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The Minutes of the Quarterly Communication
of 14 September 2005 were confirmed.
Nomination of Grand Master
HRH The Duke of Kent was nominated for
re-election as Grand Master for the ensuing year.
Anthony Wilson, President of the Board
of General Purposes, said: “Paragraphs 19
and 20 of the Board’s Report deal with the
electronic communication of summonses.
The Board is aware that an increasing
number of Brethren are finding it
convenient to receive summonses by
email and believes that nothing should
be done to discourage the practice.
“It therefore recommends that a single,
rather than an annual, request to the
secretary should be sufficient. It is, however,
very apparent that individuals change their
email addresses far more often than they
move house and I should therefore stress
that it is incumbent on any Brother who
requests summonses to be sent electronically
to inform the secretary of his Lodge of
any change in his email address.
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“Paragraph 25 of the Report makes
it plain that the exemption of Installed
Masters’ Lodges from the payment of
Grand Lodge dues and Grand Charity
contributions will come into effect only
from 1 January 2006 when the increased
rates will become payable.
“I am in complete agreement with
the Grand Registrar on the desirability
of amending the motion at item 8 of the
Paper of Business for the avoidance of doubt
as to when it comes into effect, and I shall
therefore be seeking leave in a few minutes
to incorporate his amendment into my
own resolution.
“The Board is most anxious to encourage
the recruitment of young members and I
expect to give notice of motion in March
to amend the Book of Constitutions to allow
for a lower rate of dues and registration fees
for Brethren under 25.
“In the meantime it is the Board’s
intention to waive, during 2006, 50%
of the annual dues and registration fee
payable in respect of a Brother who is
under the age of 25 for any part of the
Lodge subscription year in respect of
which dues will fall to be paid.
“In the spirit of this proposal, it is the
Board’s earnest wish that the saving should
be passed on to the members under 25
rather than retained by the treasurer for
the general benefit of the Lodge.
“I should, however, make it plain that
relief will extend only to the first Lodge of
which such a Brother is a member and he
will have to pay the full amount of dues if
he chooses to join a second or third Lodge.
“I should, however, add that the Board
also intends to give some consideration to
the possibility of mitigating the rate of dues
paid by Brethren in respect of second and
subsequent Lodges – other than Installed
Masters’ Lodges – although it is far too
early at this stage to make any commitment
to such a change.”
Annual Investiture of Grand Officers
(26 April 2006)
So that sufficient accommodation can
be reserved for those Brethren who are
to be invested and their friends, admission
to the Annual Investiture is by ticket only.
Brethren to be invested for the first time
may invite to be present with them three
qualified Brethren and those to be
promoted, two qualified Brethren.
Allowance having been made for such
an issue and for those whose presence in
the Grand Lodge is essential, a few seats
will remain. Written application for these
seats may be made to the Grand Secretary
between 1 March and 31 March by Brethren
qualified to attend the Grand Lodge:
(a) Past Grand Officers;*
(b) Masters;
(c) Wardens (not Past Wardens);
(d) Past Masters qualified under Rule 9, Book of Constitutions.
Applications should state clearly the name,
address and Lodge of the Brother concerned
and under which of the four categories
mentioned his application is made. If
necessary, a ballot for the allocation of
seats will be held on 3 April, and tickets
will be posted to successful Brethren on
approximately 6 April. Brethren who have
been unsuccessful will be so informed.
Possession of a ticket will not, of itself,
ensure admission – Brethren who are not
Grand Officers will be required to hand their
tickets to the Scrutineers before examination
by them in accordance with the usual practice
at Quarterly Communications.
Past Grand Officers should sign the
Attendance Books in the Past Grand
Officers’ Room, and give up their tickets
before being admitted to the Grand Temple.
Grand Officers taking part in the procession
will sign in the Grand Officers’ Room.
*Metropolitan and Provincial Grand
Masters, all other Present Grand Officers,
including Grand Stewards, Deputy
Metropolitan and Provincial Grand Masters,
Metropolitan Group Chairmen and
Assistant Provincial Grand Masters should
not apply in this way as they will be invited
specifically by letter about a month before
the day of Investiture and asked to indicate
on a reply slip whether they intend to be
present. Similar arrangements are made for
District Grand Masters who are known to
intend to be in the UK on 26 April and this
can be extended to others, if they write
indicating their wish to attend.
Masonic Year Book
The next edition of the Masonic Year Book,
2006–2007 will be available next summer.
The charge remains at £10 per copy, plus
postage and packing where appropriate, and
books may be ordered on forms distributed
with the Paper of Business.
It is proposed to produce a new edition
of the Directory of Lodges and Chapters during
2006 at a charge of £10 per copy. Copies
of the current edition are still available
and may be ordered in the meantime in
the same way.
Every Lodge will receive one copy of the
Masonic Year Book and the updated Directory
free of charge. The Board emphasises that
both copies should be available to all the
members of private Lodges and not regarded
as for the exclusive use of the secretary to
whom, for administrative reasons, they
are dispatched.
Metropolitan and Provincial Lodges:
As in previous years copies will be
dispatched direct to Secretaries of Lodges.
Lodges abroad: Sufficient copies will be
dispatched to District Grand Secretaries
for distribution to Lodges in the Districts.
Lodges abroad not in a District will receive
their copies direct.
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Copyright 2002-2007
MQ Magazine
Web site created by Mark Griffin
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