The Provincial Grand Master's Address at PGL 1st June 2017
Brethren, whilst I have already, formally, welcomed our guests I should like to begin by reiterating those thanks to the Deputy Grand Master in particular, to all those who have traveled from other Provinces and to our other official guests and Heads of Orders. The presence of those guests, in my view, always adds such a lot to this meeting and highlights the fraternal friendship of this, our wonderful order. By introducing you to the Deputy Grand Master, who is, of course, the Pro Grand Master Designate; to R.W. Bro. Davison, the Asst. Grand Master Designate and to W.Bro. Ryan Williams, the Grand Secretary Designate, you will now be able to put faces to names when you toast their health or, in Ryan’s case, receive a signed certificate or dispensation and the like.
Apart from the administrative functions necessary at each annual meeting, the main reason we are here today is to appoint and promote Provincial Officers, a task I and other PGMs take great satisfaction from. I therefore sincerely congratulate those I have appointed and promoted this afternoon. I am sure I can rely on your continued support at Provincial and Lodge level. Whilst appointments and promotions are for past services, your presence and contributions to the future are crucial to maintain not only this vibrant Province but also your own lodges within it.
If you are an active officer I look forward to your company on my official visits around the province and I am confident you will enjoy the warmth of welcome and hospitality of we visit as has been demonstrated in previous years. The official visits are a wonderful occasion and I know you will enjoy visiting centers you may not have been to before and more importantly you will meet new friends and renew old acquaintances.
I also thank those Active Provincial Officers who have stood down today for their marvelous, generous and first class support over the past year. I have thoroughly enjoyed your company, thank you.
I should like to take this opportunity to formally thank my Deputy Provincial Grand Master and both my Assistant Provincial Grand Masters for their support, help and assistance throughout the year. The DPGM, W.Bro. Richard Bowyer, has continued with the Mark Awareness Evenings and has once again demonstrated their success. As a direct result of these evenings, in addition to your own candidates, these events have introduced another 27 members.
Both the APGMs have also been involved in numerous projects throughout the year and their support has certainly made my job much easier, for which I thank them.
Brethren, I am pleased to inform you that at the annual investiture meeting of Grand Lodge to be held in a few days’ time, The Most Worshipful Grand Master will make appointments to and promotions within Grand Lodge as follows:
Appointed to Active Grand Rank:
W.Bro. Bob Neale Assistant Grand Director of Ceremonies
W.Bro. Chris Smith Grand Steward.
First Appointments:
W.Bro. Maurice Court Past Asst. G. Director of Ceremonies
W.Bro. John Stannard Past Asst. G. Director of Ceremonies
W.Bro. Emlyn Carter Past G. Standard Bearer
W.Bro. Paul Firmin Past Asst. G. Standard Bearer
To be promoted are:
W.Bro. Richard Bowyer Past Grand Junior Overseer
W.Bro. Roy Luckett Past Grand Junior Overseer
Both now entitled to be designated Very Worshipful.
W.Bro. Terry Birdseye Past Grand Junior Deacon
W.Bro. James Field Past Grand Junior Deacon
W.Bro. Clive Mansfield Past Grand Junior Deacon
They have mine and, I’m sure, your heartiest congratulations.
Moving on to more specific Provincial matters, I stated two years ago that my main objectives were to be the recruitment and retention of members. I reported last year on the early success of the new Combined Stewards Lodge and I am pleased to report that the Lodge continues to grow and at the last meeting there were nearly 60 members and guests. Please remember if you, or anyone else you know, are or have been a Steward or equivalent in any Order then you are eligible to join or be Advanced so please contact the Secretary, W. Bro. Chris Hicks.
I also reported on the loss of the Fillebrooke Lodge, but can now inform you that we have successfully asked for the Warrant to be reinstated and the first meeting of the “new” Fillebrook Fine Dining Lodge takes place at Mark Masons Hall on the 23rd of this Month. Whilst we have a nucleus of joining members there is still space for a few more; should you wish to join please let my Provincial Secretary, W. Bro. John Stannard know. Should you be interested in attending with a view to potentially joining, or just to attend as a guest, you are, again, most welcome and should contact John Stannard as well. Further details of the initiative are to be found on our website.
