05/04/2026
My year of service as Most Excellent Grand High Priest of Kansas came to an end on May 1, 2026. The following is my allocution given at the 160th Annual Convocation as I exited the Grand East of the Sanctuary:
First, I would like to thank the Companions of the Holy Royal Arch of Kansas for their kindness and confidence in electing me to serve as Grand High Priest for the 2025-2026 capitular year. It has been my honor to have served as the 154th Grand High Priest of our jurisdiction. When the delegates elected me at the 158th Grand Convocation of the Grand Chapter to serve as the Right Excellent Grand King, I knew we had much work to do. I only hope the work we have completed together while I served as your Grand High Priest has been pleasing in your sight.
Thank you to M:.E:. Companion Wayne H. Rollf, the 151st Grand High Priest of Kansas, for seeing something in me and selecting me as your Grand Royal Arch Captain. I hope my work and dedication over this past year have met the expectations you had when you selected me as your choice to start the progressive Grand Chapter line. I appreciate all you do for Kansas, and all you have done for me for these many years. Your friendship means more than I can put onto paper, and it is an honor to be your Capitular son. Thanks, Pop, for all you do!
E:. Companion L. Kent Needham, thank you for agreeing to serve as the Grand Royal Arch Captain and starting this line which will end with you as our Most Excellent Grand High Priest. The work you put into creating the Securing Our Future plan will bear much fruit as we continue to develop and modify the plan moving forward. Thank you for your friendship and your diligence to serve all of masonry in Kansas.
E. Companion Wayne Drake, I want to thank you for stepping up and agreeing to serve as the new Grand Royal Arch Captain when the resignation of Robert Beardsley was accepted. I know you will do well as you advance through this line to become Most Excellent Grand High Priest.
Our Grand Secretary, M:.E:. Companion Allan D. Jackson deserves more thanks than I could possibly give him. He was always there to answer my ridiculous 4:00 AM emails concerning either planning, logistics, or wanting advice. He always responded with such warmth and charm, yet deep down, I know I contacted him more than any past Grand High Priest, yet he continued to provide information needed to make decisions and to move our capitular craft forward. Without his diligent work, I could not have accomplished anything this last year.
Thank you to R:.E:. Companion Justin D. Crippen for his hard work in making sure donations to our charity, Royal Arch Research Assistance, was a success for the last capitular year. I had set a personal goal of raising $5,000 for RARA for this year and he, alongside the members of his committee, E:. Companions James A. Lyle and A.J. Pence, and R:.E:. Companions Juanito Ernacio and Curtis A. Utley, continued to work with our membership and our Chapters to get out the information needed to encourage our Companions to increase their giving to our charity. Our membership responded in kind, and because of their efforts, we donated well over $5,500 to R.A.R.A. from our jurisdiction during the last year. It is our membership which reached into their own pockets and provided these donations, and I would like to thank each of you for doing that.
Our Junior Past M:.W:. Grand Master, Derik L. Hockett, has assisted me in numerous ways during the last year. From his gentle and wise counsel, I have learned many things. The Grand Master is the leader of the Grand York Rite in Kansas and is the head of the four Grand York Rite bodies. His commitment to our Unity Council, and his tireless work and efforts to continue to bring unity to our jurisdiction have been an inspiration for other Grand Lodges throughout the country. Thank you for your friendship and for your leadership.
I would like to thank Companions Alex Bolinder and Jakob Edmunds, and R:.E:. Companion Juanito Ernacio, who assisted with setting up the quarry and for their laboring physically within the quarry to get it ready for the Quarry Degree. It was a monumental task and you each handled it well and assisted in providing a quality masonic experience to all who attended.
There are so many others who have assisted me, and this Grand Chapter, during the last year. While I wish I could thank all of them, there is not enough time or space for me to make that happen. I will say to each of you, I appreciate all you did for me and especially for our Grand Chapter and I want to thank you for your service to our Grand Chapter and to the Craft here in Kansas.
