spread his teachings.
The members of this noble Order seek to continue this programme.
What makes a Templar Knight or Dame different on the day that they are invested into the Order from the day before they were invested?” The answer is that when invested they become members of a Christian network dedicated to the betterment of humanity – and, through the local Grand Priory, each member of the Order has the support of worldwide Templar brothers and sisters.
However, the Order is not a ‘joining’ organisation. One cannot simply opt to join this Order. One can express an interest in becoming invested in the Order, but the person’s interest and character will be evaluated and, if deemed appropriate, the individual may be invited to join the Order. Membership is not automatic. We seek Christian quality of members, not simply numbers of members.
Please note that we NEVER respond to any enquiry about joining us unless the enquirer is prepared to state where they live AND is willing to meet or speak in person or on the telephone with either the Grand Prior or a senior officer.
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Contact
see website Contact Us