Another struggling Lodge, Naze Tower, informed me some months back of their intention to surrender their warrant due to lack of members. I am pleased to say today that because of the hard work and persistence of those remaining members they have found 5 new candidates and 4 joining members, this is a marvelous success and I thank the members for their hard work in keeping the Lodge open.
Furthermore, I am pleased to say that the Ritual Support Team continues to support Lodges by fulfilling roles and offices that, for whatever reason, they may find they are not able to fill or confidently perform. Please remember to call on the team whenever necessary. I’m sure you will all agree with me that if a new candidate gets the best possible ceremony, it is the key to his long association with us.
On a related note, whilst I am aware that the Ritual Team has helped lodges on many occasions, I am also aware that one particular member of the team has traveled to the four corners of this Province and has probably filled every office in both the Mark and the Ram Degrees, and on several occasions has carried out more than one piece of ritual in both degrees on the same evening. This particular member of the team is always ready to help at short notice anywhere in the Province and travels and dines at his own expense. Brethren whilst I do not intend doing this every year, I am of the opinion that the contribution of this particular individual is worthy of special thanks. That person is W. Bro. Len Abrahams. Bro. Provincial Director of Ceremonies please present W. Bro. Len to me. (The PGM proceeded to present an unusually lost for words Len Abrahams with an engraved cut glass bowl in recognition of his efforts)
Looking ahead to next year I confirm that we will continue with the Cluster Meetings introduced, particularly, in the north of the Province to continue to give some balance to the venue for Provincial Events. To that end I can announce the next meeting will be hosted by Constantine Lodge at Colchester on Tuesday 21st November.
Constantine Lodge, owing to a historical quirk around the formation of our Province, is actually older than the Province itself and prides itself on being slightly different. If you have never seen a Constantine closing I heartily recommend you attend the Cluster Meeting. Further details, including the agenda, will be circulated nearer the time.
Continuing on the theme of recruitment and retention I can advise you of the two new leaflets that have been produced with the help of W. Bro. Pierre Waddoups. The first is an idea borrowed from the Royal Arch in Essex, and consists of a short explanation to be read to the candidate just before entering the lodge on each occasion. The first few paragraphs set the scene and informs the candidate about becoming a Mark Man. The other few paragraphs should be read to him prior to returning into the lodge after preparing work in the quarries, and outlines the rewards he may enjoy.
I am confident that these will not give any secrets away and these short explanations will assist the Advancee to understand the Ceremony more fully and add to his enjoyment.
The second pamphlet is an introduction to The Mark and can be given to potential recruits at awareness evenings or whenever you as a Lodge or as an individual are seeking to recruit new members. Packs of pamphlets are available outside for all Lodge Secretaries and can be collected after the meeting. We are also in the process of developing a welcome pack for new members; I will of course give you more detail once finalised.
Brethren, I am also aware from the Lodge Summons I receive that there are occasions when a Lodge will open and close without carrying out any ritual. I am also aware that if this happens on too many occasions interest and membership can start to diminish. In order to assist those few Lodges who find themselves in this situation W. Bro. John Finlay has been working behind the scenes and has now produced a database of talks, presentations and other items of interest that a lodge may want to utilize when they have no work of their own. This list also includes details of the other Masonic Orders in Essex who are willing to give talks in your Lodges. This information is published on the website, along with contact details, in the member’s only section. I commend them to you and encourage you to consider this as an option in your meetings to assist in the retention of its members.
The sales of preowned regalia available on our website shop continue to be a success so please continue to use it and to inform new members of its existence. Also be aware that there is regalia available for a number of other orders including the Craft and Royal Arch. Regalia sales this past year achieved in excess of £1500 for the Provincial Welfare Fund. As well as paying by cheque you can also buy regalia straight from the website using a paypal account or credit/debit card.
