Order of the Eastern Star
So, what is the Order of the Eastern Star? It is an organization
dedicated to charity, truth and loving kindness. It is for the wives,
widows, daughters, sisters, mothers, and other various people of Master
Masons. As the years have passed, the definition of who could join has
gotten much broader. The following is currently eligible to join:
Master Masons, their wives, daughters, legally adopted daughters,
mothers, widows, sisters, half sisters, granddaughters, stepmothers,
stepdaughters, stepsisters, daughters-in-law, grandmothers, great
granddaughters, nieces, great nieces, mothers-in-law and sisters-in-law
and those who were active for there years or majority members of the
International Order of the Rainbow for Girls or International Order of
Jobs Daughters. All of this of course assumes that you are at least 18.
The way things are organized is that there are chapters, which make up a
District (there are between 5-8 chapters in a district usually. Smaller
ones gets consolidated and larger ones are split it. It is mostly
consolidation that is happening these days). The Districts fall under
the supervision of the Grand Jurisdiction that they are in (usually a
state. In PA it's the Pennsylvania Grand Chapter of the Order or the
Eastern Star).
The Worthy Grand Matron(WGM) appoints a District Deputy Grand
Matron(DDGM) to oversee the chapters in the district. This is for a one
year term. The DDGM serves concurrently with the WGM. The WGM also
appoints Grand Chapter Committee Members who work with the Chapter
Committee Members. Every chapter is required to appoint someone to
represent each of the committees.
The following offices are elected offices: Worthy Matron, Worthy
Patron, Associate Matron, Associate Patron, Secretary, Treasurer,
Conductress and Associate Conductress. The rest are appointed:
Chaplain, Marshall, Organist, Warder, Sentinel, and the Star Points
(Adah, Ruth, Esther, Martha and Electa) Usually someone is elected as
Associate Condutress and then continues up to become Worthy Matron
without contest. Worthy Matron, Associate Matron, Conductress,
Associate Conductress and the Star Points must be filled by females.
Worthy Patron and Associate Patron must been filled by men. The rest
may be filled by either gender.
Each of the Star Points is tied to story from the bible. There are
opening and closing prayers and a bible rests on the altar. It's not a
religion per se, but more of a here are some stories with meaning **shrug*
We usually have Spaghetti Dinners twice a year these days. We raise
money in order to send the Worthy Matron and Patron to Grand Chapter.
We also donate money to various causes throughout the year. The past
year, the PA Grand Chapter bought 11 service dogs through various money
raising ventures. This is pretty impressive to me.