Bethel Commandery
- The Chivalric Orders are a set of three Orders culminating in the grade of Knight Templar, and controlled by that body.
- *Its requirement that its members be professed Christians has led to calls of condemnation from other Masonic bodies and organizations both inside and outside the United States, claiming that the body is more of a Christian organization rather than a Masonic body.
- *These have had little effect on the body, however, as many of the organizations criticizing the body have similar degrees among themselves.
- *The American body is also arranged differently from its nearest relatives in England. The American body includes the Illustrious Order of the Red Cross, which is not conferred in any other organization, though it has very close cousins in the Irish and American Order of Knight Masons and in the English Allied Masonic Degrees grade of the Red Cross of Babylon.
- *Also, in the United States, the Order of Malta is conferred on members before being eligible to receive the Order of the Temple, whereas, in England, the Order of Malta is an honorary grade bestowed on Knights Templar.
- *In the United States, all business is transacted in the Order of the Temple, the other bodies only being opened for the conferral of the Orders.
