New Zealand News

A week ago, the Priory of New Zealand held its annual investiture service. One of the members promoted in the priory is also the recently appointed chancellor. Garry Wilson has begun his six year term in that post and also been made a knight of the Order.

The ceremony was presided over by Sir Anand Satyanand who, as Governor-General of New Zealand is also head of the Order's priory there.

Sir Anand welcomed Chancellor Wilson to his new role but noted that the job of a group devoted to health such as the VOSJ was more difficult today in the face of world problems such as the Swine Flu pandemic. He also made it clear that "St John is deeply involved with the Ministry of Health in helping to manage the response in the spread of the virus."

In addition to Mr Wilson's promotion to knight of the Order, four people were made commanders, sixteen people were made officers, and thirty-four were admitted as members of the order.

Pro Utilitate Hominum

Well Deserved

Here at the VOSJ Source, we enjoy recognizing those that have been given awards by the Order. We are members, after all, of a confraternity whose main objective is service. A few weeks ago, the Priory of Australia rewarded Margaret Hunt for more than a half century of service to the Order. She was invested as a Dame of Grace of the Order by the Governor of Queensland, Penelope Wensley, on 10 July 2009.

Such news would probably not even reach our ears but for the fact that it was noted in the local media. This is another great point about this event. It has given publicity to the wonderful work that our Order does around the world.

Pro Utilitate Hominum

Changing Focus

We were looking at the website of the Priory in the United States of American yesterday and saw that the Priory has finally completed its relocation to a new location. The Priory's historical center has been in New York City since the formation of the American Society of the VOSJ in 1958. The first American investiture service took place at the Cathedral of St John the Divine in New York on 6 January 1960. This year, the Priory offices have moved to a truly national headquarters--Washington, D.C. This fit very well with the most recent American investiture service held in the same city and also is convenient for the new Prior, who resides in Virginia instead of New York.

Another Vice-Prior

We're about two months late on this, but our recent look at Newfoundland and Labrador reminded us of an image of the current Lieutenant-Governor and Vice-Prior in this Canadian province. Here you can see John Crosbie being admitted to the Order as a Knight of Justice on 30 September. The investiture ceremony took place at the Anglican Cathedral Church in St. John's. Just though you might like to see it.

American Press Coverage

The other day we discussed a member of the VOSJ as reported in the local news. Today, we have another example of local press for a confrère. This time our newspaper research brings us to the Priory in the United States. The article discusses Thomas Van Arsdale from Wilmington, North Carolina. He is considerably higher on the age scale than Sonya Gale of our post last Thursday, but is equally as dedicated to the service of mankind. If you'd like, you can read the complete article. It is nice to see American members getting some attention over there.

Lord Prior Installed

As we noted a couple of weeks ago, the VOSJ has a new Lord Prior. He was officially installed yesterday as the new leader of the Order. It was a wonderful ceremony at Clerkenwell filled with many knights and dames all wearing their black mantles. Lord Prior Mellows asked members of the VOSJ worldwide to remember the roots of the Order. The originally knights hospitaller were founded in 1099 with a simple directive, to "serve, our lords, the sick." This is a very nice sentiment as he begins his tenure as Lord Prior.

Youth in the Membership

We were perusing the news in New Zealand recently and found a nice story about a dedicated young member of the VOSJ. Sonya Gale has been involved with the SJA since the age of six. Now that she is 27 years old, she has been made a member of the Order. It is great to see someone being so involved with charity and helping others at this stage in her life. According to the article in the Otago Daily Times, it is unusual for someone to be admitted to the Order at such a young age. It would be interesting to compare this with other Priories. We know that we've seen young people at investitures, but they may not have been members of the VOSJ. At any rate, you can see a picture of Ms Gale below with the Governor-General of New Zealand, Anand Satyanand. Mr Satyanand is also a Knight of Justice and the Prior of the New Zealand Priory.

American Prior

As we mentioned a week ago, the Priory in the United States of America recently has its annual investiture ceremony in Washington, DC. One of the most important events at that ceremony was the installation of a new Prior. Nick Drexel had been the Prior since the foundation of the Priory in 1997. The new Prior is Alfred Marshall Acuff, Jr. of Midlothian, Virginia. He is a graduate of the College of William and Mary and the University of Michigan Graduate School of Business Administration. He has proven to be a very successful business man. He began his career at Smith Barney, and started AMA Investment Counsel, LLC in 2001. Mr Acuff was Gazetted as a serving brother in the Order on 19 July 2000. Only three years later he was promoted to the rank of officer brother and just last year he was made a commander brother. This is a pretty quick rise through the ranks of the VOSJ. Naturally, on his appointment as Prior, he was made a knight of the Order--though the London Gazette was not clear on whether he is a knight of grace or of justice. Regardless, it is amazing that it only took 8 years from his first appointment to the VOSJ to become a knight and Prior. Professor Mellows (the new Lord Prior) was on hand to invest Mr Acuff as the new American Prior. This had to happen before any of the other appointments or promotions could be made in the ceremony. We haven't been able to get our hands on a picture of the new Prior, and the only picture in our files of the old Prior is quite small...but you get the idea.

American Investiture Service

This past weekend, the Order's Priory in the United States of America has its annual investiture weekend. The culminated with the actual service of investiture on 8 November. The event was held at the Cathedral Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul (also known as Washington National Cathedral) in Washington, D.C. We were not able to attend the ceremony because we were busy here in London, but it sounds like it was a splendid affair.

One of the highlights of the ceremony was the installation of a new Prior for the Americans. Nick Drexel had served as Prior since the foundation of the Priory. This weekend, A. Marshall Acuff, Jr. was formally installed. In addition to this installation, the service was an opportunity for rededication and recongition of new appointments to and promotions within the Order.

If we are able to locate some pictures from the weekend, we will be sure to post them here. Those of you that are planning ahead, can attend the Priory's next investiture 6-8 November in the historic center of VOSJ activity in America--New York City.

Canadian Vice Priors

As mentioned in our last post, Hilary Weston was made a Dame of Justice in 1997 upon her appointment as Lieutenant-Governor of Ontario. We were trolling through our files and found a picture from 2005 of Norman Kwong, the newly appointed Lieutenant-Governor of Alberta, receiving his insignia as a Knight of Justice of the Order. As we noted earlier, the Lieutenant-Governor of each province is made the Vice-Prior for the Order in that province. This picture comes from 23 May 2005 and was taken in Edmonton, the capital of Alberta.