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Demonstrations of ritual
The Board has reviewed the guidance
on demonstrations of ritual approved by the
Grand Lodge in June 2002 and has concluded
that where a Lodge rehearses or demonstrates
its normal ritual (e.g. because it has no
candidate) there is no need for the Lodge
to be called off to enable the demonstration
or rehearsal to take place. It accordingly
hopes that the Grand Lodge will endorse the
revised consolidated statement set out below:
1. The ritual of a recognised Grand Lodge
which works in English may be
demonstrated at a meeting of a Private
Lodge provided that the following
conditions are satisfied:
(a) only Master Masons are present at
the demonstration;
(b) the Lodge has been closed, or is “called off”
for the duration of the demonstration; and
(c) the Lodge room remains fully tyled throughout.
2. The ritual of any Grand Lodge which
works in a language other than English
may not be demonstrated in a Lodge under
the English Jurisdiction, except with the
express permission of the Board. Any such
permission will only be given subject to the
conditions set out above.
3. No demonstration of the ritual of another
Grand Lodge may in any circumstances be
given in a Lodge of Instruction.
4. Paragraphs 1 to 3 apply equally to
reconstructions of historical forms of
Craft ritual.
5. Brethren are reminded that arrangements
for the demonstration of the ritual of another
Grand Lodge should be made through the
Grand Secretary’s Office. (See also the section
headed “Correspondence with Other Grand
Lodges and their Members” in the booklet
Information for the Guidance of Members of
the Craft.)
6. No Lodge of another Constitution may
meet and confer a degree upon a “live”
candidate (as opposed to demonstrating a
conferral) in an English Constitution Lodge;
nor may a dispensation be granted for
an English Constitution Lodge to hold
a meeting or confer a degree within the
territory of another Grand Lodge.
7. Where a Lodge desires to rehearse or
demonstrate its normal ritual at one of its
meetings (e.g. because it has no candidate),
there can be no objection to the presence of
Entered Apprentices or Fellow Crafts who
have already received the degree being
demonstrated, and the Lodge need not
be “called off”.
8. The Ceremony of the Consecration of a
Lodge is of a special nature and may only be
carried out by the Grand Master or by some
other Grand Officer or Master or Past
Master of a Lodge appointed to act for him
(Rule 97, Book of Constitutions). It may
not therefore be demonstrated either in
whole or in part.
9. The extended Inner Working of the
Board of Installed Masters, if worked in
a Lodge, is regulated by the following
resolution passed by Grand Lodge on
1 December 1926:
“Grand Lodge takes note of the
exceptional and traditional circumstances
attaching in certain Lodges to the
ceremonial Opening and Closing in extenso
of a Board of Installed Masters. While it still
deprecates the use of any signs, tokens, or
words unknown to, or unrecognised by, the
majority of English Installed Masters, it
declares, in view of these circumstances,
that, provided that there shall be
incorporated in such ceremony a precise
declaration by the Installing Master to the
Master Elect that the signs, tokens, and
words given in the course of the extended
portion of the working are not essential to
the Installation of a Master, and are not
known to, or to be required from, Installed
Masters generally, and that no further
Degree in Masonry is being conferred,
Lodges are permitted to perform the
ceremony”
The Board considers that that resolution
applies equally to any demonstration of the
extended Inner Working.
Erasures
The Board has received a report that sixteen
Lodges have closed and have surrendered
their Warrants. The Lodges are:
Eshowe Lodge No. 2596 (Natal);
Edward VII Lodge No. 3359 (Durham);
Constitution Lodge No. 3392 (East
Lancashire); Insuranto Lodge No. 3733
(London); Universalis Lodge No. 4163
(Middlesex); Claremont Lodge No. 4572
(East Lancashire); Equity Lodge No. 4589
(East Lancashire); Silver Jubilee Lodge
No. 5531 (Worcestershire); Golden Reef
Lodge No. 2834 (South Africa, North);
Springfield Lodge No. 6722 (East
Lancashire); Menevia Lodge No. 6771
(Middlesex); Old Hulmeians Lodge No.
