Amity, appendant and concordant defined

Whether in amity, concordant or appendant, all these bodies define their existence based on their relationship with regular Craft Freemasonry which extends recognition but does not exchange it.

FREEMASONRY

APPENDANT BODIES

CONCORDANT BODIES

MASONIC FAMILY

Amity defined

Amity:
mutual understanding and a peaceful relationship.

Concordant:
agreeing; harmonious.

Appendant:
subordinate, attached or added.

What is the relationship between Craft Freemasonry and the many and various other bodies? Every Craft masonic jurisdiction—Grand Lodge or Orient—forges its own relationship with such bodies as the Scottish Rite or Royal Arch.

In the United States the use of the term appendant seems to have first been restricted to those orders conferred as appendages of the Knight Templar degree, but has since expanded to refer to all bodies "in amity".

In England the term concordant seems to have first been restricted to the Holy Royal Arch, after the declaration—or concord—included in the 1813 Articles of Union, but has since expanded to refer to all harmonious bodies "in amity". History of Freemasonry and Concordant Orders (1890) by Henry Leonard Stillson and W. J. Hughan best represents this usage. In official use it appears that both terms, appendant and concordant, are discouraged. They still style the Order of Eastern Star as adoptive but they also consider it irregular.

The use of the term adoptive to refer to those bodies accepting women or youth, once common, also seems to be discouraged in England, perhaps because of its historical use in describing various irregular bodies. Papers published in Ars Quatuor Coronati only use appendant to refer to those orders conferred as appendages of the Knight Templar degree. Pick and Knight's The Freemason's Pocket Reference Book (revised 1965) uses neither term, only referring to the Eastern Star as adoptive. The American author, S. Brent Morris, in The Complete Idiot's Guide to Freemasonry, terms all the various bodies as appendant.

Coil terms the Order of Easter Star, Order of Amaranth, Job's Daughters and Rainbow for Girls as adoptive, but doesn't catagorize DeMolay. Albert Mackey, in his Encyclopedia (revised 1966) refers to the Eastern Star as adoptive, and only terms Appendant those orders conferred as appendages of the Knight Templar degree.

The following quote perhaps defines American usage:

"In the United States, various terms have been applied to the high degrees, such as appendant, appurtenant, concordant, supplementary, allied, associated, and finally, one that is descriptive but inconvenient: degrees for which the degree of Master Mason is a prerequisite. Some oppose the term high degrees, because they dislike the implication that the Master's degree is not the highest, but the name is simple and convenient and its long usage would seem to preclude any possibility of avoiding it" (Coil's Masonic Encyclopedia, Henry Wilson Coil. Richmond, Virginia : Macoy Publishing, Revised 1995. p. 312)

In Canada, and specifically British Columbia, a distinction has tried to be made between those bodies conferring degrees and restricting its membership to freemasons, chiefly the Scottish and York Rite bodies; bodies restricting their membership to freemasons or their relatives, and bodies restricting their membership to freemasons or relatives but more focused on social, educational or charitable pursuits than on solemn ceremonial. The distinction is unofficial, and debatable. The Grand Lodge of British Columbia and Yukon has adopted a list of bodies with which it is "in amity" but it does not officially use either term, appendant or concordant.

© 1871-2024 Grand Lodge of British Columbia and Yukon A.F. & A.M. Updated: 2007/05/16
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