Take a look at the Belleville-Area Independent’s coverage of our move from Ann Arbor to Belleville:
Ann Arbor Commandery No. 13 of Knights Templar is moving to Belleville after spending 150 years in Ann Arbor.
The commandery kicked off its presence in Belleville with its participation in the recent Belleville Strawberry Festival parade where members marched in their white, summer uniforms.
The group was chartered in Ann Arbor on June 14, 1865 and has spent the past 150 years in Ann Arbor serving as a place for Christian men of all denominations to learn from one another, serve their communities and practice Christian virtues.
The Knights Templar is an ecumenical fraternal organization with an oft-debated connection to the order of knighthood of the same name founded by the Roman Catholic Church in the 10th century.
Brandon Mullins of Belleville, Excellent Prelate, said, “If you’re looking for a direct line of Grand Masters reaching back from Hugues de Payens in 1118 to today you aren’t going to find one. But with that said, the traditions and values of the Knights Templar did not simply disappear when Philip IV of France and Pope Clement V conspired to eliminate the Knights Templar in the 14th century.”
While the fate of the Knights Templar after their suppression is unclear, it can be said that the first encampment of Knights Templar in the New World was founded in Boston in 1802 and the first in Michigan in 1851.
The grand characteristics of the Knights Templar are unsullied honor, unwearied zeal in a brother’s cause, and universal benevolence. Sir Knights, as the members are called, are challenged to live out these values in their daily lives
Ann Arbor Commandery has served as home to mayors, professors, Rhodes Scholars, university regents, auto workers, pastors, priests, and men from many other walks of life.
In its time the commandery has taken part in many service projects throughout its history ranging from the women’s auxiliary sewing rudimentary body armor for men leaving Ann Arbor to fight in World War I to raising money for ocular research at the University of Michigan today.
This dedication to their local community makes the move from Ann Arbor difficult, but one that has been greatly anticipated.
“The move from Ann Arbor to Belleville is a bittersweet one,” Mullins said. “We haven’t had a home to call our own since the Ann Arbor Masonic Temple closed six years ago.
“While we’ve appreciated our ability to meet at Ann Arbor’s Calvary United Methodist Church in the interim we’ve been looking for a larger space for years. Myrtle Lodge No. 89, F&AM, has been gracious enough to allow us the use of the Belleville Masonic Temple.
“This is especially exciting as I grew up Belleville and our current Eminent Commander James P. Piper lives in Belleville,” Mullins said. “Our records show that since the 1800s when men from Belleville wished to join the Knights Templar they most often joined Ann Arbor Commandery.”
Mullins said it is hoped that while Ann Arbor Commandery will always hold a special connection with the city of Ann Arbor, it can be of service to the Belleville community in the years to come.
For more information on the history of Ann Arbor Commandery see Harrison H. Caswell’s Historical Sketch of Ann Arbor Commandery No. 13 KT and Virginia Trevithick’s Ann Arbor Commandery No. 13 KT 1965-1990. Or, contact Brandon Mullins at (734) 699-2225 or email brandon.mullins@outlook.com.