Here the address from the PGM here:
Brethren, where has the year gone? It seems like it was only yesterday that I stood here to give my last Annual Address to Provincial Grand Lodge. As always, it is heartening for me to see you all today, to be able to welcome our guests and to thank them for taking the time to be with us.
I particularly welcome RW Bro John Prizeman, the Pro Grand Master of the Mark Degree and appreciate the time he has taken out of his busy schedule today to be with us, to share his thoughts and to speak to the Province about our close relationship. I also welcome all the Ruling Masters and Master Masons who may be attending Provincial Grand Lodge for the first time. I do hope that you enjoy the afternoon and find it interesting.
To those receiving a first appointment or promotion, the Annual Meeting of Provincial Grand Lodge is the occasion when I can publicly recognise your contribution to the Province. This is your day of recognition and celebration. Enjoy it.
As Provincial Grand Master, it is my distinct privilege to be able to invest you with your new ranks, to acknowledge the contribution you have and will continue to make in the Craft and to share your company. Wear your new Honours with justifiable pride. You have all earned them.
To last year’s Acting Officers, I thank you for your support. I am limited as to the number of appointments that I can make, particularly Acting Appointments. So, I do hope that you have enjoyed your time in Office. I have certainly enjoyed your company on our many visits together around the Province.
For some time, I have been concerned that the qualifying period for first appointment to provincial rank is too long. Mindful of the disruption to our normal processes that we experienced as a result of the Covid pandemic and after careful and lengthy consideration within my Executive, I do believe that the time is now right to reduce the qualifying period for first appointment from 7 to 5 years. The qualifying period for promotions remains unchanged.
This year has been significant for Freemasonry in Berkshire. In support of the Strategic Roadmap, we have continued to highlight the Membership Challenge which each and every member and each and every Lodge must address to ensure that Freemasonry and the Province thrives through steady and sustainable growth. Already, we have made great progress.
Although it is crucially important that we welcome initiates into Freemasonry quickly, as I stated last year, the Membership Challenge is not just about initiations but also about ensuring that every member of the Craft feels that they belong to their Lodge, to the Province and to Freemasonry as a whole.
It is mission critical to ensure that our existing members do not drift away as a result of feeling detached from the life of their Lodges. It is our personal responsibility to ensure that through engagement and involvement, everybody is and feels that they are listened to, has a voice in the Lodge and a part to play.
Lodges must remember that, whilst private for administrative purposes, they do not exist in isolation but are warranted and part of one aligned coherent organisation with common values and purpose. We stand and fall together!
From start to finish, the Members Pathway is brimming with good advice and I encourage you not to waste your time by trying to reinvent the wheel but rather to focus on what has been proven to work to ensure that your lodge is as successful as it can be.
I am grateful to the Chairman & Officers of the Light Blues Club for all that they are doing to involve and engage with younger members as well as those who have recently joined, so as to help shape our future. Visiting is a valuable and enjoyable part of Freemasonry and this can be more widely experienced if new masons are invited and encouraged to visit on a regular basis.
Brethren, you would need to be on another planet if you were not aware of our ‘One Organisation, One Journey’ approach. Whilst embracing and acknowledging the distinct natures and identities of the Craft and the Royal Arch, I remain determined that we move forward together in harmony and take full advantage of the strengths of these two elements of pure Antient Freemasonry. I remain resolute that there should be a seamless progression from the Craft to the Royal Arch at a time that is appropriate for every member.
That said, I am equally passionately committed to Freemasonry Universal and I acknowledge and welcome, without equivocation, the important role that our Companion Orders have to play in enhancing enjoyment, fostering curiosity, developing understanding and enhancing our fraternal experiences.
Brethren, one size does not fit all and it seems to me essential that we have and take every opportunity to travel on a journey that is best suited for us. It is not an either/or situation but a complementary one. Personally, I belong to several Companion Orders and I enjoy them all thoroughly.
It is with this harmony in mind, that I meet monthly with the Heads of Other Orders and together, we work to shape and to enhance the quality of all Freemasonry throughout Berkshire.
Through your efforts and those of my Craft and Royal Arch Executives, we have had an outstandingly successful year and I thank you from the bottom of my heart for all that you have done. The tide has turned but we are not yet in calm waters. One swallow does not a summer make!
