Priory of St. Thomas a` Becket Homepage

CURRENT OFFICERS
2007-2009

Prior :

Chev. Hollis Buford Cahoon, GOTJ

Chancellor:
The Hon. Col. Chev. Louis F. Foy, GOTJ

Inspector:
LTC. Chev. Rodney H. Allen, M.D. KCTJ

Secretary :

Chev. Robert S. Payne KTJ

Treasurer:
Chevrse. B. Carol Foy, DCTJ

Registrar:

Chevrse. Rita F. Hamilton, DGOTJ

Asst. Registrar:

Chev. Robert D. Lockwood, KCTJ

Avocat:

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

Chief of Protocol:
Capt. Chev. Oliver W. Hamilton, II., GOTJ

Asst. Chief of Protocol:

Capt. Chev. John R. Wallace, KCTJ

Aumonier:
Chevrse. Joyce A. White, DTJ

Herald:
Chev. Harry J. Blair Jr. KCTJ

Armorer:

Chev. William J. Swackhamer. KTJ

Marshal:
Chevrse. Billie Lynn Daniels Bean, DCTJ

Assistant Marshal:
Chev. Robert Macnider Davis lll, KCTJ

Knight Protector:

Chev. Jack K. Kane, KCTJ

Sword Bearer:
Chev. Junny O. Jackson, KCTJ

Crucifer:
Chevrse. Sally E.T. Dupuis, DCTJ

Master of Postulants:

Chev. Patrick MacLean, SCTJ

Historian:

Chev. David M. Bessinger, KCTJ

Chaplain :
Ltc Chev. Rev. Tracy Maness, KCTJ

Piper of the Priory:

Chev. Robert Lockwood, KCTJ

Priory e-Mail:
Chev. Hollis B. Cahoon

Non Nobis Domine Non Nobis ^™

Scheduled Convents

(and contacts. For additional information see Priory News page).

Fall 2008:Greenville, SC, Region III combined C&I

Priory News

A Newsletter for Knights and Dames

Editeur: Chev. David Bessinger, KCTJ

Maitre du Web:

Chev. Junny Jackson, KCTJ

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).