INSTALLATION ADDRESS AS 36TH SUPREME KNIGHT OF THE NOBLE ORDER OF KNIGHTS OF MARSHALL
“O God our help in ages past, Our hope for years to come”
Supreme Director, Sir Kt. Vet. Cmdr. Edward S.K. Kwaw, My Lord Bishop Emeritus Most Rev. Joseph Osei Bonsu, Supreme Spiritual Director, My Lord Bishop Most Rev. John Opoku Agyeman, Supreme Chaplain, Immediate Past Supreme Knight, Substantive Past Supreme Knights, Committee of Substantive Past Grand Ladies, Past Supreme Knights, Grand Lady, Worthy Brothers and Brothers.
It is with a deep sense of gratitude to God and with deep humility that I render to you my installation address as the 36th Supreme Knight of the Noble Order of Knights of Marshall, a great epitome of knighthood. Some twenty-three years ago in the Temple of Council No. 1, Sekondi, when I angrily accused the Noble Order of abusing my fundamental human rights during my initiation into the Order and threatened a legal action, little did I ever know that one day I will be the executive head of the very Order I accused. God indeed works in mysterious ways and I cannot help but repeat the words of the Psalmist in Psalm 9:1 that, “I will give thanks to you, Lord, with all my heart: I will recount your wonderful deeds”.
It is nothing but by God’s wonderful graces and mercies that today, I have been installed as the 36th Supreme Knight of our great Noble Order and praise be to His name.
This moment is not mine alone. It is a testament to the enduring legacy of our founders, the unwavering commitment of our members, and the divine guidance that has steered this Order since its inception in 1926. I pay tribute to my illustrious predecessors, whose wisdom and service have laid the foundation upon which we now build.
I cannot help but pay tribute to the memories of late Sir Kt. Anthony King Moses of blessed memory who proposed my membership into the Noble Order. Sir Kt. Philip Adusei Poku, my guardian in my journey as a young Marshallan in Council No. 83, and Sir Kt. Ernest Amoako Arhen who took keen interest in me in my journey at the Supreme Council level until his demise. I also pay one tribute to the memory of Sir Kt. Zan Akologo who together with others and myself were appointed as Supreme Officers in 2013.
I recall how all these departed souls always tell me they are waiting for my installation as Supreme Knight one day. The road of life however has many detours. Although you are no more to witness this day, I know your souls and spirits are rejoicing wherever you are.
To the living who are witnessing this day, my heartfelt gratitude goes to our dear Supreme Director, who is daddy to me. Sir Kt. James K. Adomako, who spearheaded my transfer from Council No. 1, Sekondi to Council No. 83, Adiembra, as a Charter brother. I further extend my gratitude to Sir Kt. Sam Kweku Barnes, Sir Kt. Edward Aloysius Prah, Sir Kt. Joseph Christophorus Amuah, Sir Kt. Joseph Wilberforce, Sir Kt. Dr. Paul Adomako Kwakye, Sir Kt. Dr. Paul Ntodi, Sir Kt. Dr. Bernard Boateng Duah, Sir Kt. Joseph Erskine and Sir Kt. Joseph Quansah for your invaluable guidance, teaching, support and advice in my general and Marshallan life up to this day and I count on you as I surge on. To Sir Kt. Anthony K. Kemevor, Sir Kt. Ekow Paintsil, Sir Kt. Victor Derx Baffoe, Sir Kt. Ambrose Yennah, Sir Kt. Charles Cobb, Sir Kt. Patrick Anumel, Sir Kt. Anthony Joseph Kojo Otoo, Sir Kt. Anthony Baffour, Sir Kt Bro Albert Salia and Sir Kt. D.D. Dawlah your invaluable guidance, support, advice and friendship throughout my journey at the Supreme Council to this day is very much appreciated and I will continue to count on you. To my dear brothers worthy brothers of the Supreme Council, I am eternally grateful for your diverse support, friendship, guidance and advice to this day and I will count on your support as we make our Noble Order great and strong.
To our Supreme Spiritual Director and Chaplains and Priests gathered herein, I thank you for your prayers and spiritual guidance through my journey to this throne and like Oliver, I ask for more and I trust your ever unflinching prayers, guidance and support.
Sir Knights, Worthy Brothers, Brothers, I assume the position of Supreme Knight at critical point in the history of the Noble Order. The Noble Order is on the verge of celebrating its centenary. We have, as an Order come a long way in influencing Catholic Lay evangelization through Unity, Fraternity, Charity and Service to ourselves, the Holy Mother the Catholic Church and humanity in general.