Last year I had the pleasure to introduce to you the grandfather of our Province, 97 yr old W.Bro. Wally Stevens; I am pleased to say he is with us once again today and who has been a Mark Mason for 65 years, having being advanced in 1952, he is accompanied by six other members of the Province who between them have over 370 yrs loyal service to the Mark Degree between them.
So, as it seems we may well have the retention bit right now, what about recruitment? Brethren, I should like to introduce to you one of our newest and, more importantly, the youngest member of the Province, 21 yr old Bro. Rowan Perrior of Wyven Lodge who was advanced about 4 weeks ago; Rowan, welcome to the Mark Degree and thank you for joining us today.
With this broad membership profile I think we can be assured that Freemasonry as a whole and the Mark Degree in particular will continue to flourish in this Province.
Along with all these initiatives and the ongoing work we are developing an ancient degree reenactment team, I know has taken longer than had been hoped.
I believe we have laid the foundations of the retention and recruitment strategy, which appears to be starting to work. In the years 2011 to 2016 our membership dropped by approximately 10%, whilst this is a small percentage loss compared to the percentage loss of Freemasonry in the country as a whole, it is still not what we would want. I am, however, pleased to say that our membership numbers are increasing again and are now back to where they were two years ago, which is again bucking the national trend. I know this is a small increase but as they say “from acorns grow mighty oaks”. The next phase of my strategy is to develop our communications and use of social media and I, and my team, will keep you informed as this progresses.
Brethren, I should now like to turn to the subject of charity. Firstly I sincerely thank all those individuals and Lodges who donated towards the MBF Charity Walk that took place a few weeks ago. The response was quite brilliant, not only from this Province but from across the country as a whole. I of course also thank the team of “highly trained elite athletes” who walked and creaked on our behalf. As you know, Brethren, I really wanted to take part myself but, sadly, had fortuitously already booked in to attend the Provincial Meeting in Somerset.
I can also report that the Province will continue to support the local charity SAFE (Supporting Asperger’s Families in Essex) whose volunteers do a wonderful job in providing recreation facilities and outings for sufferers, and their families, in a safe and supervised environment. Your donations continue to help those in need in our Province and beyond and you should all be very proud of what your charitable donations achieve.
Brethren we are of course aware of our Craft Province Festival in 2022 and of some of the events leading up to the Festival Year. We are all Craft Masons as well so it is only right that we, as a Mark Province, should also show our support to the Craft whenever we can, I should, therefore, like to make a presentation on behalf of the Installed Mark Masters Lodge and the Province as a whole to our Craft Provincial Grand Master. Brother Provincial Grand Director of Ceremonies, please present W.Bro. Rodney Bass to me (nb. This reflects his Mark Rank). W.Bro. Rodney, the Mark Province will continue to support you in all you do as our Craft PGM, so please accept this as our first of five donations to the Craft Festival (the sum was £3,000).
Brethren, meetings of a Provincial Grand Lodge take a tremendous amount of planning and I should therefore like to express my personal thanks to the Provincial Secretariat and Ceremonial Teams for the enormous amount of time and effort they have given to ensuring that our meeting today has run so smoothly. I should also like to thank the Combined Stewards Lodge and all the other helpers for giving up their time to ensure all the lodge furniture arrived; parking was organized, and the temple and festive board made ready.
I trust you have or will take the time to visit the displays set up for you today and would like to thank the Heads of the other Orders for supporting me in providing the displays and other information for you. This is your day, brethren, it’s an occasion to celebrate appointments and promotions and also an occasion to celebrate our Order in general and to promote the fraternal friendship we all enjoy. To my mind the co-operation we receive from the other orders in Essex truly highlights the full extent of that fraternal friendship.
