Pro Grand Masters Address

Grand Lodge 11 December 2002

London Masonry

At the Quarterly Communication of Grand Lodge on 11 December the Pro Grand Master said: Brethren, having been instrumental in many of the changes to London Masonry which have already taken place, and being a member of the London Committee which has made various recommendations leading to the Notice of Motion today to form a Metropolitan Grand Lodge, I feel it is appropriate for me to explain in some detail why I support the formation of a Metropolitan Grand Lodge of London and a Metropolitan Grand Chapter of London.
When I was appointed Assistant Grand Master in December 1995, London Masonry consisted of over 1600 Lodges and nearly 700 Chapters which were administered by the then Grand Secretary through the London Department in this building. My first two years were mostly taken up with spearheading the New Masonic Samaritan Fund festival and speaking to hundreds of brethren about the future of London Masonry. The festival was a resounding success, not only because nearly £11 million was raised, but also because London Lodges were pulling together for a common cause - probably for the first time. Since then every encouragement has been given to increase that sense of 'belonging' in London with the annual dance, the variety show, inter group competitions, sporting and fund raising events, the London Column and a host of other things. Do I hear Brethren saying we can't do that because it's 'provincialising' London? I hope not, because I believe London should emulate whatever is best in the Provinces if, and only if, it makes it more efficient and more enjoyable for its members, whilst still retaining its own special brand of Freemasonry.

In 1995 I had inherited 900 liaison officers, most of who reported on the Lodges of which they were the senior member and in many cases were the only personal contact the London Department had with the majority of our London Brethren. Only 300 of the original liaison officers were able to become active Visiting Grand Officers, and over the next two years more Grand Officers were added, so that every Lodge and Chapter had a visit from someone who could advise, support and encourage its members. I was warned at the time that there were as many as 200 Lodges that were unlikely to survive in the short term, so doing nothing was not an option, and I therefore started the active Visiting Grand Officers scheme.

The system of allocating ranks, including Grand Rank, was changed and became more transparent so that everyone knew where he stood. Ranks were now based solely on merit and ability, qualities which would be sorely needed if London was to be re-invigorated.

The next step was to disentangle London Masonry from its dependence on Grand Lodge, and give it a structure which was both autonomous and above all caring. London Management was created and London was divided into 22 groups with a chairman at the head of each. Any system depends on the quality of its leaders and London is no exception, but under the old system London Masonry had never needed to find leaders because there was no part for them to play outside of Grand Lodge, except for the service given to their own private Lodges.

For five years London Management, originally chaired by me but now under the chairmanship of RW Bro. Rex Thorne, has run London Masonry with the Assistant Grand Master now retaining that so called 'special responsibility'. If you compare London as it was in 1995 with what it is now, you begin to realise how much it has changed in such a relatively short time, but the final step is the subject of the Notice of Motion you have just heard proposed by the President, which will be voted on in Grand Lodge next March.

The London Committee was set up by the Board at my instigation to look at the future of London, and first met in May 2001. It was agreed then that whatever changes might be proposed, a long period of consultation would follow to allow Brethren the chance to digest and comment on the proposals, and this is still happening.

No-one doubts that London Masonry is special and different from any other Masonry as practised in our constitution. Firstly it has a unique historical significance, which I do not intend to dwell on today as it is well known to all of us. Secondly it has its own system of honours, London Grand Rank being its only appointment and Senior London Grand Rank its only promotion, with no past ranks. It has been suggested that a further rank should be introduced to give an opportunity for London Brethren who show exceptional promise to receive a starter rank before enough time has passed for them to qualify for London Grand Rank. Having listened to the views expressed by Lodges and Chapters the London Committee has withdrawn the recommendation that a Junior London Grand Rank be introduced, and this has been accepted by the Grand Master. If approval is given by Grand Lodge for the creation of a Metropolitan Grand Lodge of London and it is felt in the future that greater opportunities are needed to reward Brethren, then it will be a matter for London, itself, to debate and put a case to the Grand Master and the Board for approval. I am sure he would look favourably on any such request but for the time being I can announce that the London honours system, both for Craft and Royal Arch, will remain exactly as it is. Amendments to this effect will appear in the papers of business in March and May respectively. However, the proposals for active offices, which will not be Ranks but appointments, will remain, as these are needed for ceremonial and administrative purposes.

The third difference inherent in London Masonry, and probably the most important, is that it has never been in control of its own destiny. It is only very recently that the Board of General Purposes has delegated some of its powers to London Management, but even to this day its finances are still included in the accounts of Grand Lodge, and there are many instances where it is not allowed by the Book of Constitutions to make decisions for itself.

