Order of the Eastern Star

Not to be confused with Order of the Star in the East.

The Order of the Eastern Star (OES) is a Masonic appendant body open to both men and women. It was established in 1850 by lawyer and educator Rob Morris, a noted Freemason, and adopted and approved as an appendant body of the Masonic Fraternity in 1873. The order is based on teachings from the Bible and is open to people of all religious beliefs. It has approximately 10,000 chapters in 18 countries and approximately 500,000 members under its General Grand Chapter.

Members of the Order of the Eastern Star are aged 18 and older; men must be Master Masons and women must be sponsored. Originally, a woman would have to be the daughter, widow, wife, sister, or mother of a Master Mason. The Order now allows other relatives as well as allowing Job's Daughters, Rainbow Girls and Members of the Organization of Triangles (in New York) to become members when of age.

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.