Lodge Donates Boats for Adaptive Rowing

The Argonauts Lodge, No. 2243, in London has presented two specially modified boats for use by athletes with disabilities in the pursuit of Adaptive Rowing. At a boat-naming ceremony held recently at the Dorney Lake rowing course immediately preceding the opening of the 2006 World Rowing Championships held there, John Robson, Master of the Argonauts Lodge, underlined the strong association of the Lodge with rowing in general and in recent years in adaptive rowing. Before Adaptive Rowing became officially recognised by the sports authorities, the Lodge had organised a regatta for oarsmen with disabilities taking place shortly after the Henley Royal Regatta, using part of the Regatta course.
    One of the boats was named after John Beveridge, a member of the Lodge and Past President of the Cambridge University Boat Club, and in more recent years Secretary of the Leander Rowing Club. The second boat was named after the late John Savill who, apart from his service as a Deputy Grand Director of Ceremonies and Grand Sword Bearer, had been a very dedicated member of the Lodge and had a distinguished rowing career that included being a Cambridge Blue. John Savill died last year, but the Master welcomed his daughter, Belinda and invited her to ‘christen’ and name one of the boats. The other boat was then named personally by John Beveridge.

Metropolitan Grand Lodge of London - New Organisation

Since the Metropolitan Grand Lodge of London was set up in 2003, the actual management of lodges has continued in more or less the same way as before, with Groups led by a Chairman, and Visiting Grand Officers appointed by him to cater for the needs of individual lodges.
    Under a Working Party set up last year, recommendations have been made for the re-organisation of the Metropolitan Grand lodge structure and responsibilities. As of February 2007, the Group Chairmen will be appointed Assistant Metropolitan Grand Masters and their number reduced from 10 to 6, of which 3 will have responsibility for Craft lodges, 2 will be Assistant Metropolitan Grand Superintendents for Royal Arch chapters, and one will have the function effectively of ‘Chief of Staff’, overseeing and coordinating administrative functions. Each of the Assistant Metropolitan Grand Masters will be assisted by a team of 5 Metropolitan Grand Inspectors, and of the Assistant Metropolitan Grand Superintendents by 3 Metropolitan Grand Inspectors. The Visiting Grand Officer Scheme will become a Visiting Officer Scheme, using Grand Officers and Metropolitan Grand Officers, as well as holders of Senior London Grand Rank.
    Each team of Visiting Officers will comprise one Senior Visiting Officer. The aim is to reduce the workload, to provide for more effective communications, and to increase development opportunities for many younger Brethren.

New Railings for Hereford Cathedral's Lady Chapel

Aset of new railings has taken up its place around the east end of Hereford Cathedral’s Lady Chapel to protect the light wells of the medieval crypt following the generous gifts of three charities. The Freemasons’ Grand Charity, supported by Freemasons from all the Herefordshire Lodges, Herefordshire Historic Churches Trust and the Allchurches Trust have combined to fund the installation of the three foot high railings.
    ‘When we completed the works to the east end of the Lady Chapel we forgot that the crypt windows were vulnerable and proved potentially dangerous, as there is little to protect anyone falling into the light wells,’ said the Dean of Hereford, The Very Revd Michael Tavinor. ‘Previously the stone masons’ compound had protected the light wells and once the hoarding was removed we realised what a danger they were to the many who use the Close.’
    Rodney Smallwood, Provincial Grand Master for Herefordshire, and The Earl of Darnley, Chairman of Herefordshire Historic Churches Trust, visited the Cathedral during its hosting of the Three Choirs Festival to see the railings being installed.

Bury Grammar School Foundation Stone Ceremony

Recently the laying of the foundation stone for the new Kindergarten building at Bury Grammar School in Lancashire took place, exactly one hundred years after the cornerstone was laid for the central hall at the School. Now, as then, the ceremony was conducted with masonic ceremonial by the Provincial Grand Master for East Lancashire, Paul Rink, who is Patron of the School Centenary Appeal.
    The ceremony of the laying of a foundation stone involves depositing in the cavity of the stone a box containing coins of the realm, copies of local newspapers and documents relevant to the building. The stone is then symbolically laid, its position checked with the plumb rule and level, then tapped in place with a maul and declared to be well and truly laid. Corn, wine and oil and salt are then sprinkled on the stone.
    The original ceremony held in June 1906 was led by the then Provincial Grand Master for East Lancashire, Lord Stanley. The event was attended by many local people, who came to witness the interesting and symbolic ceremony.