To this end I should like to make one more rather unusual presentation. If you have seen the film “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” you will recall at the start of the film the main characters have a recurring dream about a mountain which they draw or make into models etc. now, whilst I haven’t been up all night reshaping mashed potato, I have had two recurring images in my mind for some time and thought the only way to purge them was to do something about it.
The images I have had relate to some extent to the Holy Royal Arch; those of us in Essex will have seen banners around the Province explaining that the Holy Royal Arch is the “fourth interdependent step in masonry”. We, however, know that the Mark Degree is the fourth regular step; a slight difference and play on words. Some of you will also know that during my visits to my Lodges and, without being disrespectful to our Grand Superintendent, there has been the odd quip or two about that “fourth step”.
We are, of course, also aware that having joined Chapter and The Mark, other progressive and selective orders become available and it is this dilemma that occupied my thoughts. So, brethren, I have had two additional banners made for our Grand Superintendent to consider.
The first is called "the road to enlightenment" and shows a Mason taking his first steps in Freemasonry and, hopefully, demonstrates the different courses he can take on the way. It also indicates the links to and from other Orders and, in particular, the benefits of joining Chapter and Mark.
The second banner specifically refers to the Holy Royal Arch and is meant to demonstrate the benefits of joining the Royal Arch and The Mark and how they can lead to membership of other Orders.
Brethren in case you are wondering why I would promote or talk about the Royal Arch here today, it’s quite simple. I am a strong believer that by encouraging our brethren and friends who are only Craft Masons to join other orders, it cements the fraternal family we enjoy so much in this Province and, in my humble view, means they are more likely to remain in Freemasonry and, over time, to join Mark Masonry.
A second reason is based on my belief that once a brother is encouraged to join the Royal Arch via the provincial recruitment drives he may then start to look around or speak to colleagues in other Orders, this can lead to conversations about orders that require Mark membership first and this, again, would, of course, be to our advantage.
I do not believe we are in competition with the Royal Arch or any of the other progressive or selective orders. In Essex we are supportive of each other and it is in all our interests to ensure we offer an exciting and interesting diversity for those who are ready to take that next step in their masonic career, be it sooner or later.
Brethren before I finish could please take this opportunity to give you a couple of parish notices.
Firstly our annual golf day takes place on the 14th of July at the Stockbrook Manor, if you would like to join us for golf or just the evening events please see the organiser W.Bro. Richard Goodwin or refer to the provincial website.
Secondly, you will all have heard of the Provincial Charity Auction that is taking place at Saxon Hall, Southend on the 11th of November. Please try and support this day, we have some wonderful auction items for you to bid on, including two tickets for the Royal Variety Show at the London Palladium with limousine pick up and drop off; a Mercedes Smart Car and numerous other items of interest and value, all proceeds will go the Provincial Welfare and Benevolent Funds. Programmes are available to purchase today in the foyer by the dining room, they cost £5 each and that includes an entry into the prize draw and a buffet lunch.
The Provincial Officers Mess will be held in the Jubilee Suite at Saxon Hall on Friday the 24th November and presided over by our newly invested Provincial Grand Junior Warden, W. Bro. Pierre Waddoups, so please put the date in your dairy and come and support him and the Province.
Brethren when I took office you will recall me saying it was my intention to give as many members of the Province opportunities to fill Provincial Offices and, in fairness; I replaced most of the Provincial Officers at that time. I still believe in that concept, and today can announce that, whilst I have reappointed both of my APGMs today, I have asked them both to stand down on the 1st September this year. Both have given me 100% support and I could not have asked for more. Their loyalty and hard work has been second to none and they have not only represented me around the Province but also on behalf of the Province around the country on numerous occasions. Both have agreed with some reluctance and heavy hearts to accede to my request.
That leads me to those who will take on the role for the future. Both of those I intend to appoint to APGM have given long, continued support and service to this Province as well as the Order in general and deserve to be rewarded with these promotions.
