Loyal Order of the Moose


This ritual dates from 1997.

Opening Ceremony
 
All persons, except candidates present for enrollment and qualified family members in attendance at an Enrollment ceremony, will show their official good standing membership card to the Sergeant-at-Arms upon entry into the Lodge room. The Sergeant-at-Arms should designate an assistant to check cards of all who have previously entered. Any questions should be reported to the Governor. If a class is to be enrolled, candidates will be seated in the designated area and the ritual staff will be seated as directed.
GOVERNOR, gives one rap: Under authority granted by the Supreme Lodge, … Lodge … Loyal Order of Moose will come to order. Officers will assume their respective stations. The inner door will be closed until otherwise directed. Brother Inner Guard, pause while Inner Guard rises are all present entitled to remain?
Inner Guard will face the Governor, report and be seated.
INNER GUARD: Brother Governor, they are.
GOVERNOR: Brother Administrator, call the roll of officers.
The Administrator rises to call the roll of officers. Each officer will respond if in attendance. If not, the Administrator will note his absence. If any officer is absent, the Governor will make pro­tempore appointments.
ADMINISTRATOR:   The roll has been called.
GOVERNOR, gives two raps: The Prelate will open the Bible and deliver the opening prayer.
Prelate goes to position, faces the Altar; and opens the Bible in a dignified manner.
PRELATE: This is the Holy Bible, our inspiration and our guide.
Prelate steps back one step into position to deliver prayer.
PRELATE: Let us fold our arms and bow our heads.
Prelate slowly raises his head and delivers his prayer.
PRELATE: Supreme Being, creator of the universe and Father of all mankind, we give You thanks for our fraternal brotherhood and the great precepts it embodies. Keep us diligent and mindful of our commitments to You, our children, our senior members, our families, and our communities. Give us a spirit of peace, harmony and progress as we carry on these precepts in our Lodge, and in our lives. Remind us each day that the greatest good we can do is to serve You through service to our fellow man Amen.
Prelate returns to his station.
GOVERNOR (U.S. Lodges): I present the flag of our country turns to Flag. Place your right hand over your heart and join with me in the Pledge of Allegiance.
 “I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”
CANADIAN GOVERNOR’S: Brothers, salute the flag. You will join with me in singing “O Canada”
GOVERNOR: Brothers, I welcome you and declare Lodge … officially opened. Gives one rap and seats Lodge.
GOVERNOR: Brother Administrator, do we have any new applications for membership or any applications for re-enrollment?
ADMINISTRATOR: Yes Brother Governor we do. We have … new applications for membership and … applications for re-enrollment.
GOVERNOR: Has the investigating committee reported favorably on all these applications?
INVESTIGATING COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN: Yes Brother Governor we have.
GOVERNOR: Brother Administrator, please read the names of the applicants and their sponsors.
ADMINISTRATOR reads names of all applicants and names of sponsors.
GOVERNOR: We will proceed to vote by the usual voting sign of the Order, unless there is a request to vote by secret ballot.
A motion can be made from the floor to have a paper ballot instead of the hand vote, or the Governor can also recommend a paper ballot. Paper ballots shall be available at all times. If a paper ballot is used, the Governor and the Jr. Governor shall serve as the election committee.
GOVERNOR: All those in favor of accepting these applications for membership will vote by using the voting sign of he Order.
GOVERNOR: Those opposed?
GOVERNOR: The vote is favorable, and these applicants have been accepted.
If vote is not favorable, additional votes should be taken by dividing applicants until each individual has been accepted or rejected.
 
