Royal Arch Masons (original) (raw)

M.Ex. Companion George Brent Fairbairn

Grand First Principal Royal Arch Masons of Canada in the Province of Ontario

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Grand First Principal’s Address at the 164th Annual Convocation held April 2024

Most Excellent Sirs, Members of Grand Council, Distinguished Guests,

My Companions:

May I first express my sincere appreciation for the honour you have conferred upon me in my installation to the office of Grand First Principal.

I am fully cognizant of the great honour and the responsibilities attached to this office and above all, the prestige and reputation we enjoy and the manner in which our illustrious Past Grand First Principals have, through the years, maintained to such a high degree the principles of our time-honoured institution.

To my Companions I pledge my undivided loyalty and attention in the discharge of my responsibilities, and my support to our Chapters and Companions. I feel quite sure that with the continued cooperation of all of my companions, the loyalty and support of our officers and, above all, the blessings of the Great Jehovah we will carry out the affairs of the Grand Chapter in a manner pleasing to all.

It is only proper at this time that I should present to you the proposed programme of your Grand Council for the ensuing year.

Status of Chapters and Districts

Firstly, as recommended by my predecessor, I reappoint the following trustees:

In the last few years we’ve seen several chapters amalgamate and a few go into darkness. We may still have too many chapters for the resources we have to run them. Our chapters must function effectively and in harmony so that our new members will be properly impressed, will stick around, and will make a positive impression to the outside world.

Royal Arch Masonry has a responsibility to craft masonry in general and to the York Rite bodies in particular. Our body is privileged in that we are the stepping stone between the craft lodge and many York Rite bodies. These bodies count on us for membership, and it’s our responsibility to provide good quality candidates to those who seek further light in masonry. We can’t force our new members to stick around because we need them; if we’ve mentored them well, they may choose to stick around because they want to.

During my term on the Grand Council I have visited all of the chapters in our jurisdiction, a few who are no longer with us. In the next two years my main focus will be to improve the functional performance of these chapters, and I will be directing my attention to those chapters most in need and who want to improve. To assist in this endeavor, I am establishing two (2) ad-hoc committees, and tweaking the roles of other officers and committees.

Committee Roles and Responsibilities

It is unfortunate that the Foreign Correspondence Committee is lacking the information needed in order to obtain a good picture of what’s going on in Royal Arch Masonry in the world; the current Grand Representative system is just not providing us with this information. To assist in filling this gap, the Public Relations Committee will be taking on the enhanced duty of a Quarterly publication, called the Keystone. The key focus of the publication is: “What’s going on in our Grand Chapter and what’s going on in Royal Arch Masonry in the world”. The Public Relations Committee will be tasked to reach out to Royal Arch Jurisdictions throughout the world and report quarterly via the Keystone publication.

Also, the Grand Lecturer will be taking on the additional responsibility of distributing monthly bulletins on ritual and protocol and etiquette.

Education

I also propose to establish a new ad-hoc Education Committee reporting to myself. Responsibilities of this committee include:

The Education committee will ensure that all education-related stakeholders know what’s going on and have the necessary support to fulfill their roles. Ex-officio members of this committee are the Grand Lecturer, Public Relations, Webmaster, and the Grand Superintendents & their District Education Chairs. Note that this is an umbrella committee, responsibility for education ultimately resides with the Grand Superintendent.

I firmly believe that providing education of our rich history and our degree ritual to our new Royal Arch Masons will encourage them to choose the Royal Arch as an indelible and permanent part of their Masonic life.

The Education Committee will be headed by Ex.Comp. Mark Davis from Maple-Granite Chapter No. 61 in Carleton Place, who headed the education seminars presented at this convocation. Companions, his email address is education@royalarchmasons.on.ca.

Technology

Over the past few years, technology has necessitated a fair bit of resource time from Grand Chapter Officers in particular. Our membership and accounting systems are outdated. We need to improve efficiencies and permit Grand Chapter officers and committees to focus on their important office-related responsibilities.

I therefore propose to establish an ad-hoc Technology Committee reporting to the Grand Scribe Ezra. Responsibilities of this committee include:

I realize that technology changes may require time and effort from our chapter Scribe Ezras, but I assure you that Grand Chapter will provide them with the necessary resources and support.

Portrayal of Ritual

I have never witnessed a time in my Masonic career of over 50 years where there is such a demand for assistance in portraying ritual, not just in Chapter, but all Masonic bodies. The good news is that we are getting candidates. Good portrayal of ritual from memory is an essential element to the health of a chapter; reading of ritual is a last resort. It has been the practice that chapters requesting assistance from current Grand Chapter Officers, the Grand Council and the Grand Superintendents in particular, require dispensation from the Grand Chapter. I believe that we need all hands on deck, and that all Grand Chapter Officers can and should participate when needed, the one exception being that a Grand Superintendent should not participate on the occasion of his official visit. Dispensation is not required for Grand Chapter Officers to participate in ritual.

Balloting for election of officers

This is my last topic. I have several concerns with our current in-house ballot for election of officers:

I believe that the Grand Chapter would be better served by conducting a mail-in ballot. The main theme is that everyone gets to ballot, that every vote counts, and that they have time to vote.The constitution needs to be changed to allow this. I wish to give you a heads-up that this proposed amendment will be on the agenda at our next annual convocation in 2025. If you have any concerns or suggestions, feel free to contact me.

Finally, may I express my deep appreciation to Most Excellent Companion Allan Walker for his kindness in heading up the Installation Board, and to all those who so graciously accepted a portion of the work.

I also wish to express my sincere appreciation to my wife, Madeleine, who has once again, graciously given me her full support in another Masonic endeavor.

To leave you with something to think about, I wish to quote the ancient Greek philosopher, Aristotle:

”Excellence is an art won by training and habituation. We do not act rightly because we have virtue or excellence, but we rather have those because we have acted rightly. We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit”.

Thank you.