# dcgrandchapter.com ## Pages - [Golf Event](https://dcgrandchapter.com/golf-event/): Powered By EmbedPress - [Georgetown](https://dcgrandchapter.com/georgetown/): Georgetown York Rite Bodies The Georgetown York Rite Bodies are composed of Washington-Potomac Chapter No. 8, Royal Arch Masons; Washington Council No. 1, Cryptic Masons; and Potomac Commandery No. 3, Knights Templar. The bodies meet on a rotating basis on the first Thursday of every month at the Georgetown Masonic Hall. Unified PetitionMaster Masons interested in joining the Georgetown York Rite may download this petition (PDF), which contains all three petitions. Please fill out the petition, print and sign your signature, before submitting to the corresponding body’s secretary. Petition FeesPetition fees must be paid at the time the petition is submitted for consideration. Each body […] - [Calendar](https://dcgrandchapter.com/calendar/): Event Details - [Resources](https://dcgrandchapter.com/resources/) - [Forms](https://dcgrandchapter.com/forms/) - [What is the Royal Arch?](https://dcgrandchapter.com/what-is-the-royal-arch-2/) - [Grand Chapter](https://dcgrandchapter.com/): Welcome to the Grand Chapter of Royal Arch Masons in the District of Columbia The Grand Royal Arch Chapter of the District of Columbia operates within the broader framework of Royal Arch Masonry, which is considered by many to be the culmination of regular Craft Masonry. Royal Arch Masonry delves deeper into the Masonic teachings and is focused on the principles of knowledge, fraternity, and understanding. It explores further the lessons of companionship, morality, and symbolism introduced in the three degrees of the Craft Lodge. This particular Grand Chapter, like other Grand Chapters, oversees the operation of several subordinate chapters […] - [Grand Chapter Code](https://dcgrandchapter.com/grand-chapter-code-2/) - [Living Past Grand High Priests](https://dcgrandchapter.com/past-grand-high-priests-2/): MEC Marcel J. Desroches, Jr. 2024 – 2025 MEC Jean-Paul Dongmo, Sr. 2023 – 2024 MEC Nicholas J. Sampogna 2022 – 2023 MEC Annas F. Kamara 2021 – 2022 MEC Sylvanus J.A. Newstaed 2019 – 2022 MEC Peter W. Brusoe 2018 -2019 MEC Philip Palmer, Jr 2017 – 2018 MEC George S. Nicol 2016 – 2017 MEC Charbel T. Fahed 2015 – 2016 MEC Philip Palmer Sr 2014 – 2015 MEC Marcus A. Trelaine 2013 -2014 MEC Rev. Canon Daniel D. Darko 2011 – 2012 MEC James W. Mitchell 2010 – 2011 MEC Robert H. Starr 2009 -2010 MEC Teko […] - [Constituent Chapters](https://dcgrandchapter.com/constituent-chapters-2/): Columbia Chapter, No. 1 Chartered in 1840Meetings held every2nd Monday at 7:30pmJanuary, April, July, and October Meeting Location:Naval Masonic Hall330 Pennsylvania Avenue, SEWashington, DC 20003 2025-2026 Officers High Priest, EC Joseph P. SmithKing, Comp. Michael C. Graver Scribe, Comp. Derek RivasSecretary, EC Christopher Di PasqualeContact: secretary@columbiachapter.com Website: www.columbiachapter.com Mt. Vernon-William R. Singleton Chapter, No. 3 Chartered in 1909Meetings held every 1st  MondayFebruary, March, April, September, October, and November Meeting Location:Singleton Masonic Temple4441 Wisconsin Ave, NWWashington, DC 20016 2025-2026 Officers High Priest, EC Anthony PandolfoKing, Comp. Cary CooperScribe, Comp. Nathan WilliamsSecretary, REC  Rick ChandlerContact: chandler.rick@gmail.com Washington-Potomac Chapter, No. 8 Chartered in 1818 […] - [Grand High Priest](https://dcgrandchapter.com/grand-high-priest-2/): Most Excellent Companion Mark Aaron Wright Most Excellent Grand High Priest Mark Aaron Wright was exalted to the Royal Arch Degree on June 20, 1981, in Bartlesville Chapter No. 55, a chapter originally chartered by the Grand Chapter of Indian Territory, now in the State of Oklahoma. After moving to the District of Columbia, he affiliated with Washington-Potomac Chapter No. 8, where he served as high priest in 2019. He was honored with the Grand Chapter’s Meritorious Companion Award in 2020. In 2022, he was elected to the bottom of the progressive grand line of the Grand Chapter of the […] - [Our History](https://dcgrandchapter.com/our-history-2/): History of the Grand Chapter While the Grand Chapter is the oldest Masonic appendant body in Washington, Royal Arch Masonry began in the city much earlier, over seventy years