What is DeMolay?
DeMolay is fun. DeMolay is and can be most anything you would like it to be. We have sports, dances, all sorts of competitions in all sorts of areas and it’s the largest fraternal (fraternity) organization for young men in the world.
We do almost everything and anything. We have dances, parties, and game nights. We play most sports from basketball to softball to volleyball.
DeMolay was started in 1919, and since that time over four million young men just like us have joined. Today there are about 1,500 chapters, located in the United States, Canada and several other countries.
Young men, ages 12-21, who like to have fun at great activities and to learn things that will prepare them for the future.
To join DeMolay, you must be a young man between the ages of 12 and 21; believe in a higher power; and be a person of good character and good reputation.
It varies from chapter to chapter, but there is only a one-time membership fee. We do have to pay for some of the activities we do, but that’s to be expected.
Most of the chapters meet in Masonic lodge halls twice a month.
» Find a Chapter near you
You can’t formally attend a meeting until you join, but you can come to our activities and meet some of the guys. If you really want to attend a meeting to see what it’s like, you can come down to our next meeting for a while and you will be introduced to all the guys.
What sets us apart from the other young men’s groups is that we have a feeling of “brotherhood” that comes from belonging to our fraternity. DeMolay will provide you with many lasting experiences.
A fraternity is an organization whose members have a special bond with one another regardless of age or position. It is a brotherhood built on common interests.
Jacques DeMolay lived around the 14th century in France, during the time of the great Crusades. He was the last Grand Master of the Knights Templar, which was the fraternity of Crusaders in France. He was a Knight and a leader of men who stood up for the less fortunate and was true and faithful to his cause and his friends until death.
They are the basic principles that we feel help us to be better people. They are:
- Filial Love (Love of Parents)
- Reverence for Sacred Things (Respect for things you feel are important, or for things others feel are important.)
- Courtesy
- Comradeship (Friendship)
- Fidelity (Being true to your friends and beliefs)
- Cleanness
- Patriotism
No. DeMolay is not a religious group. DeMolay teaches no religion but expects each member to profess a belief in a Supreme Being and be tolerant in your opinion of others.
