Independent Order of Rechabites Salford Unity
Juvenile Tent Ritual
19..
Opening Ceremony
Chief Ruler: We are now about to open this Juvenile Tent. Those
not Members of our Order will please retire. The Officers and Members will take
their places, and clothe themselves with their badges.
The Deputy Ruler will see that the Guardian is at the door, and report.
Deputy Ruler: Chief Ruler, the Guardian is at his proper place.
Chief Ruler: Let no one be admitted while our Tent is being
opened. The Levite will report if all have a right to remain.
Levite: Chief Ruler, all present have a right to remain, and we
are now ready to open the Tent.
Chief Ruler: We will now sing our
Opening Ode
As we’re again assembled here,
May we all henceforth persevere,
And strive to spread the Temperance cause,
In strict accordance with our laws.
In wisdom may we all increase,
And, as true brethren, live in peace
And still from strength to strength go on,
Until the Temperance victory’s won.
Chief Ruler: I declare this Juvenile Tent duly opened.
Members: So it is.
Initiation Ceremony
Chief Ruler: The Levite will see if there are any candidates for
membership and, if so, collect their entrance fees, and report their names and
ages to the Tent.
The Levite, on returning, shall report whether there are candidates or not.
If there are, they must be proposed, seconded, and elected, and their names,
ages, and places of abode entered its the Register of Members by the Secretary,
the names of the proposer and seconder to be entered also.
Chief Ruler: The Levite will now introduce the candidates. Let us
sing our Ode of Welcome.
Welcome, welcome to our Order,
Welcome to our youthful band;
Rallying round our ‘noble standard,
Joining with us heart and hand.
Welcome, welcome! God His blessing will command.
Welcome, welcome to our Order,
You our toils and joys shall share;
Here shall love and peace surround you, While we for each other care.
Heaven bless you! Heaven bless you! is our prayer.
Levite: Chief Ruler, Officers and Members, I have pleasure in
introducing these friends for admission into this juvenile Tent of the
Independent Order of Rechabites.
Chief Ruler: The Levite will now conduct you to the Deputy Ruler,
that you may agree to our Pledge.
Levite: Deputy Ruler, I here present the candidates to agree to
our Pledge.
Deputy Ruler: The Members will now stand, and with the candidates
repeat after me our Pledge or Covenant.
Deputy Ruler: I promise to abstain
All: I promise to abstain
Deputy Ruler: From all intoxicating liquors;
All: From all intoxicating liquors;
Deputy Ruler: To do all I can
All: To do all I can
Deputy Ruler: To promote Total Abstinence;
All: To promote Total Abstinence;
Deputy Ruler: To abide by the Rules,
All: To abide by the Rules,
Deputy Ruler: To obey the Officers,
All: To obey the Officers,
Deputy Ruler: And ever strive to be
All: And ever strive to be
Deputy Ruler: A faithful Rechabite.
All: A faithful Rechabite.
Chief Ruler: The Levite will now invest the candidates with the
badge of our Order, while we join hands and sing our Admission Ode
GOD bless our youthful band!
O may we firmly stand
True to our pledge!
May we to liberty,
Truth, love and charity,
Evermore faithful be,
From youth to age.
May Rechab’s children stand
A noble Temperance band,
A joy to see
And may our cause extend
Until all people blend,
And one great shout ascend,
"The world is free."
Superintendent: My friends, this Juvenile Tent has been formed to
teach the principles of thrift and total abstinence from intoxicating drinks. We
are glad that, having agreed to our Pledge, you are now a Member with us. We are
a branch of the oldest Temperance Order in existence, an Order which has in the
past done much good work, so you should consider it an honour to be admitted
into our Tent.
This union with each other is to teach us to love one another, to do nothing
to hurt or grieve others, to be kind and forgiving, and to help one another by
doing all the good we can.
The name of our Order is taken from a tribe of faithful people mentioned in
the Bible. Read at your home what the prophet says about the Rechabites in the
35th chapter of Jeremiah.
The Levite will now take you to our Past Chief Ruler.
Levite: Past Chief Ruler, we await your pleasure.
Past Chief Ruler: You have now been admitted into one of the best
Orders in the world. You have made a promise that you will abstain from all
intoxicating drinks, and if you remain true to your Pledge you will be loved and
respected by all who know you, and will escape many of the evils into which
other boys and girls have fallen. You will, we trust, obey your parents, and
remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy, keep good company, never take the name
of God in vain, nor swear, nor be untruthful, but at all times act as a true
Rechabite ought to do. You will never have to repent of attending to this
advice, and as years go by you will grow in favour with God and man, and will be
prepared for any situation that you may have to occupy. Instead of living only
to yourself, you strive to live for the good of others, and be a blessing to all
around you.
The Levite will now take you to our Chief Ruler.
Levite: Chief Ruler, we await your closing instructions.
Chief Ruler: I have now to instruct you how to enter our Tent.
Should you come before the Tent is opened, you will enter and take your seat,
but should it be opened you will give two knocks at the door, which stand for
Truth and Temperance, the motto of our Juvenile Order, when you will be asked by
the Guardian to enter and take your seat.
If you must leave before the Tent is closed, you will ask the Chief Ruler,
who will allow you to go.
And now, my friends, I give to you, in the name of this Tent, a hearty
welcome. May you, with all our Members, ever remain a credit and an honour to
the Order of Rechabites, of which you are now a Member.
Our Levite will conduct you to your seats.
The Members will now sing the New Members’ Ode
Hail we now our new-made member,
Linked with us in Rechab’s chain;
Kind and faithful to each other,
Love will soothe our woes and pain;
Thus progressing, thus progressing,
Blessings follow in our train.
Closing Ceremony
Chief Ruler: The Secretary will announce the Receipts of the
evening.
Secretary: Chief Ruler, the Receipts are ....
Chief Ruler: Has the Treasurer received the same?
Treasurer: Chief Ruler, I have.
Chief Ruler: I am now about to close this Tent, and hope to see
all present at our next meeting. Until that time let us do our best to obtain
candidates for membership in our Tent, and to do all we can to spread its good
influences. May we ever remember the important lessons we have here been taught,
and always try to conduct ourselves as worthy Rechabites.
We will now sing our Closing Ode
While here we meet and here we part,
We’ll still be of one mind and heart
A loving, happy, youthful band,
To drive Intemperance from the land.
And when this mortal life is o’er,
May we all reach that happy shore
Where, free from sorrow, sin, and pain,
We meet to never part again.
Chief Ruler: I declare this Tent duly closed.
Members: So it is.
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