Thank you to my loving wife, Adriane, who has followed me throughout my many masonic endeavors. You are how I get up in the morning and get everything on my plate completed. You are always there for me and have been willing to step in to serve whenever and wherever needed. You never hesitate to work for the many masonic bodies I am a member of. Your love, kindness, and words of wisdom are the things which have kept me going during the dark times and inspired me to try be more like you. You love unconditionally and with your entire heart and I can only hope to emulate a small part of you each and every day. I love you so much and I wanted to publicly thank you for giving me the confidence to carry on each day with my many masonic endeavors and service. You actually make it happen much more than I do, and I wanted you to be recognized for your service to our Craft as well. I love you!
My travels for this past year have taken me to many wonderful places, where I met with excellent and inspiring Companions and Brothers. I drove a total of 19,634 miles and flew 19,521 miles, which means I traveled approximately 39,155 miles while I served as your Grand High Priest. I have been across the globe and brought something back with me in my heart from each meeting I attended. My hope is I inspired those I met, left them with a good impression of our Companions and Brothers in Kansas, and represented each of you and our Grand Jurisdiction well. I have assisted with meetings throughout our craft, helped with degrees, or presented Masonic education at many different locations. While I could not list all of them, a sample list of my travels and visits is included in this report.
Because of the diligent work of our membership, 38 new Companions of the Holy Royal Arch have been exalted and 9 admitted during this capitular year. Our Chapters added an additional 5 members from reinstatement. Some were because of the Grand Master’s Classes, and others were because of the hard work performed by each of our Chapters in Kansas. That means we added 52 to our original total of 707 members. We unfortunately had 15 members demit, 14 members who were suspended for non-payment of dues, and, sadly, there were 22 members who passed away during the term. We had a total of 9 errors in our reporting system leaving us with 699 total members. This means we lost a total of 8 members during the Capitular year. When we factor out the number of members who passed away, our Chapters saw an increase in membership of 14 this past year. That is a victory for Royal Arch Masonry in Kansas, and we are stronger and are starting to see more Brothers desire to join the Holy Royal Arch thanks to the tireless efforts of our members.
One of my goals for the capitular year was to visit each Royal Arch Chapter within the state of Kansas during the term. I was fortunate to visit many, but I did not make all of them. I resorted to video conferencing to meet with two of our Chapters. Each Secretary received a letter from me prior to my official visit to let them know I would be attending one of their meetings. I requested the letter be sent to each of their membership to encourage them to attend. This was intended to be a meeting where they could present their likes, dislikes, and their ideas to make their capitular experience better and happier. I enjoyed meeting and speaking with our membership. I wanted to make their experience more fulfilling and to understand their hopes for the future of their Chapters. I hope that was accomplished throughout these visits, but I assure you they made my masonic experience more fulfilling by their attendance and by visiting with me at each of their meetings.
As the editor of the Grand York Rite publications, I continued to develop the quarterly insert for the General Grand Chapter Royal Arch Masons International newsletter, the monthly update for the three Grand York Rite bodies (News of the Ark, Tales of the Secret Vault, and Templars of the Plains), the quarterly Letters From York e-magazine, and the updates to our website. I wrote articles and greetings for each of the publications which contained information about Royal Arch Masonry in Kansas and received articles and input from the officers of the Grand Chapter, Grand Council and Grand Commandery. I will continue to serve in this capacity as long as I am needed and able.
Communication is a key part of Securing Our Future. As Grand High Priest, I wrote a short monthly letter to our membership, which was posted on the Grand York Rite website, Grand York Rite and Grand Chapter pages, and was sent by email to each member in the jurisdiction near the first of each month.
Another important communication publication was the monthly update, News of the Ark, which was posted on the Grand York Rite website each month and emailed to our members. A link to the update was posted on the Grand York Rite and Grand Chapter pages each month. These monthly updates were written by the officers of the Grand Chapter of Royal Arch Masons of Kansas and intended to give them the opportunity to start their communication to the Companions as they continued to serve this Grand Chapter.