London Management has done a good job looking after its members for the past five years but it has no authority within the Book of Constitutions, and is headed only by a Chairman and not by an Officer of Grand Lodge with Masonic authority ratified by the Constitution. It has a set of By-Laws that I helped to write but which have never been approved by Grand Lodge, and it remains to this day in a state of limbo - still an integral part of Grand Lodge, but responsible in part for its own affairs. The time has now come to regularise this unconstitutional structure.
It would, of course, have been within the Grand Master's power under Rule 62 of the Book of Constitutions to turn London into one or more Provinces. This was considered by the Committee and, not least because of its known unpopularity as a concept, was swiftly rejected, even though it would have been a much simpler change to effect than the creation of a completely new Masonic structure. I should perhaps add that exercising powers under Rule 62 would probably have entailed the loss of some of the special features that London enjoys, like the London Grand Rank system.

In summary, I believe that there are major advantages in the creation of a Metropolitan Grand Lodge of London - the question of whether to call it London Grand Lodge was considered, incidentally, but was rejected because it was thought that other Grand Lodges would confuse that name with this Grand Lodge in London.

But as things stand at present, surely it is an anomaly that many relatively minor decisions concerning London Masonry have to be approved by the Board of General Purposes and Grand Lodge, of which the majority of members are Brethren from the Provinces. If London Masons had their own Grand Lodge they could decide much about their future for themselves.
Then there is the question of finding Brethren of the right calibre to take over important roles within Freemasonry. The future of Masonry depends on training our younger Brethren to become tomorrow's leaders, but when does one get the opportunity of seeing the potential of future leaders in London? Not in Grand Lodge, which is the only forum at present for London Masons who are Wardens and above, but solely at the private Lodge level where I am sure many go unrecognised.

The London Committee, in line with what it thought were the wishes of London Brethren, recommended the creation only of active officers needed to service a Metropolitan Grand Lodge, with no past ranks. The total of 71 annual Craft appointments represents approximately one for every 750 Masons - hardly a large proportion in the scale of things. I do not believe that such a small number will have any impact at the grass roots level, but the effect of creating a Metropolitan Grand Lodge will give London Masons a self regulating Masonic structure for the first time.

As I said in Grand Chapter last month the recommendations which are before you have not been suggested lightly. It is a big step, which is acceptable to the Grand Master and has been approved by all the bodies who are entrusted by our members to manage the Craft on their behalf. It is now up to the members of Grand Lodge themselves to ensure that they fully understand what is being proposed, and then vote on the motion in March next year.

Brethren, we all know that the world is very different from what it was even ten years ago, and unless Freemasonry adapts, as it has always adapted throughout its long history, it will not survive and grow as we would wish. A few members have suggested that these proposals will lead to a decline in the numbers of London Masons: I believe exactly the opposite. We have already seen a considerable decline in numbers over the past thirty years, and unless we rise to the challenge of a new and dynamic approach to stimulate and inspire our members, there is no reason why that decline will not continue. Yes, indeed it is a radical revision of what we have so comfortably enjoyed for so many years, and of course some of you have concerns about making such a change - but I believe that doing nothing is not an option. I am confident that once a new structure is in place and has become established we will all see great and exciting advantages, and that the Metropolitan Grand Lodge of London will prove to be an asset to English Masonry of which we can all feel justifiably proud.

Brethren, there is just one other matter on which I want to make a comment today.

Archbishop of Canterbury

You will be aware of the unfortunate and ill-advised remarks concerning Freemasonry made by the Archbishop of Wales before his confirmation as Archbishop of Canterbury last week. A very large number of our members wrote to him at Lambeth palace to express their dismay, and in some cases outrage, at his insensitive and inaccurate statements. The Grand Secretary also wrote to him officially on behalf of Grand Lodge. His letter is on the UGLE website, and will be published in the next issue of MQ. Although, all of us, whatever religion we may profess can only be appalled at the implications of the Archbishop's allegations, I believe that we should, for the time being at least, assume that his comments were based simply on ignorance of the truth, and not malice.

The Archbishop has been invited to come here, after his Enthronement, and learn a little about Freemasonry, as all his predecessors have done over many years. We can then only hope that he will revise his opinions and have the grace to admit just how wrong he was about the compatibility of any of the great religions with Freemasonry.
Finally brethren I wish you and your families health and happiness for the Festive Season.