earlier in fact, around 1795. The scraps of information we know about these early Royal Arch activities provide us with great insight into the history of Capitular Freemasonry and help us better understand the fraternity’s impact in Washington. Origins In September 1793, James Hoban and his Masonic colleagues working to build the White House and Capitol petitioned the Grand Lodge of Maryland for a charter to establish a new craft lodge […] - [Origins of the Royal Arch](https://dcgrandchapter.com/origins-of-the-royal-arch-2/): Origins of the Royal Arch The exact origins of the four Chapter degrees in its current form as part of the York Rite are unknown. As for the degree of Royal Arch Mason, Turnbull and Denslow contend that “It is the most widely known and talked about degree in the Masonic system” because it had been part of the third degree until the formation of the United Grand Lodge of England. Although glimpses of Royal Arch Masonry vocabulary appear in Masonic literature from the 1720s, the first verifiable appearance of Royal Arch Masonry is in Ireland in the 1740s during […] - [History in the United States](https://dcgrandchapter.com/history-in-the-united-states/): History in the United States In Northern America, Freemasons until the end of the 18th century performed Royal Arch ceremonies as well as some others that are now more familiarly part of Knights Templar and the Red Cross of Constantine. Fredericksburg Lodge in Virginia lists a conferral of the Royal Arch degree on December 22, 1753. There is also a Royal Arch Chapter noted in 1769 in Massachusetts (St. Andrew’s Royal Arch Chapter in Boston, then known as Royall Arch Lodge), where the first Knights Templar degree was also conferred. Through a report compiled by the Committee on History and Research […] - [Royal Arch Degrees](https://dcgrandchapter.com/royal-arch-degrees-2/): Royal Arch Degrees The Degree of Royal Arch Mason is founded upon the destruction of the first and the building of the second Temple. The ceremonies of the Degree have an interesting and graphic historical setting, and a profound and reverential moral significance. The Royal Arch Degree is the complement of the Master’s Degree, the unfolding into a second volume of the history of that which was lost to its final recovery. Without the Royal Arch, the Master’s Degree is like a song half sung, a tale partly told, or a promise unfulfilled. The preparatory Degrees conferred in the Chapter are […] - [FAQ](https://dcgrandchapter.com/faq-2/): WHO ARE ROYAL ARCH MASONS? A Royal Arch Mason is a member of the Masonic fraternity who has progressed to the degree of Royal Arch. Royal Arch Masonry is considered an extension of the three degrees of Craft Freemasonry (Entered Apprentice, Fellow Craft, and Master Mason) and is often referred to as the “fourth degree” of Freemasonry. WHAT DO ROYAL ARCH MASONS BELIEVE IN? In Royal Arch Masonry, members explore further teachings and symbolism related to the building of King Solomon’s Temple, which is a central theme in Freemasonry. The degree of Royal Arch Masonry focuses on the recovery of […] - [Growth and Maturity](https://dcgrandchapter.com/growth-and-maturity-2/): Growth and Maturity Capitular Masonry in the District of Columbia grew dramatically at the turn of the twentieth century and, by the 1920s, became the second largest Masonic body in the jurisdiction. Its popularity had been fueled, in part, by a rapidly growing population of Masons who wished to continue their education through the Royal Arch degrees. The Grand Chapter modeled itself after the Grand Lodge with committees on jurisprudence, correspondence, and ritual. The Grand High Priest, while subservient to the Grand Master, assumed similar duties for royal arch chapters. The body developed its own membership card system to track […] - [Resurrection and Expansion](https://dcgrandchapter.com/resurrection-and-expansion-2/): Resurrection and Expansion Local chapters formed their first Grand Chapter in Washington but activities soon waned in part due a national wave of anti-Masonic sentiment prompted by the Morgan Affair. The surviving chapters agreed to consolidate with Maryland in 1842 and formed the Grand Chapter of Maryland and the District of Columbia, which operated for the next twenty-five years. By the late 