 
Enrollment Ceremony
 
If possible a microphone should be in position at the Governor’s station. A suspended microphone is preferred. All ritualists are instructed to use microphones if available for a class enrollment.
GOVERNOR, gives one rap with the gavel: Brother Administrator, have the candidates seated before me met all the requirements for membership in our Order?
If any requirement has not been met, it must be addressed before the Ceremony begins.
ADMINISTRATOR:   Brother Governor, they have.
GOVERNOR: We are proud to be enrolling you in the Loyal Order of Moose. Please join us in viewing a video presentatim about our Fraternity, which will be followed by our enrollment ceremony. The Ritual Staff will now take their assigned positions.
Show Enrollment Video and proceed with Enrollment Ceremony.
RITUAL GOVERNOR, rises and raps gavel once. Referring to the just completed video: By enrolling in the Moose Fraternity, you are about to leave those footprints in many ways, and in many lives. This includes the members of your family, the members of your new Lodge, and, as you have just seen, many persons you may never even meet. Since you have met all the requirements for membership in our Order, I would like to invite you to join us in one of our fraternity’s most solemn moments: the Enrollment Ceremony of the Loyal Order of Moose. The staff telling the story of the Moose is from Lodge ... Listen carefully to the message each member will bring to you.
I ask you to please refrain from smoking and, unless otherwise instructed, remain seated. You will now be given the opportunity to learn and if you are so willing — to embrace the noble principles upon which this proud family fraternity is built. I ask you to ponder them in both mind and heart, for if you choose to join with us, these principles will bind us together forever, in a life of service to others.
Listen as the Sergeant-At-Arms helps you to begin your journey.
Sergeant-at-Arms rises as Governor is being seated and advances.
SERGEANT-AT-ARMS: When you receive your Moose membership card it will be only inches high, but miles wide. I say this because it opens up a whole new world of privileges for you and your family.
First, there are the many privileges you will have in your Lodge. Time after time, week after week, you can participate in recreational events tailored to your personal tastes, and those of your family, or other qualified guests. Expect this feeling of fun and fellowship to be a life-changing experience.
Secondly, there are the privileges that extend beyond your Lodge. These include special opportunities to participate in local, regional, and national programs that not only help others, but will allow your family to grow closer together as well.
Another privilege of membership, is that you will now be able to invite your associates into this great fraternity.
When we talk membership, we’re also talking about the Women of the Moose. For many successful years, your membership in the Moose has meant a special opportunity for the women in your family to also participate in this dynamic International Order.
Carry and show your membership card proudly, as it is one of the most valuable cards in your possession, one that continues to pay you dividends year after year.
Our Orator will now explain some of these dividends to you.
Sergeant-at-Arms returns to his chair, turns left and is seated. Orator rises and advances Sergeant-at-Arms returns to chair.
ORATOR: When you are thinking about your Moose membership, think of all the sports and family activities the Moose has available. What’s your choice, cards... golf... bowling... pool... darts... teen nights... picnics... or simply cheering your team from the stands? They’re all waiting for you. So are such pleasures as the Friday or Saturday night dinners, the annual holiday festivals, plus all the special family events in between.
The M in “Moose” stands for “more.” More sporting and family opportunities in which to participate, and to share your interests with others. To put that another way: wherever you find fun, you’ll find the Moose. Fun that warms the heart and links our lives.
What is essential to remember is that this family fraternity is and always has been a private organization, whose privileges belong only to its members. Private organizations can retain their protected and tax-free status only so long as their members adhere to this requirement. Family and other qualified guests are welcome, but only when accompanied by the member and his membership card.
As you reach out and take the oath, you reach out to an entire network of fun, friendship, and obligation. You and your family will soon be saying, “This is the best decision we ever made.”
Orator returns to his chair and is seated Prelate rises and advances as Orator returns to chair.
PRELATE: As you saw on the screen, there are two sides to the Moose story: the receiving and the giving. While the “receiving” is good, the “giving” is even better.
Throughout its long honored history, the Moose Fraternity has always focused on giving something back. It is altogether proper that you should know that service is an important part of this story. That means members giving of their time and effort to make their communities better places in which to live.
Is it a neighborhood in need... a family in crisis.., a threat to health... or an educational opportunity for those without means9 Wherever and whenever the need, the Moose is there to enrich the “circle of life.”
As you step forward, you step into a noble family fraternity where “coni.mitment and service stand on a par with “fun and fellowship”. This is what helps make the Moose so unique, and the path your footprints take so important.
While we support our communities, we aren’t forgetting our children. Listen while the Junior Governor shares one of our finest achievements with you.
Prelate returns to his chair and is seated. Jr. Governor rises and advances as Prelate returns to his station.
JUNIOR GOVERNOR: There is nothing in the world as sweet as youth, and nothing in our fraternity as caring as the child city we call Mooseheart. Dedicated to providing a home for children in need, Mooseheart is located 40 miles west of Chicago. This self-contained “child city” has stood like a beacon of hope since its founding in 1913. It is a model community populated with loving teachers and mentors, who stand strong along every step of a developing child’s pathway.
Mooseheart. Call it love.., call it security.., call it a heartwarming chance to turn tragedies into triumphs. Whatever you call it, Mooseheart is one of the most enduring contributions this fraternity makes to society. And now we ask you to help us keep our dream alive, the dream that says every child without a family deserves to have one. Since opening its doors, thousands of children have called Mooseheart home.
