Termination of active membership
A Member desiring to resign from the Order shall signify such desire in writing to the respective Grand Priory Secretary General but in the case of a person who is a member of a Grand Commandery, the requested resignation shall be transmitted through that Grand Commandery. A requested resignation shall, under normal circumstances, be considered as a request to cease active membership. The person concerned shall thereupon cease to be an active Member of the Order and shall be transferred to the ‘inactive list’.
The Foundation Dues and Annual Oblations shall be due on the 1st January after the member has been invested, and annually thereafter. Members will be transferred to the ‘inactive list’ if the above named dues and oblations, or any part thereof, remain unpaid on the due date, unless extenuating circumstances exist and are accepted by The Grand Council. Members can be transferred back to the active list on payment of any dues outstanding from the time when the member was still on the active list, in addition to the dues for the forthcoming year. Transfer to and from the ‘inactive list’ must be Approved by The Grand Council.
The Grand Council on the recommendation of a Grand Priory Chapter, and where appropriate also the Grand Commandery Chapter concerned, may terminate the Membership of any person and on the like recommendation and with the like sanction may re-admit such person.
As from the date that any person ceases to be an active Member of the Order, he or she shall cease to be liable to pay any future Annual Oblation and shall lose any right to wear or use the Insignia, Augmentation of Arms and other distinction or privilege of the Order.
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NOTES FOR PERSONS WHO HAVE ELECTED TO BE PLACED ON THE INACTIVE LIST
For the benefit of those persons who, either at their own request or as the result of a decision made by The Grand Council, have been placed on the Inactive List, it should be pointed out that RULE 24 (Termination of active membership) in the Statutes of a participating Grand Priory applies. No person may, after they have been placed on the Inactive List, continue to use the honorific titles and post-nominals which they held during their period as fully paid-up and active members of the Order.
Attention must be drawn to Clause 4 of the above named Rule, which states –
‘As from the date that any person ceases to be an active Member of the Order, he or she shall cease to liable to pay any further Annual Oblation and shall lose any right to wear or use the Insignia, Augmentation of Arms and other distinction or privilege of the Order.’
For further clarification The Grand Council wish it to be known that the honorific title of ‘Chevalier / Dame / Confrère / Consœur’ is deemed to be part of the ‘other distinction and privilege of the Order’ as is the use of the letters ‘GCLJ/DGCLJ – KCLJ/DCLJ – KLJ/DLJ – CLJ – OLJ – MLJ’, and the equivalent letters for the Clergy and the holders of the Order of Merit.
It also follows that any person who is on the Inactive List can not be held to have a ‘Past’ title, such as ‘Past Secretary General’ etc. This can onlybe applied, with the approval of The Grand Council, to those members who, having relinquished their Office, are still paid-up and active members of the Order.
By order of The Grand Council – January 2008.
The United Grand Priories of The Order of Saint Lazarus of Jerusalem.
The United Grand Priories
Of