It is my intention to appoint V.W. Bro. Tony Latham and W. Bro. Mark Reeve to those positions and will invest them at the meeting of the Installed Mark Masters meeting on the 14th September. Please make your very best efforts to attend and support them. As a consequence of those appointments I will also be making some other changes at that meeting.
Finally, brethren, I thank you for your careful attention in listening to me and look forward to your continued support for our wonderful Province and Order and, in return, I look forward to being with you during my visits throughout the year, may the Great Overseer bless you all.
Apart from the administrative functions necessary at each annual meeting, the main reason we are here today is to appoint and promote Provincial Officers, a task I and other PGMs take great satisfaction from. I therefore sincerely congratulate those I have appointed and promoted this afternoon. I am sure I can rely on your continued support at Provincial and Lodge level. Whilst appointments and promotions are for past services, your presence and contributions to the future are crucial to maintain not only this vibrant Province but also your own lodges within it.
If you are an active officer I look forward to your company on my official visits around the province and I am confident you will enjoy the warmth of welcome and hospitality of we visit as has been demonstrated in previous years. The official visits are a wonderful occasion and I know you will enjoy visiting centers you may not have been to before and more importantly you will meet new friends and renew old acquaintances.
I also thank those Active Provincial Officers who have stood down today for their marvelous, generous and first class support over the past year. I have thoroughly enjoyed your company, thank you.
I should like to take this opportunity to formally thank my Deputy Provincial Grand Master and both my Assistant Provincial Grand Masters for their support, help and assistance throughout the year. The DPGM, W.Bro. Richard Bowyer, has continued with the Mark Awareness Evenings and has once again demonstrated their success. As a direct result of these evenings, in addition to your own candidates, these events have introduced another 27 members.
Both the APGMs have also been involved in numerous projects throughout the year and their support has certainly made my job much easier, for which I thank them.
Brethren, I am pleased to inform you that at the annual investiture meeting of Grand Lodge to be held in a few days’ time, The Most Worshipful Grand Master will make appointments to and promotions within Grand Lodge as follows:
Appointed to Active Grand Rank:
W.Bro. Bob Neale Assistant Grand Director of Ceremonies
W.Bro. Chris Smith Grand Steward.
First Appointments:
W.Bro. Maurice Court Past Asst. G. Director of Ceremonies
W.Bro. John Stannard Past Asst. G. Director of Ceremonies
W.Bro. Emlyn Carter Past G. Standard Bearer
W.Bro. Paul Firmin Past Asst. G. Standard Bearer
To be promoted are:
W.Bro. Richard Bowyer Past Grand Junior Overseer
W.Bro. Roy Luckett Past Grand Junior Overseer
Both now entitled to be designated Very Worshipful.
W.Bro. Terry Birdseye Past Grand Junior Deacon
W.Bro. James Field Past Grand Junior Deacon
W.Bro. Clive Mansfield Past Grand Junior Deacon
They have mine and, I’m sure, your heartiest congratulations.
Moving on to more specific Provincial matters, I stated two years ago that my main objectives were to be the recruitment and retention of members. I reported last year on the early success of the new Combined Stewards Lodge and I am pleased to report that the Lodge continues to grow and at the last meeting there were nearly 60 members and guests. Please remember if you, or anyone else you know, are or have been a Steward or equivalent in any Order then you are eligible to join or be Advanced so please contact the Secretary, W. Bro. Chris Hicks.
I also reported on the loss of the Fillebrooke Lodge, but can now inform you that we have successfully asked for the Warrant to be reinstated and the first meeting of the “new” Fillebrook Fine Dining Lodge takes place at Mark Masons Hall on the 23rd of this Month. Whilst we have a nucleus of joining members there is still space for a few more; should you wish to join please let my Provincial Secretary, W. Bro. John Stannard know. Should you be interested in attending with a view to potentially joining, or just to attend as a guest, you are, again, most welcome and should contact John Stannard as well. Further details of the initiative are to be found on our website.
