The Criteria for the Rank of Master Has Changed

Good Morning,

The criteria for the rank of Master has changed via motion in Council

Formerly, this rank was achieved only by training 3 apprentices to Knighthood.

Now this rank criteria reads as such:

A Master is a Senior Knight who has done one of the followidng:

3 Years of Service - beyond the initial rank of Knight - to the Temple (we’ll leave it to the candidate to decide what they consider “service”)
Completing a thesis to add to the Temple’s body of work

I have a few questions about the first criteria.

The previous criteria required training 3 apprentices to Knighthood. Is performing as a teaching master now considered service under this definition? Does 1 year of service equate to training 1 apprentice to Knighthood, or is it solely based on the duration of the apprenticeship? i.e., if someone is an apprentice for 3 years and does not advance to Knighthood in that time, would the teaching master be promoted to the Master rank (provided that they are a Senior Knight already)?
Or is acting as a teaching master not recognized as service? If acting as a teaching master is no longer recognized as service, are there any current Masters who hold the rank but do not meet the current criteria?

Hi thanks for your questions. Let me see if I can clarify them:

Here is the actual criteria: https://www.templeofthejediorder.org/component/content/article/40-information/2303-training-and-ranking#Master

There is a small note there that says "(we’ll leave it to the candidate to decide what they consider “service”)

It was neglagence on my own part for not including the parenthetical statement and I will edit the announcement to ensure that it is included.

1 year of service is one year of service regardless of what you do.
Most apprentices do take about a year, but there is some times where apprenticeships do not last that long for whatever reason and some that last longer for whatever reason. It would seem that a years of service would start at the announcement of office/TM
But again, it's down to the candidate to make the case and for that case to be reviewed and consider a yay or nay. The nay of course being more likely "please shore up some area" rather than an outright no

I would recognize acting as a TM an act of service. That's one of the ways the Temple grows.

I think what we are trying to get away from is two things:
1. People training apprentices JUST to get to Master (rare but not non-existant. In fact I have found that to be the case in my own time as a TM)

2. People who don't consider themselves called to the vocation of teaching (it is indeed a vocation) being prevented the rank of Master because of the law

There are 8 individuals who hold the rank of Master. The majority of those individuals served either as TM's or as part of an official office in the Temple, so I do believe that they would meet the criteria. That said, there is no one previously promoted will have a rank removed because of new criteria.
The goal of this is to open the rank up to individuals who might not otherwise get it because:
They're apprenticeships do not result in advancement to Knighthood
Or they are just not called to teaching

It's not meant to diminish the rank of Knight in any way either,

Is this what's required before you get nominated for a final council decision?

I personally think it's important for all masters to teach.

I hear your concern and I've been batting it around.

There might be other opportunities to teach which are not necessarily indicated in the role of TM.

One could consider sermons/live sermons an opportunity to teach.

One could consider classes like the one Edan will offer on Thursdays as opportunities to teach.

Teaching can come in many forms, just as service can

Which is why that parenthetical statement is so important

It is probably also necessary to clarify that this pertains to those holding the rank of Senior Knight. This presupposes the obtention of the BDiv and promotion to Senior Knight by the Knights' Corps. One ought to hold the rank of Senior Knight for around about six months to be eligible for promotion to the rank of Master.