Pro Grand Master's Speech

Quarterly Communication on 10 September 2003

Archbishop of Canterbury

Brethren, you will all recall the unfortunate occasion last November when the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Reverend and Right Honourable Dr. Rowan Williams, was reported as having suggested that he had doubts about the compatibility of Freemasonry and Christianity.

The Grand Secretary wrote to him on behalf of Grand Lodge to challenge these reported opinions, along with the assertion that he had refused to promote Freemasons to 'sensitive' posts within the Church in Wales - something which could, if true, have been a breach of a ruling of the European Court of Human Rights. He also invited the Archbishop to meet some senior Freemasons to discuss his concerns in detail.

The initial response from the Archbishop's office was less than satisfactory, so the Grand Secretary wrote again in January of this year and received a response from the Archbishop himself which went a long way towards reassuring us that the views which had been reported were not those which he held personally.

Since then we have continued in our desire to welcome him here, so that we can show him around and deal with any concerns he may have in the most open way possible. Regrettably, the constraints on his time have not yet permitted this, although the Archbishop has invited the Grand Secretary and me to meet him at Lambeth Palace. I would prefer, however, to welcome him here, and have therefore deferred a meeting until such time as his current pressures make this possible. In the meantime, I believe we can feel content that our prime concerns have been answered adequately, and can now put this unfortunate episode behind us.

Deputy Grand Master

Brethren, at the last Convocation of Supreme Grand Chapter in May, the President of the Committee of General Purposes gave notice of a motion which he will formally propose at the next Convocation in November, to make a change to Regulation 10 of the General Regulations established by the Supreme Grand Chapter. This clause currently requires that the Deputy Grand Master, if an Installed First Principal, shall be Second Grand Principal. The proposition will make this provision optional instead of mandatory, thus enabling the First Grand Principal, should he so wish, to appoint a Second Grand Principal other than the Deputy Grand Master, instead of having both offices held by the same Brother.

This change is part of a number of changes to the Royal Arch which have been recommended by a Strategic Working Party which I convened last year to consider ways of strengthening the Royal Arch and making it more independent, without in any way compromising the strong historic links which have so closely bound it to Grand Lodge since 1813.

In the expectation that the proposition will be carried in Supreme Grand Chapter, I can tell you that the Deputy Grand Master, RW Bro. Iain Bryce, who fully supports the idea, has expressed a wish to retire from next March to make room for someone younger. I am pleased to announce that the MW Grand Master has appointed RW Bro. Peter Lowndes, PJGW, Past Grand Director of Ceremonies, to succeed him.

Brethren, a full tribute to the hard work and dedication of the Deputy Grand Master during his 12 years in that office will be made at the appropriate time, but as I have invited him to preside at the Quarterly Communication of Grand Lodge in December, being the last he will attend as Deputy Grand Master, this is the only opportunity I will have of recording my personal thanks for the unstinting support he has given me since I was installed as Pro Grand Master. It was not an easy time for Bro. Bryce when my predecessor Bro. Lord Farnham was taken ill, and for two years he carried out his extra responsibilities with great diligence. Since my installation he has given me his wholehearted support, and his advice, based on so many years as Deputy Grand Master, has been invaluable.

I shall miss the good relationship we have developed but I am delighted to tell you that, should Grand Chapter approve the change, Bro. Bryce has agreed to continue in office as Second Grand Principal of the Royal Arch. His wise counsel will therefore still be available to me and I am sure he will concentrate on promoting that Order for the benefit of all Companions.

Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution

I can also report that RW Bro Brian Smith has asked to step down as President of the RMBI next April and the MW Grand Master has been pleased to appoint VW Bro John Moore, PGSwdB, the present Treasurer of the Institution and Chairman of its Board of Trustees to succeed him. Once again a tribute to Bro. Smith will be given at the appropriate time; he has had a distinguished Masonic career and his work for this charity has been vitally important as it develops a more business like ethos to ensure that costs are controlled without in any way lowering the high standards of care for which the charity is renowned.

Metropolitan Grand Lodge of London

Brethren, the first major event of our new Masonic season will be the Constitution of the Metropolitan Grand Lodge of London and the Installation of RW Bro. Lord Millet, PJGW, as the first Metropolitan Grand Master. This is going to be an historic occasion and I am pleased to tell you that while there are still a few seats left for the Royal Arch ceremony in the morning, there are very few left for the Craft ceremony in the afternoon.

Tie

You may be interested to know that to date Letchworths have sold nearly 7,000 of the new ties realising £50,000 gross for the Library and Museum to purchase new Masonic artefacts and restore those in the existing collection. As I have stressed before this tie is the alternative to the black tie for all our meetings and I hope Brethren will wear it socially, as I do, to show the popular world how proud we are to be Masons.

The 1813 Declaration

Finally, Brethren, I want to say something about the notice of motion given earlier by the Deputy President of the Board of General Purposes. It stems from the union of the two Grand Lodges to form the United Grand Lodge of England in 1813. Historically, one Grand Lodge - the "Moderns" - did not recognise the Royal Arch, even though most of its senior members belonged to it, whilst for the other Grand Lodge - the "Antients" - it was worked by warranted Lodges as a fourth degree. It was in a typically English compromise that the formula was worked out as you see it printed at the beginning of our Book of Constitutions, that "pure Antient Masonry consists of three degrees and no more, viz., those of the Entered Apprentice, the Fellow Craft, and the Master Mason, including the Supreme Order of the Holy Royal Arch".

If Supreme Grand Chapter and the United Grand Lodge of England agree, it is proposed to add a paragraph to the "1813 Declaration" to allow us to recognise formally that the Royal Arch is an entirely separate Order of Masonry. The purpose of this is to try to correct the present confusion about exactly where the Royal Arch sits in relation to the Craft, and enable the Order to stand alone, in its own right, as an important - indeed necessary - part of one's Masonic development. It is frequently said that the Royal Arch is a "completion of the Third Degree", but as I said in Grand Chapter last year I am concerned with such a definition, and query whether we should be emphasising a 'completion' when the Royal Arch encourages us to extend ourselves beyond the Craft and contemplate life in the context of 'eternity'. Pure Antient Masonry consists of several degrees, and the Royal Arch is aptly described as 'at once the foundation and keystone of the whole Masonic structure'.

The wording which we now propose to introduce has been carefully chosen, after a great deal of thought, in order not to compromise the wording devised with such care to enable the Union of the two Grand Lodges in 1813. The Deputy President of the Board of General Purposes has invited brethren to write to the Grand Secretary with any comments they may have, so that we can consider any necessary changes before it goes to a vote in Grand Lodge in December.

I do, however, want to make one thing absolutely clear: the intention is not to change that wording which many of us consider sacrosanct, but to permit it to be interpreted in a way which will allow us the freedom to recognise the Royal Arch as a sovereign and independent Order, still indissolubly linked to the Craft as the final step in pure Antient Freemasonry.