October 2007
Address given by the RW Provincial Grand Master, Ray Reed on the 22nd October 2007
The Province has had an outstanding year, Provincial Grand Master Ray Reed told the annual meeting of Provincial Grand Lodge at Freemasons’ Hall in London.
He said: “Our 2010 Royal Masonic Trust for Girls and Boys Festival appeal continues at a pace, and we are currently at £1.2 million after just two years. Our recruitment numbers and retention rates have improved considerably, while our Freemasonry in the Community programme has surpassed every expectation thanks to the devotion and hard work of so many.”
Members had enjoyed many highlights during the year, seeing the success of the county, town and village show group. There had been successes with the Care in the Community programme, the Provincial Gala, Teddies for Loving Care, the increased number of social activities and much more.
He added: “The most captivating experience for Doreen and I was to be present at the Masonic Trout and Salmon Fishing Club ‘biggy’ event, with 67 disabled children in attendance.
“The logistics were daunting, with over 200 masons and their ladies plus a few wonderful non-masons and their ladies assisting the delivery of this ‘tear-jerking event’. Having the Pro Grand Master, Lord Northampton, and Lady Pamela present was a bonus for all. I was truly proud of what this Province achieved.”
The Provincial Grand Master mentioned five important tasks for 2008.
- First, to continue the improvement of the Recruitment, Retention and Retrieval process, as the Province seeks a further 10% increase in the number of initiates and 5% improvement in retention rates.
- Second, to continue our clear focus on the Freemasonry in the Community programme.
- Third, the 2010 RMTGB Festival.
Ray Reed added: “Despite our success to date, I find it morally unacceptable that so many Lodges and their members continue to enjoy the benefits that Freemasonry offers, yet fail to support our festival. “Currently there are 76 Lodges with between 65& 100% of their membership not supporting the Charity. We know that some can no longer ‘give freely’ but it is certainly not 65%.”
He said: “We must ask ourselves why is this the case when Hampden Lodge have 88% of their members contributing by Gift Aid or donation and have raised £1,000 per member already?
“Pegasus, one of our smaller Lodges, have 76% contributing and are at £850 per member and Iver and Langley Lodges, both with less than 20 members, are at over £500 per member. If time permitted I could quote another 44 Lodges.”
The answer, he said, was simple. Members are not being reminded that at initiation they gave an affirmative to the question ‘if you had not been so deprived would you give freely?’ Equally, Masters in those same Lodges appear to have forgotten the words in the address at their installation, that ‘your peculiar province is to communicate light and instruction to the Brethren of your Lodge’.”
He appealed to every Master, and/or their successor, to ask their Charity Steward what percentage of the Lodge members are contributing to the Festival.
Ray went on: “If it is less than 40% then please exercise your leadership skills, formulate a plan, ‘communicate light and instruction’ to members in order to re-affirm their moral commitment to support charity and to expand their heart toward benevolence.”
He added: “The third task, therefore, related to Masters only, as I charge them to enlist at least 40% of their members to contribute to the 2010 Festival by October 2008.”
- Fourth, to commence a campaign to encourage, convince, educate and motivate every single member to ‘Market the Craft’ within their communities. The Province will provide aids to stimulate member confidence and to assist them become more open and transparent.
Since becoming Provincial Grand Master he had been impressed with the ideas and creativity of so many members who were seeking to help modernise the Craft without affecting its great traditions. Grand Lodge had recently introduced the Rulers Forum, an outstanding vehicle for getting the views of the membership at large. He commented: “I want us to capitalise on the opportunity that this provides.”
- Fifth, to identify ways of cascading creative ideas both upward and downward between Lodge members, the Provincial Executive and, where appropriate, move those ideas up to the Rulers Forum.
He said the Province would assist in the achievement of these tasks by leading a campaign that would enhance the communication process, including the possibility of requesting Lodges to identify an information officer to add value to the communication process. A Media Group would be formed to gain even more coverage by local press as well as providing extensive information for the web site and Concorde magazine.
He sent on: “We are seeking ways of giving Concorde a major facelift and looking at the possibility of direct delivery to every Buckinghamshire Mason. The modernisation of our old VGO scheme to become a Visiting Officer Scheme has also created a plethora of opportunity.
“Visiting Officers are fast becoming communicators, mentors and friends of Lodges and we seek to further expand their responsibilities in relation to improved communication. We also perceive them as a future vital link in our ambitions to cascade creative ideas.”
He said that two years ago some 400 members and their ladies were motivated to assist in the development of a new five-year strategy. He commented: “ In the two years that have elapsed since then we have met every objective set. I thank my Executive, Committees, Trainers, Project Group leaders and their teams and the vast majority of our members that have embraced the development and implementation of our modernisation program with enthusiasm, energy and creativity.
“We can truly say that while we are retaining our standards and traditions, we are looking beyond our ritual books, beginning to be seen within our communities at large, limiting the perceptions of secrecy and being recognised as a force for good within society.”