Another struggling Lodge, Naze Tower, informed me some months back of their intention to surrender their warrant due to lack of members. I am pleased to say today that because of the hard work and persistence of those remaining members they have found 5 new candidates and 4 joining members, this is a marvelous success and I thank the members for their hard work in keeping the Lodge open.
Furthermore, I am pleased to say that the Ritual Support Team continues to support Lodges by fulfilling roles and offices that, for whatever reason, they may find they are not able to fill or confidently perform. Please remember to call on the team whenever necessary. I’m sure you will all agree with me that if a new candidate gets the best possible ceremony, it is the key to his long association with us.
On a related note, whilst I am aware that the Ritual Team has helped lodges on many occasions, I am also aware that one particular member of the team has traveled to the four corners of this Province and has probably filled every office in both the Mark and the Ram Degrees, and on several occasions has carried out more than one piece of ritual in both degrees on the same evening. This particular member of the team is always ready to help at short notice anywhere in the Province and travels and dines at his own expense. Brethren whilst I do not intend doing this every year, I am of the opinion that the contribution of this particular individual is worthy of special thanks. That person is W. Bro. Len Abrahams. Bro. Provincial Director of Ceremonies please present W. Bro. Len to me. (The PGM proceeded to present an unusually lost for words Len Abrahams with an engraved cut glass bowl in recognition of his efforts)
Looking ahead to next year I confirm that we will continue with the Cluster Meetings introduced, particularly, in the north of the Province to continue to give some balance to the venue for Provincial Events. To that end I can announce the next meeting will be hosted by Constantine Lodge at Colchester on Tuesday 21st November.
Constantine Lodge, owing to a historical quirk around the formation of our Province, is actually older than the Province itself and prides itself on being slightly different. If you have never seen a Constantine closing I heartily recommend you attend the Cluster Meeting. Further details, including the agenda, will be circulated nearer the time.
Continuing on the theme of recruitment and retention I can advise you of the two new leaflets that have been produced with the help of W. Bro. Pierre Waddoups. The first is an idea borrowed from the Royal Arch in Essex, and consists of a short explanation to be read to the candidate just before entering the lodge on each occasion. The first few paragraphs set the scene and informs the candidate about becoming a Mark Man. The other few paragraphs should be read to him prior to returning into the lodge after preparing work in the quarries, and outlines the rewards he may enjoy.
I am confident that these will not give any secrets away and these short explanations will assist the Advancee to understand the Ceremony more fully and add to his enjoyment.
The second pamphlet is an introduction to The Mark and can be given to potential recruits at awareness evenings or whenever you as a Lodge or as an individual are seeking to recruit new members. Packs of pamphlets are available outside for all Lodge Secretaries and can be collected after the meeting. We are also in the process of developing a welcome pack for new members; I will of course give you more detail once finalised.
Brethren, I am also aware from the Lodge Summons I receive that there are occasions when a Lodge will open and close without carrying out any ritual. I am also aware that if this happens on too many occasions interest and membership can start to diminish. In order to assist those few Lodges who find themselves in this situation W. Bro. John Finlay has been working behind the scenes and has now produced a database of talks, presentations and other items of interest that a lodge may want to utilize when they have no work of their own. This list also includes details of the other Masonic Orders in Essex who are willing to give talks in your Lodges. This information is published on the website, along with contact details, in the member’s only section. I commend them to you and encourage you to consider this as an option in your meetings to assist in the retention of its members.
The sales of preowned regalia available on our website shop continue to be a success so please continue to use it and to inform new members of its existence. Also be aware that there is regalia available for a number of other orders including the Craft and Royal Arch. Regalia sales this past year achieved in excess of £1500 for the Provincial Welfare Fund. As well as paying by cheque you can also buy regalia straight from the website using a paypal account or credit/debit card.
Last year I had the pleasure to introduce to you the grandfather of our Province, 97 yr old W.Bro. Wally Stevens; I am pleased to say he is with us once again today and who has been a Mark Mason for 65 years, having being advanced in 1952, he is accompanied by six other members of the Province who between them have over 370 yrs loyal service to the Mark Degree between them.
