What is IORG?

From the Massachusetts Grand Assembly website: The International Order of the Rainbow for Girls is a youth organization for girls between the ages of 11 and 20. Founded in 1922 by Rev. W. Mark Sexson in Oklahoma, it has since branched out to most of the fifty states, as well as several countries. It is a character building organization that promotes self-esteem, leadership, and community service.

Is it religious?

No, the only requirement of girls joining is a belief in a Supreme Being. This means girls of many religions can join. We do encourage girls to be active in some church or other place of worship.

What do you do at a meeting?

At a regular (closed) meeting, we say opening ritual; read minutes of the previous meeting; talk about business of the Assembly; possibly have an initiation; take attendance; say closing ritual. At an Installation, which is usually open to the general public, we install officers for the next term.

How often are meetings?

Each assembly holds meetings twice a month (Needham's are 2nd and 4th Fridays of the month). In Massachusetts there are not meetings is July and August.

What else do you do?

We love to have fun! After meetings we usually have collation (food) and some sort of fun activity, such as board games, karaoke or craft projects. We also have activities outside of meetings, including service projects (ie Relay for Life, Masonic CHIP program, Blood Drives, etc) fun activities (ie Bowling, water parks, going to Jordan's Furniture in Reading, etc), and fundraisers (ie Needham Street Fair, concerts, spaghetti dinners). Rainbow girls love to have fun!

What is ritual?

Ritual is a kind of "script" for the opening, closing, initiation and installation ceremonies. But, we also talk about activities, service projects and other fun things during the meeting.

What is the dress code?

Officers wear white gowns; members and other female visitors wear skirts or dresses (must fall just above the knee or longer); men wear suits.

What are the Officers?

The highest Office in Rainbow is Worthy Advisor (comparable to "president" of a club/organization); there are four Offices (Line Offices) that a girl must fill before becoming Worthy Advisor, and these Offices are elected by the Assembly, as are Recorder ("secretary") and Treasurer; other Offices are appointed by the Worthy Advisor (with council from the Advisory Board) and include each color of the Rainbow, Drill Leader, Confidential and Outer Observers, etc. (Please see "Our Officers" for more information on each office).

Advisory Board, what's that?

This is a group of adults that help advise the girls and plan events. The Mother Advisor is the only Advisory Board member who participates in meetings. The Board is appointed each year by the sponsoring body/bodies of the Assembly and then the appointed Board members elect which of them will be Mother Advisor and which will be Chairman. Members of our Sponsoring bodies (Masons, Eastern Star, Amaranth) and Majority Members may be Board members.

What are Majority Members?

When a girl turns 20 (21 if she gets special permission from the Supreme Inspector), she has a Majority Service, which is like a graduation from Rainbow. The girl is no longer a member of Rainbow, but a Majority Member. Majority Members and Rainbow Girls 18 or older may join Eastern Star and/or Amaranth, the women's Masonic organizations (usually to join Eastern Star, a woman must be related to a Master Mason, however Rainbow Girls 18+/Majority Members may join regardless).

What is Grand Assembly?

After a girl has been Worthy Advisor, she is eligible to run for a Grand Office by going to Grand Officer Try-Outs. The Supreme Inspector (a bit like a Grand Mother Advisor) and Grand Executive Board (Grand Advisory Board) appoint girls to Grand Offices; they are not elected. Grand Officers come from Assemblies all over the state and form the Grand Assembly. There is a Grand Assembly session every year, which is where Installation of Grand Officers occurs. Throughout the year, there are Grand Officers' Nights, which are Initiations, hosted by different Assemblies, put on by the Grand Officers instead of an Assembly's Officers. In order for a girl to go to Grand Assembly, she should go to at least one Grand Officers' Night. In addition to Grand Officers, there are Grand Representatives. These girls represent their state to the jurisdiction(s) to which they are assigned and correspond to the Grand Representative to their own state from the other jurisdiction(s). Many girls visit the Grand Assemblies of states to which they are Grand Representatives. It's okay if you don't understand all that; it makes more sense from experience.

What if I want to go to more than just my Assembly's meetings?

You can! Go ahead and visit other Assemblies as much as you want (well, don't go to an Assembly on a day it isn't meeting, but you get the point). Each time you visit you get a Visitation Slip from the Assembly you visit. Collect 20+ in a year (don't forget to give them to your Mother Advisor or the Ad. Board member in charge of visitations) and you get a Visitations Bar at the next Grand Assembly!

Visitation Bar? What do you mean by Bar?

"Merit Bars" in Rainbow are like badges in Girl Scouts. First, you must have one year perfect attendance (you may miss two meetings of the Assembly if you make them up by visiting other Assemblies; Grand Officers' Nights count as make-up meetings, too!) to get your "Header" (which can pin on you dress/gown). There are bars for each color of the Rainbow, as well as white Attendance Bars, Visitation Bars and RACOM Bars (RACOM Bars are only in Massachusetts, for writing the assembly article in the state newsletter, the RACOM, and not necessary for a complete set). Once a girl gets all her Bars, she gets a Pot of Gold to attach to them; if she has all her bars and 5 years perfect attendance, she also gets a gold Wreath to attach. Massachusetts has a different way of earning bars than most jurisdictions, our bars include: Ritual (red) for doing exceptional ritual in at least two offices with significant ritual, Petitions (orange) for bringing in 3 new members, Service (yellow), Loyalty (green) awarded for supporting assembly projects, substituting when needed, attending meetings and rehearsals promptly, staying after meetings and participating in Rainbow activities (usually after three years perfect attendance), Friendliness (blue) for showing outstanding spirit toward other Rainbow girls, welcoming adults and girls to meetings, helping new members become better acquainted at social events as well as at regular meetings, visiting sick members, visiting other assemblies and generally being a true Rainbow sister(usually after two years perfect attendance), Leadership (indigo) for successfully organizing a service project (and already having earned Ritual, Service, Loyalty, Friendliness and Benevolence bars), and Benevolences (violet) for earning $5, through her own efforts, for the assembly.
Here is what a full set of bars looks like in most jurisdictions:

In Massachusetts, not all the bars say "Service" (only the yellow one); but the red one says "Ritual", the orange "Petition", etc.

I am a parent/grandparent/guardian of a girl. If she joins, can I attend meetings?

Yes! Parent, grandparents and legal guardians (step-parents count!) of active or Majority Rainbow Girls may attend meetings, as can members or our Sponsoring bodies and Majority Members.

Have more questions? Confused by our answers? Contact the Mother Advisor at [email protected].