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Companions, I am very glad to see so many
of you here today to witness the installation
of ME Companion George Francis as
Second Grand Principal. On behalf of us all
I wish him a long and happy tenure in office.
I cannot let this occasion pass without
expressing our warmest thanks to ME
Companion Iain Bryce who has retired
today as Second Grand Principal.
Companion Bryce has held that office
since 1991 and prior to that had been
Grand Superintendent in and over North
& East Yorkshire for seven years. He has
been a faithful servant of the Royal Arch
for many years and we are most grateful to
him for all his hard work during that time.
Companions, the Royal Arch
membership statistics for the year to 31st
December 2004 revealed that the pattern of
gradually shrinking membership in England
and Wales had continued. The number
of members fell by about 2% to 99,000,
but more worrying was a 3% reduction in
the number of exaltees, even though the
number of resignations fell at a faster rate.
I sense that the changes to the ritual,
which were adopted last year, have started a
revival of interest in the Royal Arch and the
lessons that it teaches us, especially among
those younger brethren and companions
who are looking for a meaningful spiritual
foundation to their lives in an increasingly
secular world.
The ability to share the ritual to a much
greater extent than previously and the easier
language of the re-written lectures is
enabling busy professional men to learn
relatively small amounts of ritual more
readily and is encouraging a greater degree
of participation in our ceremonies from
previously passive companions.
In the initial months of the new ritual,
anecdotal evidence suggests that the
majority of Chapters, in some Provinces
as many as 75%, are evolving into using
the new permissive lectures, as junior
companions progress through the offices.
Moreover, nearly 37% of our Craft
Masons in England and Wales are members
of the Royal Arch, a proportion that has
remained fairly constant in recent years.
Conversely, we must remember that about
two-thirds of our Craft brethren are not
members of the Royal Arch, which at least
suggests a large pool of potential candidates.
The updated ritual provides an
opportunity to involve more members in
the work of the Chapter. It has also made
the spiritual message of man’s relationship
with God easier to understand. This
provides all of us with a wonderful
opportunity to “sell” the revitalised Royal
Arch to potential candidates as an essential
part of their Masonic journey, and we shall
not be ashamed or reluctant to look upon
our duty to support the Order in modern
marketing terms.
We cannot continue to assume that the
benefits of the Order will become apparent
automatically, but must make positive efforts
to get the message across that the Royal
Arch has a compelling significance to all
Masons – as well as being a very fine and
intriguing story.
In a recent development that I consider
valuable, the Committee of General
Purposes has recommended that, with effect
from this meeting, all members of the Royal
Arch will be entitled to attend meetings of
Supreme Grand Chapter. I welcome this
as a positive step to encourage our newer
companions who have not yet reached
the Principals’ Chairs in their respective
Chapters to take a greater interest in the
affairs of our Order, and I hope that many
will avail themselves of this opportunity.
Companions, the spiritual nature of the
Royal Arch has attracted the attention of the
newly revived Grand Lodges throughout
Central and Eastern Europe and this
Supreme Grand Chapter has been asked by
many of these Grand Lodges to assist them in
bringing the Royal Arch into their countries.
Many qualified brethren from these
countries have been exalted into the Royal
Arch already, in English Chapters, and these
will eventually be exported as the founding
bodies of sovereign Supreme Grand
Chapters. Indeed, two are already working
in Budapest on this basis.
We can draw comfort from the fact that
the hunger for Masonic knowledge and
the perceived spirituality of the Order are
proving a potent combination, and the
Royal Arch is being embraced and received
with such enthusiasm. This, in my view,
provides a sound basis for us all to go out
with renewed zeal and energy to ensure
that more of our own brethren are
introduced to it.
Thank you, companions.
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Copyright 2002-2007
MQ Magazine
Web site created by Mark Griffin
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