New Temple at the Armoury, Flint

The Armoury in Flint, North Wales has been the masonic home to three Craft Lodges together with other masonic Orders since the early 1940s, and the venue has been developed for a wide variety of family and other non-masonic gatherings. As a consequence, the spacious Temple had to double as a functions room which was found to be inconvenient.
    The directors of the centre felt there was a demand for an increase in the number of these commercial activities, it was clear a new purpose-built Temple was needed. The decision to re-build was taken during 2002.
    The non-masonic activities within The Armoury have produced useful profits over the years, and as those reserves accumulated, they provided the springboard from which the construction of a new Temple could be considered. There were no specific fund-raising activities, although over 25 seats have been sold under a ‘buy a seat’ campaign, appropriately named ‘don’t just sit there – buy one’. The new hall was consecrated by the Provincial Grand Master, Gareth Lloyd Jones.

Essex Freemasons Dedicate New Temple

The Frinton and Walton Masonic Association in Essex recently purchased a disused premises in Station Kirby Cross and converted it into a modern masonic Temple. The Chairman of the Association, David Gager said the acquisition ideally suited the Association’s needs and those of the eight lodges meeting in the area, and would enable larger masonic events to be held. The new building is considerably larger than that previously occupied and a significant programme of refurbishment was undertaken to convert it to provide a Temple with a capacity for over 200 Brethren, with room for additional seating if required, and dining facilities for over 200 with spacious separate bar and lounge area. 147 Brethren together with the Provincial Grand Master, John Webb gathered at the new Centre to dedicate the new Temple. In his Oration the Provincial Grand Chaplain, John Simmons, said, ‘The Temple is but bricks and mortar but the quality of those who use the building will bring benefits to following generations’. The Provincial Grand Master received from the Chairman of the Frinton and Walton Masonic Association a set of the building plans which were signed and retained for the archives. After the Ceremony the Provincial Grand Master unveiled a plaque commemorating the dedication and opening of the building.

To Work With Love and Harmony

The title of this year’s Cornerstone Northern Conference went to the heart of what we do as Freemasons, and as an indication of how far that harmony should spread, the Society invited a broad spectrum of speakers. Dr. Brent Morris, Editor of the Scottish Rite Journal, Southern jurisdiction of the United States, and a masonic author and scholar, broke off from a busy lecture tour to join in.
    Prof. Njördur Njardvik from Iceland, Sovereign Grand Commander of International Co Masonry Le Droit Humain, was also invited, in a groundbreaking move to include more speakers from other masonic disciplines. Julian Rees, Deputy Editor of Freemasonry Today started the day off by asking ‘What is Freemasonry?’. In his talk The Way to the Centre he then led the delegates through an exposition more concerned with what Freemasonry does, and endeavoured to indicate how Freemasons reach the spark within themselves, in order then to be able better to respond to those around them. He emphasised that the difference between light and darkness had to be experienced on a plane other than the physical. The interconnection of earth and heaven, man and God, was crucial to our pursuit, and that self-knowledge, through ‘the symbol at the centre of the building’, was attainable by all.
    The theme of light was developed further by Njördur Njardvik, who spoke persuasively, in his talk In the Light of Truth, of the need to seek the spiritual dawning of a new perception of our existence. Light ought to reflect truth, and truth is multifaceted, incorporating also untruth. But an inquisitive mind is capable of experience in a new way, the way of Freemasonry. A true mason never stops asking why, and when he can arrive at that centre from which he cannot err, the light he there perceives is indeed the light of truth. Njördur also drew a very elegant parallel between the threefold aspect of morality, intellect and spirituality and that of the lodge, namely wisdom, strength and beauty, based in its turn on the threefold expression of man by thought, feeling and conduct.
    Trevor Stewart, gathering together some of the themes from the previous talks, endeavoured to show what we might do to make them a reality. In his talk The Way Forward, he felt that lodge practice was becoming stagnant, and that more dynamism was needed in the way that we conduct our masonic meetings. He suggested that we might engage in more interactivity in our lodge proceedings, in the way that many continental lodges set their younger members a task, some research or a talk, and encourage group activity to give our lodges a greater sense of identity.
    Brent Morris is an engaging speaker, who succeeds in blending scholarship and a great breadth of knowledge with insight and analysis. In his talk The Forest and the Trees he reminded us of the many faces of Freemasonry, and asked us to consider that what one Brother finds in the Craft may simply be that which another Brother finds by another route. He concluded that, if asked whether he was looking at the forest or the trees, his answer would be ‘Yes’. The talks were followed by a lively and searching question and answer session. www.cornerstonesociety.com

Affinity Lodge Groups

The Freemasonry Today on-line edition www.freemasonrytoday.com is gaining in popularity, and to increase its usefulness, an Affinity Lodges section is planned for the web site as a service to Brethren. It will take the form of an index of all those lodges whose foundation, or whose existence, is based on a particular leisure pursuit, sport, or shared love of a hobby. Examples are various sports, music and drama, skydiving, philately, model aeroplanes, cycling, hot-air ballooning, poetry, astronomy, fishing and golf. The aim is to provide as much information for such lodges as will enable them to attract new members, and for this purpose a link will be provided to each group featured.
    Interested groups are invited to visit the Freemasonry Today web site, click the Affinity Lodges page and complete the on-line form with their details.