7062 (East Lancashire); Maney Lodge
No. 7630 (Warwickshire); Edgbaston
Emulation Lodge No. 7779 (Warwickshire);
Weoley Castle Lodge No. 8196
(Worcestershire); Highwood Lodge No.
8282 (London).
Over recent years, the Lodges have
found themselves no longer viable. The
Board is satisfied that further efforts to save
them would be to no avail and therefore
has no alternative but to recommend that
they be erased. A Resolution to this effect
was agreed.
Grand Lodge Accounts for 2003
The President of the Board of General
Purposes presented the Report and
Accounts for the year ended 31 December
2003. He said:
“These show an operating deficit after
tax of £239,000. However, increased costs
during the year in respect of depreciation
on the new computer system and on security
at Freemasons’ Hall were matched by a
reduction in the costs of MQ magazine.
“The improvement in stock markets
during the year has, moreover, resulted in
Total Funds at 31 December 2003 remaining
the same as at the end of the previous
year, notwithstanding the operating deficit
after tax.
“My predecessor as President referred in
his comments on the 2002 Accounts to the
Pension Fund deficit under FRS 17. Whilst
this deficit has been reduced in 2003, an
actuarial valuation was carried out in the
year and accordingly the employer’s
contribution has been temporarily increased
to 25%.”
The Audited Accounts of the Grand
Lodge for the year ended 31 December 2003
were adopted.
Election of Grand Lodge auditors
The re-election of Horwath Clark Whitehill
LLP, as Auditors of the Grand Lodge,
was approved.
Motion pursuant to Notice
Amendments to the Book of Constitutions
The President of the Board of General
Purposes moved:
‘(i) That the following sentence be added
at the end of Rule 105 (a):
“If there be only one nomination and if
no other member duly qualified shall have
indicated to the Secretary that he wishes to
be considered and if no member present calls
for a ballot then it shall be permissible for the
Master to declare the election in favour of
the nominated member.”
(ii) That Rule 112 (a) be amended to read:
“(a) The Treasurer shall be elected by the
members on the regular day of election of
the Master and in the same manner.”’
Amendment to Motion:
The Deputy President of the Board of
General Purposes moved:
“That the words ‘; provided that the
election shall not be so declared unless
notice of the intention so to do and the
identity of the sole Brother nominated shall
have been given on the summons convening
the meeting at which the election is to take
place’ be inserted at the end of the addition
to Rule 105(a) of the Book of Constitutions.
Amendment approved.
New Lodges
List of new Lodges for which Warrants have
been granted by The MW The Grand
Master showing the date from which their
Warrants became effective:
Date of Warrant
No. & Name of Lodge; Location, Area:
12 November 2003
9781 Lux Solis; Saffron Walden, Essex
10 March 2004
9783 Scout; Buckfastleigh, Devonshire
9784 North London Installed Masters;
Southgate, London
9785 Lodge of the East and West;
Handsworth, Warwickshire
9786 King Tefkros; Larnaca, Cyprus
Announcements
The MW The Grand Master has made the
following appointments:
W Bro Ernest Robert Steven, as District
Grand Master for South America, Southern
Division, in succession to RW Bro Angus
Grant, who resigned on 13 November 2003.
Bro Steven was installed on 10 May 2004.
W Bro David Alistair Fok PAGReg, as
District Grand Master for, and Grand
Superintendent in and over Hong Kong and
the Far East, in succession to RW Bro Peter
Wong, who retired on 30 April 2004.
Bro Fok was installed on 26 May 2004.
VW Bro Michael Robin Bailey, PGSwdB,
to be Provincial Grand Master for, and
Grand Superintendent in and over East
Kent, in succession to RW Bro John
Bonomy, who is to retire on 30 June 2004.
Bro Bailey is due to be installed on 28
October 2004.
W Bro Kow Abaka Quansah to be District
Grand Master for, and Grand Superintendent
in and over Ghana, in succession to RW
Bro Benoni Otoo, who is to retire on 30
September 2004.
Continued...
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