1860s, however, the District experienced a significant membership influx and renewed interest amongst the D.C. chapters to separate from Maryland and once again form their own Grand Chapter. They successfully dissolved the former body in 1867 and scheduled […] - [The First Grand Chapter](https://dcgrandchapter.com/the-first-grand-chapter-2/): The First Grand Chapter The first York Rite body, known as a Royal Arch encampment, formed in 1795 composed of companions from Federal Lodge 1. Capitular masonry became popular and two more chapters formed with members from Naval Lodge 4 and Potomac Lodge 5. In 1807, the chapters assembled along with three chapters from Baltimore to form the first brand body – the Grand Chapter of Royal Arch Masons of Maryland and the District of Columbia (GCMDC). The organization was jointly managed by both groups of masons until 1822, when the District’s chapters considered dissolving the body to form their […] - [Origins](https://dcgrandchapter.com/origins-2/): History of the Grand Chapter While the Grand Chapter is the oldest Masonic appendant body in Washington, Royal Arch Masonry began in the city much earlier, over seventy years earlier in fact, around 1795. The scraps of information we know about these early Royal Arch activities provide us with great insight into the history of Capitular Freemasonry and help us better understand the fraternity’s impact in Washington. Origins In September 1793, James Hoban and his Masonic colleagues working to build the White House and Capitol petitioned the Grand Lodge of Maryland for a charter to establish a new craft lodge […] - [Member Resources](https://dcgrandchapter.com/member-resources/): This content is password protected. To view it please enter your password below: Password: - [Grand High Priest’s Decisions](https://dcgrandchapter.com/grand-high-priests-decisions-3/): Grand High Priest’s Decisions - [Committees](https://dcgrandchapter.com/committees-2/): 2024-2025 Committees *** The Grand High Priest and Grand Secretary are Ex-Officio of ALL Committees *** Committee on Accounts:Examines and audits the accounts of the Grand Secretary, Grand Treasurer, and Grand Trustees, reporting quarterly to the Grand High Priest.Chairman: Philip J. A. Palmer, Jr.Members: Carpenter Arpa IV, Gerald W. Peeters Committee on America 250Creates Royal Arch-oriented educational programs, activities, and outreach for the nation’s semiquincentennial in 2026.Chairman: B. Chris Ruli vi officii Grand HistorianMembers: Sam W. Chin, Morgan P. Corr; Marcel J. Desroches, Jr.; Michael C. Graver, Neilbert L. Knights, Alexander W. Morales Committee on AwardsRecommends recipients of Grand Chapter […] - [Contact](https://dcgrandchapter.com/contact/): Contact Us Please enable JavaScript in your browser to complete this form.Please enable JavaScript in your browser to complete this form. Name * FirstLast Email * Are you currently a Royal Arch Mason? * Yes No Comment or Message Submit - [Awards](https://dcgrandchapter.com/awards/): The Grand Chapter of Royal Arch Masons of DC celebrates the hard work and dedication of our Companions with the following honors Ephraim Kirby Award This prestigious award serves as an opportunity for the General Grand Chapter of Royal Arch Masons International to recognize extraordinary Companions who have attained past presiding rank in their Grand York Rite bodies (Lodge, Chapter, Council, Commandery); and who have then gone on to continue their work and commitment to service far beyond the term of their office and the normal boundaries of dedication. Teko A. Foly, PGM, PGHP, PMIGM, REPGC, 2014Marcus A. Trelaine, PGHP, […] - [Grand Chapter Officers](https://dcgrandchapter.com/grand-chapter-officers/): REC Fitzgerald O. Williams Grand King REC Andre Vaincouer Grand Scribe MEC Robert H. Starr Grand Secretary REC Kevin L. Coy Grand Treasurer REC Michael O. Spencer Grand Captain of the Host MEC Charbel T. Fahed Grand Visitor and Lecturer EC George E. Perez Grand Principal Sojourner EC John C. Costanza Grand Royal Arch Captain EC Jon W. Bouma Grand Master of the 3rd Veil EC James V. Pannett Grand Master of the 2nd Veil EC Eloi P. Kpamegan Grand Master of the 1st Veil EC K. Paul Sedzro Grand Sentinel EC Burton S. Levy Grand Chaplain EC B. Chris […] [comment]: # (Generated by Hostinger Tools Plugin)