Associate membership can be strictly a correspondence matter, with no physical presence required. Otherwise, associate members have the opportunity to correspond with other O.T.O. members in the U.S.A. and other countries, by mail or electronically. Ecclesia Gnostica Catholica also offers lay membership, which is conferred through the ceremonies of baptism and confirmation. Lay membership confers no special privileges, and is not, at this time, a matter of formal record. Initiate membership can be conferred only in a physical ceremony by a properly chartered initiator.
Initiate membership is subdivided by degree.
A First Degree initiate may retire from active participation in O.T.O., but the spiritual link forged between the initiate and the Order during the ceremony of the First Degree will remain throughout the initiate's life. An initiate of the Second Degree is eligible for ordination as a deacon of Ecclesia Gnostica Catholica. Beyond the degree of P I , advancement is by invitation only. Episcopal consecration in Ecclesia Gnostica Catholica is conferred as part of the Seventh Degree. I Degrees is usually a matter of years.