So, as it seems we may well have the retention bit right now, what about recruitment? Brethren, I should like to introduce to you one of our newest and, more importantly, the youngest member of the Province, 21 yr old Bro. Rowan Perrior of Wyven Lodge who was advanced about 4 weeks ago; Rowan, welcome to the Mark Degree and thank you for joining us today.
With this broad membership profile I think we can be assured that Freemasonry as a whole and the Mark Degree in particular will continue to flourish in this Province.
Along with all these initiatives and the ongoing work we are developing an ancient degree reenactment team, I know has taken longer than had been hoped.
I believe we have laid the foundations of the retention and recruitment strategy, which appears to be starting to work. In the years 2011 to 2016 our membership dropped by approximately 10%, whilst this is a small percentage loss compared to the percentage loss of Freemasonry in the country as a whole, it is still not what we would want. I am, however, pleased to say that our membership numbers are increasing again and are now back to where they were two years ago, which is again bucking the national trend. I know this is a small increase but as they say “from acorns grow mighty oaks”. The next phase of my strategy is to develop our communications and use of social media and I, and my team, will keep you informed as this progresses.
Brethren, I should now like to turn to the subject of charity. Firstly I sincerely thank all those individuals and Lodges who donated towards the MBF Charity Walk that took place a few weeks ago. The response was quite brilliant, not only from this Province but from across the country as a whole. I of course also thank the team of “highly trained elite athletes” who walked and creaked on our behalf. As you know, Brethren, I really wanted to take part myself but, sadly, had fortuitously already booked in to attend the Provincial Meeting in Somerset.
I can also report that the Province will continue to support the local charity SAFE (Supporting Asperger’s Families in Essex) whose volunteers do a wonderful job in providing recreation facilities and outings for sufferers, and their families, in a safe and supervised environment. Your donations continue to help those in need in our Province and beyond and you should all be very proud of what your charitable donations achieve.
Brethren we are of course aware of our Craft Province Festival in 2022 and of some of the events leading up to the Festival Year. We are all Craft Masons as well so it is only right that we, as a Mark Province, should also show our support to the Craft whenever we can, I should, therefore, like to make a presentation on behalf of the Installed Mark Masters Lodge and the Province as a whole to our Craft Provincial Grand Master. Brother Provincial Grand Director of Ceremonies, please present W.Bro. Rodney Bass to me (nb. This reflects his Mark Rank). W.Bro. Rodney, the Mark Province will continue to support you in all you do as our Craft PGM, so please accept this as our first of five donations to the Craft Festival (the sum was £3,000).
Brethren, meetings of a Provincial Grand Lodge take a tremendous amount of planning and I should therefore like to express my personal thanks to the Provincial Secretariat and Ceremonial Teams for the enormous amount of time and effort they have given to ensuring that our meeting today has run so smoothly. I should also like to thank the Combined Stewards Lodge and all the other helpers for giving up their time to ensure all the lodge furniture arrived; parking was organized, and the temple and festive board made ready.
I trust you have or will take the time to visit the displays set up for you today and would like to thank the Heads of the other Orders for supporting me in providing the displays and other information for you. This is your day, brethren, it’s an occasion to celebrate appointments and promotions and also an occasion to celebrate our Order in general and to promote the fraternal friendship we all enjoy. To my mind the co-operation we receive from the other orders in Essex truly highlights the full extent of that fraternal friendship.
To this end I should like to make one more rather unusual presentation. If you have seen the film “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” you will recall at the start of the film the main characters have a recurring dream about a mountain which they draw or make into models etc. now, whilst I haven’t been up all night reshaping mashed potato, I have had two recurring images in my mind for some time and thought the only way to purge them was to do something about it.