Undoubtedly, the vision of our founding fathers of building a Society of real, true, dedicated and committed Catholic men, imbued with principles and teachings rooted in the Holy Scriptures and prescribed by the Holy Mother the Catholic Church, has to a large extent been fulfilled over the last ninety nine years of our existence through our evangelization, charitable works and service to the Church, our community and our nations.
Our very existence as an Order is rooted in Canon 215, in the Code of Canon Law, which states, “Christ faithful may freely establish and direct associations which serve charitable or pious purposes or which foster the Christian vocation in the world, and they may hold meeting to pursue these purposes by a common effort”.
Coming at the backdrop of some constructive criticisms about some of our ways of life’s as an Order and some modicum of indiscipline creeping into our Noble Order to the extent of shifting our focus, this critical period calls for a more focused rededication of our call as Christ Faithful.
The Code of Canon Law Part 1 on Obligations and Rights of Christ Faithful, Canon 210, enjoins, “All Christ’s Faithful, each according to his or her own condition must make a whole-hearted effort to lead a holy life and promote the growth of the Church and its continual sanctification”.
Canon 211, further enjoins, “All Christ’s faithful to strive so that the divine message of salvation may more and more reach all people of all times and all places”.
This is our call and in the light of the above, the vision of the 2025-2027 administration is to focus on our individual lives in line with what the Holy Mother Catholic Church expects from us as we prepare to celebrate our centenary and life beyond the centenary.
I have therefore with the approval of Cabinet chosen the theme “Let your light shine before the World in Holiness, Humility and Service as pilgrims of Hope. A Centenary Rededication.”
Whilst we cannot be perfect as humans, our core vocation as Christians and for that matter Catholic men and women is holiness, that is leading exemplary lives, lives that reflect the vision of our founding fathers for own salvation and that of our fellow man (woman). As Knights nd Ladies of Marshall, our lives must be a light to the world and must radiate positive vibrations wherever we find ourselves to the beauty of the Holy Mother the Catholic Church and to the Glory of God. Holiness is a bedfellow of humility and one cannot be holy without being humble. One of the key pillars of Pope Leo XIV vision for the Church is humility as a basis of true holiness. Service is an act of humility and therefore our core mandate as Marshallans as exemplified in our motto is to serve our families, church, community and nation in holiness and humility. This undoubtedly dovetails to our overall centenary theme…
We have existed for 99 years and on the verge of our Centenary. It is time we reflect on our core vocation and values as Knights (Ladies) of Marshall as exemplified by Sir Knight James Marshall and envisioned by our founding fathers, and rededicate ourselves once more for a stronger relationship with our Maker in humility as pilgrims of hope through service to the church and humankind.
We are a spiritual Order and this call for rededication requires the continuous spiritual development of ourselves through formation in scripture, teachings of the church and spirituality grounded in prayers as spelt out in our subsisting Strategic Plan. We must obviously do this through collective action and unity for “it is good and pleasant when brothers and sisters dwell together in unity.” Psalm 133:1.
As we rededicate ourselves, we also prepare ourselves for the next centenary. The centenary undoubtedly will thus be a point of convergence between memory and mission, heritage and hope and a launching step of renewed and rejuvenated commitment to each other, the church and society. We shall therefore execute this renewed committed and rededication through our current strategic plan and the reviewed strategic plan.
With the guidance and directions of our Spiritual Director and Chaplaincy, we shall do this through a robust spiritual formation agenda in the form of retreats, biblical reflections and Catechesis, pilgrimages and reflections on the “Work of the Masters” especially for the new generation of Marshallans.
Having addressed our vision to seek continually first the Kingdom of God, we shall in the course of the two years strive to address our own material needs and that of the Church in in making our centenary a befitting one to the Glory of God. We shall marshal the needed material and financial logistics to ensure advancement of our two Supreme Council Centenary Projects, our Centenary Building Project and Our Centenary Legacy Project. Brothers, you are witnesses to what you see today at this Secretariat and the Legacy Kindergarten Project at Ketan Cluster of Catholic Schools. I urge you to pay a visit to the site to be abreast with the ongoing works to energize you to support these projects personally and through other persons and institutions of goodwill. I pledge an additional amount of … to support the two projects in addition to earlier logistical, material and financial support to the two projects.
Our Beautification Project is on course and the Order is grateful to the Historical and Beatification Committee for the good work done. However, we need to redouble our efforts in that regard. Our Assistant Supreme Chaplain Rev. Fr. James Bour Mensah has already started some work on our redoubling efforts and we shall work with our Bishop and Priest in charge to expedite and advance the process.
