Rev. James D. Conley, D.D., S.T.L. | Diocese of Lincoln website

When Father Sean Timmerman, pastor at the Church of the Holy Spirit in Plattsmouth, noticed a decline in high school boys participating as altar servers, he sought a solution to re-engage them. He found the “Templars - Knights of the Holy Temple” program, which he believed could provide both spiritual formation and a sense of fraternity for older students.

The Templars program aims to form young men in Catholic faith, wisdom, and tradition. According to its website, it offers not only altar serving but also monthly meetings, service projects, and annual retreats. These activities are designed to foster leadership and fellowship among participants.

Each parish chapter is led by a priest who serves as chaplain. Lay men, known as confrères, mentor the teens and help manage the group’s operations. The teens themselves take on officer roles within their chapter, organizing meetings and service projects and determining their responsibilities during Mass.

John Kanel of Lincoln serves on the national team for Templars as a chapter success coach. He said that while Templars is a spinoff of “Knights of the Holy Temple,” which began in 1999 in the Diocese of Lafayette-In-Indiana, the current mission is to create a program priests can easily implement in their parishes.

Templars now has 45 active chapters nationwide, including new ones at St. Mary Parish in Ashland and Sacred Heart Parish in Lincoln. There are also chapters at Mary Our Queen and Christ the King parishes in Omaha and St. Patrick Parish in Fremont.

At Church of the Holy Spirit, Father Timmerman chose to keep membership exclusive to high school students, providing middle school boys with something to aspire to. Since launching this spring, eight high schoolers have joined, serving exclusively at the 10:30 a.m. Sunday Mass.

Kanel noted that each parish designates one Mass for the Templars to serve. “When these older guys really take this seriously, it’s clear to everyone in the parish that it’s not just a random group, that it’s a fraternity, that they’ve given their time and attention to serving at the altar and doing so in a way that glorifies God. It’s a powerful thing,” Kanel said.

The Templars perform tasks usually assigned to acolytes, such as carrying the cross and handling incense. They are distinguished by red cassocks and more elaborate surplices compared to younger servers.

Their first project will be building their own wardrobe in the sacristy for vestments due to limited space.

Ryan Vulgamott, a confrère at Church of the Holy Spirit, said his experience as an acolyte deepened his faith and inspired him to help others appreciate serving at Mass. “I saw [the Templars] as an opportunity to get more people to appreciate what I see,” Vulgamott said. “When you’re an acolyte or a server or a lector, you’re up there, right there at the altar, and it had a profound impact on me. So I saw it as an opportunity for them to really just grow in their understanding of things.”

Initially, Vulgamott and other confrères helped establish meeting processes and schedules but now act mainly as chaperones while members take over organizational duties.

Vulgamott hopes future cross-chapter gatherings will allow members from different parishes to connect and share ideas.

Father Timmerman has observed greater engagement from the boys since joining Templars. “I think they’re paying a lot more attention to the Mass,” he said, “and I can tell that that reverence is very important for them. When they were younger, in junior high, they did a good job, but now they’re taking ownership, and taking pride in it and wanting to do a good job for God.”

He believes the group has established a strong foundation and expects it will continue growing even as current members graduate.

Father Timmerman added: “If these boys take a new ownership of their Catholic faith, if they grow in reverence and love, especially of the Eucharist, if they continue to grow in the virtues and to practice their Catholic faith after high school, that’s my number one goal.”

He also expressed hope that increased involvement might encourage priestly vocations from the parish after many years without one: “I think that the more experiences our boys can get up on the altar and serving, especially when they’re in high school, they might realize, ‘I could see myself as a priest doing this.’ Or, ‘I like to serve, maybe I would like to someday be a priest and offer the Mass,’” he said.

At an initiation ceremony on October 5th, each new member stated: “With obedience in faith to Christ, my Lord, and with trust in the Mother of Christ and in the Church, I accept my place in the Army of Christ.”

Matthew Lorence, a freshman member of Templars at Church of the Holy Spirit commented: “I really enjoy serving at a higher level at Mass, especially with other guys my age. I think our Templars program has elevated our Mass at Church of the Holy Spirit.”