On Saturday morning 34 masons met to take part in a workshop to support lodge and chapter mentors. The event was organised by the Mentoring Team, specifically Jamie Clark and Kevin Barclay who devised the underlying survey the workshop is based on. The survey looks at the the masonic Journey to understand what is good and what is not so good.
First though, most of the attendees sat down to a very extensive cooked breakfast, delivered to their tables.
The meeting was kicked off by Owen Doe who started off by thanking his team for putting the survey and event together. He passed on best wishes and apologies from Kevin who would have been giving the welcome, but was absent due to ongoing medical treatment. After outlining a short running order he introduced Peter Oakley, Third Provincial Grand Principal, to officially open the workshop.
Peter Oakly started off by re-emphasising that Royal Arch forms the completion of the Third Degree. He went on to say that mentoring is fundemental to the success of both Lodges and Chapters. The workshop will help in the search for ideas to improve mentoring.
Jamie Clark explained the purpose of the workshop as looking at ‘What is pleasuable’ and ‘What is painful’.
The Mentoring team have been surveying members to find out what is good and what is not so good. The survey has already been filled in by a number of masons including attendees of the Provincial Grand Lodge meeting.
The important thing is to Be Honest.
Jamie then went through the questions providing explainations and context.
The questionnaire was handed out and filled in by all of the mentors, then collected for analysis.
The attendees were split into 5 groups to discuss the following pairs of topics:
- Recruitment planning and Scial Calendar
- Preparing fr the 1st Degree, and Summons and Festive Board
- Visiting and Lodge of Instructions
- Preparing for next degree, and Introduction to side orders
- Personal Mentors and the Care Team
Each group reported back on their topics, giving their thoughts and suggestions about each heading. These will also be collated along with previous answers and the results from the questionnaire.
Jamie thanked everyone for their honest answers befor handing over to Owen for a summary
Owen thanks Jamie for entertaining and informing us. Then went on to say that he had looked at the forms handed in and was impressed by the brutally honest answers given. All the results of these and the group feedback will be fully analysed and fed back to the Lodge and Chapter Mentors.
He then thanked everyone for their attendance and contribution. Owen re-iterated that the success of the Lodges and Chapters is based on the Mentors. Personal Mentors are critical. Lodge mentors are essential.
Owen then invited all mentors to take a few of each of the cards that were launched at the Provincial Grand Lodge meeting. Asking everyone to only take the number they need.
The cards give quick access to the information usually provided by dozens of pieces of paper to masons completing degrees or have been exalted into the Royal Arch.
To see the content available through the cards for the degrees and Royal arch look at Welcome Pack for candidates
The meeting was then closed by Richard Olliver, Provincial Grand Secretary, who described the new cards as a fantastic idea.
He thanked Owen and Jamie, and all thse attending the workshop, describing the mentor’s role as incredibly important to the Lodge.
As an aside he said we should talk of Companion Orders, rather than Side orders and recommended the book ‘Beyond the Craft’ which explains the various orders available along with requirements for each.
Richard presented all mentors with a challenge: To take 1 or 2 of the items discussed back to their Lodge and make it happen.
For a Lodge to progress we need to work on thes items!
Finally he summarized the need to be Engaging, Supporting and to give a sense of Belonging. Retention will be the hot topic. We need to do more to understand why people are leaving.
Thanks you again for doing a fantastic job!