In our quest for progress, we must take calculated risks to excite, stimulate and encourage our existing and future members. A good example of this is our new repurposed Ad Astra Lodge which is embracing innovation and providing a tailored service to its members. The Official launch last Friday evening was a truly remarkable event combining tradition, quality ritual, sensitivity, innovation and enjoyment in equal measure and to the detriment of none of them. I thank all involved for their balanced approach. I remain excited about what the future may hold for this Lodge.
This exemplifies that Lodges can and will only exist if they serve the needs of their members. It is a fundamental principle which none of us should ever forget. There is no divine right of Lodges!
Every year, I make the point that apathy and inaction, if left unaddressed, will stifle and snuff out our progress. We must continue to foster a positive mindset and an unflinching commitment to success. The ‘not invented here’ syndrome has no place in Berkshire Freemasonry. We will continue to shatter the shackles of complacency and embrace novel approaches.
Following this principle, I have taken a leaf from the Province of Buckinghamshire and embraced the real advantages of a ‘Son et Lumière’ approach to the theatre of freemasonry.
Already, as you can see, this Temple and Lodges One & Two are being, or have been adapted to provide a more dramatic and appropriate sound and lighting experience for candidates within our ceremonies. This remains work in action but I am confident that it will be rolled out to other Masonic centres if and when it is appropriate for them. I am grateful to our Provincial Grand Director of Ceremonies W Bro Paul Thomsett and his team for taking this forward.
Furthermore, The Board of Sindlesham Court are taking this a stage further with a complete upgrade of the audio-visual systems throughout this building with new start-of the-art equipment for both commercial and masonic users. This work has been financed and will be completed by the end of the year.
In this Province, we are extremely fortunate to have strong and skilled leadership teams across all the Orders of Freemasonry. My Craft and Royal Arch Leadership Teams are no exception and I remain truly blessed by their exceptional talent and dedication. I thank them each personally for their continued loyalty and support to me as Provincial Grand Master & Grand Superintendent and for the enthusiasm, commitment and contribution that they continue to make to this Province on your behalf.
However it does not just stop there, everywhere I look around the Province, I find pockets of Acting Provincial Officers and resolute Masons beavering away and going above and beyond their call of duty. What you are achieving is simply outstanding. It would be inappropriate to single out individuals but you know who you are and you know how grateful I am to each and every one of you.
On Saturday I received in the post our fifth Annual Report which showcases the outstanding contributions that you have made to Freemasonry in Berkshire in the last year. So successful have you been that we have had to cull some of the content to avoid reproducing War and Peace! You have really pulled out all the stops! It remains humbling and compelling reading and the content is a credit to you all. It is a fitting tribute of the special nature of The Special Province of Berkshire.
As always, I remain indebted and grateful to W Bros Pat Whelan and Tracey Byrne for all their hard work in pulling the report together so professionally. Certainly, no less a Herculean task than it was last year!
In closing, I thank and I am grateful to my Provincial Grand Secretary and my Provincial Grand Director of Ceremonies W Bros Richard Olliver and Paul Thomsett, together with their teams, for ensuring the success of today’s Annual Meeting. Over several months, whilst some have been basking in the sporadic sunshine, a significant amount of work has gone into making today’s preparations. These events do not just happen!
It is and remains my distinct privilege to be the Provincial Grand Master & Grand Superintendent for Berkshire but, despite the rumours to the contrary, it is not just about parading around with a chain about my neck! We have and will continue to have many challenges and opportunities ahead of us. Some of them are within our control and some are not. Let us focus on those things where we can make a real difference and not be distracted or diverted from our duty by those which we cannot.
I will continue personally to strive to ensure that the Province is both robust and fit for purpose so that it remains coherent, cohesive, vibrant and relevant for future generations to enjoy as much as we do. I know that I am not alone in this endeavour and that I can rely on the support and commitment of each and every member to ensure that this Special Province of Berkshire goes from strength to strength.
Brethren, may the Great Architect of the Universe remain with you and your families in the year which lies ahead and may brotherly love and affection ever distinguish us as men and as masons.