I was fortunate this last year to be joined in these endeavors by the Most Illustrious Grand Master of Cryptic Masons in Kansas, M:.I:. Companion Gary B. Strout, and Sir Knight Fred Kemp, the R:.E:. Grand Commander of Knight Templars of Kansas. We decided early on in our leadership planning we needed to work as a cohesive team. What was good for one of the Grand York Rite bodies had to be good for the others. We made many decisions together as a team. The three of us have worked together, side by side, to make Securing Our Future a success within its infant year. Thank you to each of these great leaders for their assistance, counsel, friendship and actions during the last year. You each have made a difference.
As Grand High Priest, it became my responsibility to interpret the laws of the Grand Chapter of Royal Arch Masons of Kansas, mediate disputes, work within the structure of our bylaws to strengthen our membership, and to provide counsel, make decisions, and perform such other duties as evolved upon me as the Grand High Priest of Royal Arch Masons in Kansas. My actions during the 159th capitular term can be found below and were submitted to the Jurisprudence Committee for their approval. The Grand Secretary, M:.E:. Allan D. Jackson, and my Ark Bearers, M:.E:. Wayne H. Rollf, Jarrod R. Adkisson, and T. Michael Fegan were instrumental in assisting me in making these decisions, and I would like to thank them for their input and their wise counsel on many occasions as I worked to serve this Grand Chapter. My communications, edicts, dispensations, decisions, and actions for the Capitular year 2025-2026 can be found in my completed report in the preprint.
While things have been done well in the Grand Chapter here in Kansas, there are things which I either was unable to accomplish, or I believe should continue for the best interest of Capitular Masonry and this Grand Chapter. These recommendations can be found in the preprint for the Grand Chapter of Royal Arch Masons of Kansas, and for the next M:.E:. Grand High Priest, Gary B. Strout, to consider as he continues to work Securing Our Future and continually improving our Chapters in Kansas.
As I depart the Grand East of the Sanctuary of the Grand Chapter of Royal Arch Masons of Kansas, there are many Companions who I was unable to personally thank within this report. Please remember YOU are what has made our Grand Chapter a success. The influence and usefulness of our beloved Order depends upon the lives our members lead and the example they set before the world. I thank each of you for all you have done for our Grand Chapter, what you continue to do for Masonry, and for your support and love of our gentle Craft. Any recognition during this term was because of the hard work of those who surround me and not of my own accord. The goal for this term of service was to make our capitular craft better. I hope that was accomplished, and if it was, it happened because of the tireless and dedicated efforts of our members. If this endeavor fell short of success, it was because of me alone and the actions are on my shoulders and conscience. I humbly hope my actions have left this jurisdiction and its members more fulfilled, better, and happier.
All the successes we have had during the term of service as your Grand High Priest are attributed to God, who provided me grace and solace when things were rough and showed me there was more to be done in His quarries. His provision of salvation gives me hope for a better and brighter tomorrow each and every day, and His scriptures have provided me with much comfort while I served as Grand High Priest. He is the chief of the corner, the copestone, and our rock.
And finally, permit me to say that since I assumed the duties of the office with which you honored me one year ago, nothing to my knowledge has occurred to mar the general harmony of the Craft in this jurisdiction, and in future years I trust that my memory will revert to the pleasant in*******se I have enjoyed with my Companions during the time it has been my pleasure to act as your presiding officer. May the blessing of Heaven rest upon each of you, as members of the capitular craft; may brotherly love continue to prevail within our hearts and minds; and may the moral and social virtues which inspire us each day continue to strengthen and cement us as we move forward in the discharge of the great and glorious work of rebuilding our own spiritual temples and making each other better and happier.
Fraternally submitted for your consideration,
Most Excellent Companion Patrick C. Carr
Most Excellent Grand High Priest 2025-2026
Grand Chapter of Royal Arch Masons of Kansas
