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Board of General Purposes
On the retirement of RW Bro Sir John Welch, Bt, PSGW, the Board has lost the services of one of its most experienced members, who first joined the Board in 1979, when he served for a year ex officio as Grand Treasurer.
Bro Welch rejoined the Board in 1985 when he became President of the Grand Charity, and has therefore 20 years’ unbroken service, covering the time both before and after the Board took its present form.
Since 1997 he has served with great distinction as Chairman of the Board’s External Relations Committee. The Board
is most grateful to him not only for his long service, but also for the benefit of his wise counsel and extensive Masonic experience.
Prestonian Lectures
2004: English Speculative Freemasonry: origins, themes and developments. The Lecturer, W Bro A. T. Stewart, has informed the Board that
in addition to the three official deliveries
to Tudor Lodge No. 1792 (Warwickshire), Quatuor Coronati Lodge No. 2076 (London) and Lodge of Light No. 7218 (Sussex).
The Lecture was also delivered on 45 other occasions throughout the Constitution. The Board desires to express its thanks to
Bro Stewart for the considerable time and effort he has spent in this connection.
2005: Women and Freemasonry. The Prestonian Lecturer for 2005 is W Bro G. W. S. Davie, PSGD. Three official Prestonian Lectures for 2005 have been or will be given under the auspices of Connaught Army and Navy Lodge No. 4323 (London), West Kent Installed Masters’ Lodge No. 5778 (West Kent) and Ancient and Loyal Lodge of Installed Masters No. 9762 (West Lancashire).
2006: The Board has submitted a nomination to the Trustees of the Prestonian Fund, and they have appointed W Bro G. S. Angell as Prestonian Lecturer for 2006. The title of his Lecture will be The Victoria Cross – Freemasons’ Band of Brothers.
Arrangements for the delivery of the Lectures to selected Lodges will be considered by the Board in November and applications are now invited from Lodges. Applications should be made to the Grand Secretary, through Metropolitan, Provincial or District Grand Secretaries.
The Board desires to emphasise the importance of these, the only Lectures held under the authority of Grand Lodge. It is, therefore, hoped that applications for the privilege of having one of these official Lectures will be made only by Lodges
which are prepared to afford facilities for
all Freemasons in their area, as well as their own members, to participate and thus ensure an attendance worthy of the occasion.
Amalgamations
The Board has received reports that the following Lodges have resolved to surrender their Warrants:
Corinthian Lodge No. 3767, in order to amalgamate with St John’s Lodge No. 221 (East Lancashire); Marsden Lodge No. 3978, in order to amalgamate with Pennine Valley Lodge No. 6183 (East Lancashire); Priory Lodge No. 6027, in order to amalgamate with Ribbleton Lodge No. 6386 (West Lancashire); Cestr Lodge No. 6970, in order to amalgamate with Leasowe Lodge No. 3761 (Cheshire); Heriots Wood Lodge No. 7765, in order to amalgamate with Windmill Hill Lodge No. 5843 (Middlesex); Badge
of Innocence Lodge No. 8975, in order to amalgamate with Lodge of Mutual Defence No. 6711 (Surrey).
The Board’s recommendation that the Lodges
be removed from the register in order to effect the respective amalgamations was approved.
Erasure of Lodges
The Board has received a report that ten Lodges have closed and have surrendered their Warrants. The Lodges are:
Williamson Lodge No. 949 (Durham); Nottinghamshire Lodge No. 1434 (Nottinghamshire); Cycling and Athletic Lodge No. 2335 (West Lancashire); Rufford Lodge No. 2553 (Nottinghamshire); Britannia Lodge No. 4768 (West Lancashire); Cambrensis Lodge No. 5523 (North Wales); Eastbury Manor Lodge No. 6038 (Essex); Carlton Lodge No. 6685 (Nottinghamshire); Karoi Lodge No. 8193 (Zimbabwe) and Worton Lodge No. 8225 (Middlesex).
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.
Resolution approved.
Grand Charity contributions
The Board’s attention has been drawn to a recent suggestion that it would be permissible for Lodges to use Lodge charitable funds
to make the contribution payable each year
by Lodges to the Grand Charity under the provisions of Rule 271, Book of Constitutions. The obligation to pay the contributions is
that of the Lodge and not of its members,
and the Board considers that the payment should come out of the Lodge’s general funds and not out of its charitable moneys, whether the latter are raised solely from its members
or from charity collections to which non-members may have contributed. It accordingly recommends that all Lodges pay the contribution from their general funds.
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MQ Magazine
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