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Ok Why (2) ?
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Posted by Ryan Logan
Last month we explored why the officers of a DeMolay Chapter have their
stations in the East, South, and West. This month, we explore the roles and
duties of the officers themselves.
DeMolay has a progressive officer line. This means that you start as Junior
Councilor, progress to Senior Councilor, and finish as Master Councilor. It
also means that your duties as a Councilor change and increase as you move
up the line.
JUNIOR COUNCILOR
The Junior Councilor has the most clearly defined duties among all the
Councilors: the Leader's Resource Guide specifically states that it is the
Junior Councilor who takes charge of the Chapter's membership efforts, and
orients new members. This takes part of the burden off of the Master
Councilor, but it also helps set up the Junior Councilor for a successful
Master Councilor term later on, as we'll see. So when Joe DeMolay is
installed as Junior Councilor, he begins setting membership drives and
meeting with new members to get them oriented and proficient.
SENIOR COUNCILOR
The Senior Councilor's duties are perhaps the most vague. While the Master
Councilor takes the reigns of the Chapter, and the Junior Councilor is
charged with membership, the Senior Councilor, according to the Leader's
Resource Guide, has only to plan his Master Councilor's term, and assist the
MC however he can.
It is, of course, vitally important that the Senior Councilor plan his term
as carefully as possible. Setting out his goals and his calendar ahead of
time will make the execution of those goals and events easier when the time
comes. But the Leader's Resource Guide suggests two other duties for the
Senior Councilor: taking charge of the Chapter's fundraising efforts, and
making sure members attend and are active in the Chapter. He should also
supervise about half of the Chapter's committees.
Now we see that the members initiated last term, when Joe DeMolay was Junior
Councilor, become his committee members and fundraisers while he is Senior
Councilor.
MASTER COUNCILOR
By the time he is installed, the Master Councilor should have already put
together his term plan and outlined the larger goals for his term. He
should have a good membership base, since as Junior Councilor he worked hard
to grow his Chapter. He should have a good flock of officer candidates,
since as Senior Councilor he worked hard to get his members involved and
trained in DeMolay. And finally, he should have a tidy budget to use on his
events, since as Senior Councilor he also worked hard to raise money for the
Chapter.
Now we see that, as Master Councilor, Joe DeMolay has a large Chapter with
good officers and plenty of money. This is how the progressive line should
really work; Joe started planning for his Master Councilor term as soon as
he became an Officer, and now he has a strong Chapter behind him.
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