THE ORDER OF THE SILVER TROWEL

The Order of the Silver Trowel of tye State of Missouri meets once a year during the Grand Assembly of the Grand Council of Cryptic Masons. A petition is required to receive the degree, along with a one-time degree fee – there are no annual dues.

The requirement for membership into the Order of the Silver Trowel is that a candidate must be a sitting or Past Illustrious Master of a Council of Royal and Select Masters. This chair degree is conferred on present and Past Illustrious Masters during the Grand Assembly of the Grand Council of Cryptic Masons of Missouri.

The degree consists of two sections, and the candidate represents a young King Solomon throughout the degree. In the first section, the candidate learns of the conspiracy by his half-brother Adonijah to take the throne from Solomon. He also learns of his mother, Bathsheba, interceding with the aged and ailing King David to prevent this. After securing David’s approval, Solomon is symbolically conducted to Gihon by Benaiah when he is duly obligated, anointed and hailed as King by Nathan the prophet and Zadok, the High Priest. In the second Section, the newly anointed king is brought before his father, David, who in his dying moments, instructs him in moral wisdom and counsels him to govern uprightly and to serve the Lord with all of his strength. Upon Solomon’s assent to all of this, the king expires.