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Grand Charity contribution
Under Rule 271, Book of Constitutions,
Grand Lodge must fix each year the annual
contribution payable to the Grand Charity.
The Council of the Grand Charity has
requested that for 2007 the annual
contribution be raised to £11.50 in
respect of each member of a Lodge in a
Metropolitan Area or a Province, or in
England and Wales that is unattached.
The Council of the Grand Charity has
advised the Board that the increase in the
annual contribution to the Grand Charity
is sought to meet the increasing costs of
Masonic Relief Grants. Applications for
financial support have risen following efforts
by the Grand Charity to raise the Craft’s
awareness about the help it offers through
Road Shows to all Provinces and the
distribution of its Annual Review with MQ.
The Council has advised that demand
for these grants is also increasing because
the RMBI no longer makes grants to elderly
Masons living in their own homes to help
them meet their daily living expenses.
The Grand Charity assumed responsibility
for all such grants in 2002 and the impact
of this change has been a steady build-up
in the number of applications it receives
for assistance.
A Resolution to put this into effect was
approved.
Masonic discipline
A Committee under the chairmanship of
RW Bro His Honour Sir Lawrence Verney
has been considering the way in which
the Masonic disciplinary system currently
operates, with a view to simplifying
procedures where possible. The Committee
has delivered a preliminary report to the
Board, in which it suggests a number
of changes as follows:
(a) that the period of 90 days in which a
Lodge or Brother may enter a plea for
clemency following confirmation by an
Appeals Court of a recommendation for
erasure or expulsion be reduced to 30 days
for those situated within a Metropolitan
Area or a Province;
(b) that the rules laid down by the Board in
the booklet Masonic Conduct – a Guide to
Investigations for the conduct of its own
disciplinary committees be made mandatory
for all Masonic disciplinary authorities;
(c) that a Brother who resigns from the Craft
under Rule 183a in order to avoid Masonic
disciplinary proceedings should not be
allowed to seek readmission subsequently,
and that it should be made clear that such
a Brother is not entitled to a clearance
certificate under Rule 175; and
(d) that the reporting requirements imposed
by Rule 179A should be extended to cover
convictions resulting in any Community
Order or entry on a sex offenders’ register
as well as those for any offence involving
dishonesty or violence.
The Board recommended that the suggested
changes be adopted and looks forward to
receiving a further report from the committee
in due course. Notice of motion to amend the
Book of Constitutions was tabled as follows:
For the next Quarterly Communication of
the Grand Lodge, the President of the Board
of General Purposes to move:
(i) That Rule 75 be amended by inserting a
new third sentence as follows:
“In every case he or such Committee
shall conduct a hearing which shall be in
accordance with the rules for the conduct
of disciplinary cases from time to time
prescribed by the Board of General
Purposes.”
(ii) That the final sentence of Rule 175 be
amended to read:
“In particular, a Brother who has been
expelled from the Craft, who has
resigned from the Craft under Rule 277a
or to whom Rule 183a (f ) applies shall
not be granted a Certificate.”
(iii) That Rule 179a be amended to read:
“179A. (a) It is the duty of any Brother
who is sentenced by any civil power
(whether it be in the United Kingdom
or elsewhere) to a custodial sentence
(immediate or suspended), or in respect
of whom a Community Order is made
by a Court in the United Kingdom, or
who is placed on a sex offenders’ register
in accordance with the Sex Offenders
Act 1997, or who is convicted of an
offence involving dishonesty or violence
to report the fact within 28 days to
the Master of his Lodge, or (if he be
unattached) to the Grand Secretary.
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Copyright 2002-2007
MQ Magazine
Web site created by Mark Griffin
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