The images I have had relate to some extent to the Holy Royal Arch; those of us in Essex will have seen banners around the Province explaining that the Holy Royal Arch is the “fourth interdependent step in masonry”. We, however, know that the Mark Degree is the fourth regular step; a slight difference and play on words. Some of you will also know that during my visits to my Lodges and, without being disrespectful to our Grand Superintendent, there has been the odd quip or two about that “fourth step”.
We are, of course, also aware that having joined Chapter and The Mark, other progressive and selective orders become available and it is this dilemma that occupied my thoughts. So, brethren, I have had two additional banners made for our Grand Superintendent to consider.
The first is called "the road to enlightenment" and shows a Mason taking his first steps in Freemasonry and, hopefully, demonstrates the different courses he can take on the way. It also indicates the links to and from other Orders and, in particular, the benefits of joining Chapter and Mark.
The second banner specifically refers to the Holy Royal Arch and is meant to demonstrate the benefits of joining the Royal Arch and The Mark and how they can lead to membership of other Orders.
Brethren in case you are wondering why I would promote or talk about the Royal Arch here today, it’s quite simple. I am a strong believer that by encouraging our brethren and friends who are only Craft Masons to join other orders, it cements the fraternal family we enjoy so much in this Province and, in my humble view, means they are more likely to remain in Freemasonry and, over time, to join Mark Masonry.
A second reason is based on my belief that once a brother is encouraged to join the Royal Arch via the provincial recruitment drives he may then start to look around or speak to colleagues in other Orders, this can lead to conversations about orders that require Mark membership first and this, again, would, of course, be to our advantage.
I do not believe we are in competition with the Royal Arch or any of the other progressive or selective orders. In Essex we are supportive of each other and it is in all our interests to ensure we offer an exciting and interesting diversity for those who are ready to take that next step in their masonic career, be it sooner or later.
Brethren before I finish could please take this opportunity to give you a couple of parish notices.
Firstly our annual golf day takes place on the 14th of July at the Stockbrook Manor, if you would like to join us for golf or just the evening events please see the organiser W.Bro. Richard Goodwin or refer to the provincial website.
Secondly, you will all have heard of the Provincial Charity Auction that is taking place at Saxon Hall, Southend on the 11th of November. Please try and support this day, we have some wonderful auction items for you to bid on, including two tickets for the Royal Variety Show at the London Palladium with limousine pick up and drop off; a Mercedes Smart Car and numerous other items of interest and value, all proceeds will go the Provincial Welfare and Benevolent Funds. Programmes are available to purchase today in the foyer by the dining room, they cost £5 each and that includes an entry into the prize draw and a buffet lunch.
The Provincial Officers Mess will be held in the Jubilee Suite at Saxon Hall on Friday the 24th November and presided over by our newly invested Provincial Grand Junior Warden, W. Bro. Pierre Waddoups, so please put the date in your dairy and come and support him and the Province.
Brethren when I took office you will recall me saying it was my intention to give as many members of the Province opportunities to fill Provincial Offices and, in fairness; I replaced most of the Provincial Officers at that time. I still believe in that concept, and today can announce that, whilst I have reappointed both of my APGMs today, I have asked them both to stand down on the 1st September this year. Both have given me 100% support and I could not have asked for more. Their loyalty and hard work has been second to none and they have not only represented me around the Province but also on behalf of the Province around the country on numerous occasions. Both have agreed with some reluctance and heavy hearts to accede to my request.
That leads me to those who will take on the role for the future. Both of those I intend to appoint to APGM have given long, continued support and service to this Province as well as the Order in general and deserve to be rewarded with these promotions.
It is my intention to appoint V.W. Bro. Tony Latham and W. Bro. Mark Reeve to those positions and will invest them at the meeting of the Installed Mark Masters meeting on the 14th September. Please make your very best efforts to attend and support them. As a consequence of those appointments I will also be making some other changes at that meeting.
Finally, brethren, I thank you for your careful attention in listening to me and look forward to your continued support for our wonderful Province and Order and, in return, I look forward to being with you during my visits throughout the year, may the Great Overseer bless you all.