We shall in the course of our term, further strive to strengthen our existing governance and administrative structures. In terms of governance, the twining and realignment of our Regional Councils to our Dioceses is key to our ecclesiastic structures and government and we shall ensure that this key aspect of our strategic plan is carried to its logical conclusion. We shall further adopt a more involving and inclusive approach by making the Regional Grand Knights more involving in the vision of the Executive Committee and we shall start this with our Retreat in November where all first line Supreme Officers and Regional Grand Knights ranks will be required to attend. In terms of administration, we shall resource the Secretariat to meet the growing administrative demands of the Order.
Our finances as an Order is not in good shape and there is the need to have a sound financial footing as the key to our very sustainability. We shall embark on an aggressive and comprehensive resource mobilization drive. Indeed, it is paramount to generate adequate funds as we even embark on our centenary. We shall soon role out some key and strategic decisions to raise funds for the Supreme Council especially towards building a financial buffer for the Supreme Council. Brothers as we roll out these strategies let us all tighten up, embrace, and support it to make us realize our objectives. As a startup of this fundraising scheme especially for our centenary, we shall task the Business and Paraphernalia Committee to procure various Centenary paraphernalia for sale ranging from Pens, key holders, flasks, scarfs, cloth, miniature Marshallan flags, flying ties, wall cloth among others to raise fund for our Centenary. We shall further streamline the various accounts of the Supreme Council to determine how supportive these various Accounts can be to generating some income for the Supreme Council.
A centenary is not a mean achievement and thus establishing a foundation in honour of Sir James Marshall at this crucial moment will not be out of place. To this end, we shall establish the Sir James Marshall Foundation in honour of Sir James Marshall to raise funds to support our internal and external charity works and projects, support our youth wing especially brilliant but needy young Marshallans whilst ensuring a financial buffer for the Noble Order. To this end, I make a personal donation of GH₵… as seed money for the establishment of the Sir James Marshall Foundation. We shall solicit funds from men, women and institutions of goodwill to grow this Foundation.
Further as part of improving our finances, a short to medium term plan of establishing a Marshallan Credit Union shall be put before the Executive for and an Adhoc Committee for deliberations and implementation.
In line with our business objectives as spelt out in our Strategic Plan, we shall strengthen our business wing by re-engineering our business wing and the expansion of our Agri-business, rubber plantation project whilst ensuring that we obtain the required income from the current plantations.
In the long term, we should as an Order in the strive to ensure social stewardships of our activities, digital evangelization in sharing the faith and our values with a robust Catholic education and Pan –African expansion by fostering solidarity across borders in the African Church. These initiatives must be rooted in spirituality of service, humility and hope.
To our overseas branches in U.K, Togo, Benin, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Burkina Faso and La cote d‘Ivoire, the task ahead is a worldwide task and we must all join this call for action as we reminisce our existence for 100 years and prepare for the next century. Whilst you execute your various State and Regional agenda in fulfilment of the mission of service to our mother church and humankind, let us continue to remember the unity that binds the Order as a global fraternity to make our common vision and centenary celebration a resounding success.
As we navigate the complexities of our world let us rededicate ourselves to our core principles and stand together united in our faith and our commitment to spiritual growth and service. Let us renew our commitment to the lay apostolate, to the empowerment of our youth, and to the advancement of our charitable missions. Let us embrace innovation while honoring tradition modernizing our systems, enhancing transparency, and fostering inclusivity across all facets of the Noble Order. I call upon each Marshallan to rise with me to be bold in faith, generous in service, and steadfast in purpose. Together, we shall write a new chapter in the history of this Noble Order, one that reflects the light of Christ and the dignity of our calling. Collectively we have a charge to keep and we can only keep and fulfil the charge by our collective efforts, prayers, and this I call on you to do in sincerity and honesty.
I assume this sacred responsibility, as your Leader and Supreme Knight; I pledge to lead our Noble Order with humility, integrity, compassion and God’s wisdom and guidance. I pledge to uphold the ideals of our Order and work tirelessly to deepen our spiritual life, strengthen our fraternal bonds, and expand our impact within the Church and society.
I wish to thank you all for the trust reposed in me. To my predecessor I say congratulations for your calm and able manner that you and your team including myself have steered the affairs of our great Order. I will certainly count on your experience and I know am assured of your support. To my installation Team, I say thank you for the spirit filled installation ceremony and may God bless you all.
Supreme Director, Supreme Spiritual Director, My Lords, Sir Knights, Most Respected Ladies, Worthy Brothers, brothers, I end this address with the encouraging words that “as descendants of a legacy that values holiness, charity, unity, fraternity and service, we should still be guided by our founders vision to serve the Catholic Church and humanity in holiness, humility and service in the next century as we climax this centenary.
May the Holy Spirit guide our steps, and may our Blessed Mother intercede for us. May God bless the Noble Order, the Holy Mother the Catholic Church and our Marshallan world of Ghana, West Africa and U.K. and our World at large.
Thank you