The operating cost for our 1,200 acre campus, the facilities, the staff, and its many programs has partially been met by our annual membership fees. Members also have an opportunity to give to the Mooseheart-Moosehaven Endowment Fund, and give they have, with love and generosity. Later, when you are asked to take the oath, you too will have this chance to help nourish our dream, and provide the dollars to make that dream come true. It is where your mark will be felt in the lives of the young.
Our nine o’clock ceremony gives us an opportunity to reflect more deeply upon the value of Mooseheart. The Governor will now lead us in the nine o’clock ceremony.
Jr. Governor returns to his station and remains standing. Governor rises as Jr. Governor leaves position
GOVERNOR, gives two raps as Jr. Governor turns at chair: Everyone will please rise. It is now nine o clock. At this lime the little children at Mooseheart kneel at their beds to say their evening prayers. Let us face toward Mooseheart, fold our arms, bow our heads and join them in silent prayer.
The lights are turned low and chimes sound slowly nine times. After the ninth stroke the Governor continues.
Repeat after me: Let the little children come to me.. repeat do not keep them away.. repeat
for they are like the kingdom of Heaven.. repeat God bless Mooseheart... repeat Amen.
repeat
GOVERNOR: Everyone will please face the Altar. Lights are turned up and Governor gives one rap Please be seated.
There is another inspired venture of your fraternity, and the Past Governor will now share part of that story with you.
Past Governor rises and advances as Governor is being seated.
PAST GOVERNOR: If youth is to be cherished, then age is to be honored. Located in the warm Florida sunshine, Moosehaven is a complete community for our senior members both men and women Moosehaven opened its doors in 1922 to a special world of comfort and convenience, designed especially for those members who seek a sanctuary from the cares and burdens age sometimes imposes on those young of mind, but in need of a helping hand.
Moosehaven — set in a paradise environment just outside of Jacksonville, Florida — illustrates that this fraternity not only cherishes its young, but honors its seniors. As you enter our fraternity’s ranks, you not only are helping to keep Moosehaven’s lights burning bnghtly, but you are warming our residents hearts as well
Through your membership, if you or your family ever have a future need, you are now able to request the benefits and blessings of both Mooseheart and Moosehaven. These extra benefits of membership are some of the most important dividends you will enjoy in this Fraternity. Always keep your dues current, so you and your family are never without this valuable protection.
As you can see, the Loyal Order of Moose puts a priority on caring The contributions made by all of us to the Mooseheart/Moosehaven Endowment Fund, enable us to provide our Moosehaven residents with the life they so richly deserve. What nobler commitment can there be?
Past Governor returns to station and is seated. Governor rises and advances as Past Governor returns to station.
GOVERNOR: Earlier, we spoke of the privileges of membership and the private policy. These regulations are a small price to pay for the legal protections we have always enjoyed. In stepping forward today, you are asked to faithfully abide by this principle, and display your membership card when entering a Moose Lodge.
Now I ask if each of you believe in the purposes of the Order we have been describing, and if you sincerely desire to join with us as Brothers? If so, please answer “I do.”
Give your full attention to the obligation you are about to receive. Once taken, it shall bind you to us, and us to you, for all time:
In the presence of the Supreme Being and those gathered here, I pledge that I will obey the laws of the Loyal Order of Moose, and the By-laws of the Lodge of which I am to become a member.
I will propose for membership in this Order only those of high personal character, and never oppose a qualified applicant without just cause.
I will bring my concerns to the leadership of this Order, as provided by our laws, before appealing to any Civil Authority.
I will cherish and support with my energy and substance, our youngsters at Mooseheart, and our seniors at Moosehaven.
Always remember, there is unity in strength, for a burden heavy to one is borne lightly by many.
The candidates will please rise. pause Place your left hand over your heart, raise your right hand and repeat after me, using your name where I use mine.
I, …, —freely and without reservation accept the honor — and obligation of membership in the Loyal Order of Moose. I pledge my service to my Brothers, and to all members of this Order — this obligation — will bind me for all times.
You may lower your hands. By virtue of the authority given to me by this Lodge, I now declare each of you a member of the Moose Fraternity. Welcome, Brothers! On behalf of this Lodge, we are honored that you have joined with us in this most noble Order. Everyone will please rise. The Prelate will now lead us in prayer.
Governor moves to and faces Altar. Prelate rises and advances as Governor moves to Altar.
PRELATE: Let us fold our arms and bow our heads. Almighty Father, who knows the hearts and winds of all His people, help each of us to accept and continue the oath of Moose allegiance. We ask You to hold us together in Your aims as we commit our lives to fraternity, fellowship, and service. We also ask You to bless Mooseheart and Moosehaven, so they will always be there for those in need. Amen.
Prelate returns to his station and remains standing.
GOVERNOR: Everyone please be seated. Pause until everyone is seated. Congratulations. With this ceremony, we have become as one. One in spirit..., one in purpose... and on in commitment.
As new members of our Order, you are charged with two essential obligations. The first is to protect those within our Order. This includes your fellow members, your families, and your fraternity itself, which includes the work of Mooseheart and Moosehaven. Secondly, there is the obligation to strengthen our membership. This calls for your best efforts to encourage those qualified friends, relatives, and associates to join with us By sponsoring them into our Order you will not only help us grow, but you will be sharing all the benefits and privileges of this Order with others.
We wish to thank you for your participation, and your attention. This ceremony will conclude as the Ritual Staff vacate their positions.