Priory of St. Thomas a` Becket Homepage

CURRENT OFFICERS
2011-2013

Prior :

LTC (R) Chev. Rodney H. Allen, M.D. GOTJ, CMTJ

Chancellor:

Chev. William J Swackhammer, GOTJ

Inspector:
Chev. Robert S. Payne GOTJ

Asst. Inspector:

Chev. Michael E. Donantt, GOTJ

Treasurer:
Dame B. Carol Foy, DGOTJ

Secretary/Registrar:

Chev. Michael E. Donant, GOTJ

Asst. Secretary/Registrar:

Chev. Ronald E. Murray, DVM, KCTJ

Advocat:

The Hon. Chev. Robert A. Collier, Jr. GOTJ

Chief of Protocol:
Capt.(R) Chev. John R. Wallace, GOTJ

Asst. Chief of Protocol:

Dame Diane M Allen, MSN, DTJ

Aumonier:
Dame Lisa Donant, DCTJ

Asst. Aumonier:

Dame Joylynn B. Mullins, DCTJ

Herald:
Chev. Harry J. Blair Jr. GOTJ

Armorer:

Chev. Jerome Glenn Mullins,. KCTJ

Asst. Armorer:

Hon. Dame Nancy B. Kane, DCTJ

Marshal:
Dame Billie Lynn Daniels Bean, DGOTJ

Asst. Marshal:

Dame .Sally T. Dupuis, DGOTJ

Knight Protector:

Chev. Jack K. Kane, GOTJ

Asst. Knight Protector:

Chev. Niles E. Compton, KTJ

Sword Bearer:
SFC (R) Chev. Ronald W. Heacock, KCTJ

Asst. Sword Bearer:

LTC (R) Chev. John Clay Patterson, KTJ

Crucifer:
Dame Sally T. Dupuis, DCTJ

Master of Postulants:

LT (R) Chev. Rev. Sanford Sears, KCTJ

Asst. Master of Postulants:

MSG (R) Chev. Rev. Keith D. Bernadussi, KTJ

Historian:

Dame Analee Evans, DCTJ

Asst. Historian:

Dame Elizabeth G. Murray, DVM, DCTJ

Chaplain :
LTC Chev. Rev. Tracy A. Maness, DMin GOTJ

Webmaster:

Chev. Junny Jackson, GOTJ

Asst. Webmaster:

Dame Analee. V. Evans, DCTJ

Non Nobis Domine Non Nobis ^™

Priory News

A Newsletter for Knights and Dames

Editeur: Chevrse. Analee Evans, DCTJ

THE SOVEREIGN MILITARY ORDER OF THE TEMPLE OF JERUSALEM

Autonomous Grand Priory
of the United States of America

Priory of

St. Thomas a` Becket

Raleigh, North Carolina

Membership :
The Priory of Saint Thomas a ` Becket has two times during the year in which postulants are invested into the Order. These are scheduled events, which occur either at the Autumnal or Vernal Convent. Each Convent is open to the public on a limited basis. Following the Investiture, there is a private social hour and banquet. Presently, the Priory has fifty plus active members spread throughout North Carolina, Virginia and other states.

Mission and Purpose:
The Priory is committed to supporting Christian charity locally and in the Holy Land. Recent charities that the Priory has supported include: Operation Christmas Child, The Governor’s (N.C.) Disaster Relief Fund, Smiles, Inc., Doctors Without Borders, et. al.. Current charities include: the establishment of Episcopal-Orthodox monasteries in Ethiopia.

History:
The Priory of Saint Thomas a ` Becket is named for the martyred Archbishop of Canterbury who was canonized on Ash Wednesday 1173. The primary conflict between King Henry II and Archbishop Thomas a ` Becket centered on the Council of Claredon, 1164. This clash between church and state limited the rights of the ecclesiastical courts. During the time of Thomas a ` Becket’s exile in France, King Henry’s II son was coronated by the Archbishop of York. Upon his return, the secondary battle began when Thomas a ` Becket excommunicated the Archbishop of York as well as many of the King’s advisors. This provoked Henry II to issue an indirect death sentence for the Archbishop of Canterbury. The Templar connection is this: King Henry II who had incited them (the four Norman knights), not only did public penance in Canterbury Cathedral but promised to provide the Templars with the money to support two hundred knights for a year. (Pg. 154 The Templars, Piers Paul Read)

The Priory of St. Thomas a ` Becket has been in existence since 15 March 1997 and with God’s help will continue to serve in the tradition of our Patron Saint.

Modern Historical “Connection to Canterbury”:
Jonathan Myrick Daniels, Valedictorian, Class of 1961, The Virginia Military Institute, Lexington, VA. and Episcopal seminarian gave his life on 20 August 1965, for that of another, Ruby Sales, when he was killed by a shotgun blast in Haynesville, Alabama while assisting with civil rights voter registration. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said of Daniels’ act that it was “one of the most heroic Christian deeds of which I have heard in my entire ministry…our grief should give way to a sense of Christian honor and nobility”. Jonathan Daniels is one of only two Americans included in England’s Canterbury Cathedral’s Chapel of Martyrs, in which 15 modern day martyrs are Honored; the other American is Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee in 1968. (VMI Alumni Review, Spring 2001, Vol. 77, No. 3).