Brethren, welcome to our Annual Meeting. I am pleased to see all of you that have to come to Luton today, a town which is bidding for the UK City of Culture in 2025 and probably like me you are surprised to learn of that fact.
I am most grateful for your support and I hope that you have a happy day and will enjoy the lunch at the conclusion of this meeting.
I have already welcomed our guests but I do particularly wish to thank the Deputy Grand Master on taking time out from his busy schedule to join us today and to the visitors from the Other Provinces who in many cases have entertained myself, my Deputy and the Provincial Grand Officers at their meetings during the past year.
To those I have invested with Provincial Grand Rank by Appointment or Promotion I offer my congratulations.
Your appointment today is a reflection of the contribution you have already made to Mark Masonry and I now rely on your continued support in promoting and expanding the benefits of being a member of it, particularly to those who have yet to be enlightened.
Being a small Province with fewer members to choose from to Provincial Office I have again as last year decided not only to reappoint some officers but continue to appoint any Brother who has not yet passed through the chair who has shown great promise and commitment to the Order by thereby appointing them to Provincial Grand Steward.
I have previously spoken that our organisation is sometimes slow to change but something we must change quickly is to reverse the trend of dwindling membership.
Taking the lead from the Province of London we embarked last year on our Awareness Program with some limited success.
Five days ago, we held our second Awareness Evening at Sir John Cotton Lodge. I am pleased to report there was an increasein attendance with at least eighteen Craft brethren who have expressed an interest to join us.
That may not seem much to our larger adjoining Provinces, but to us in Bedfordshire that is a big impact that can and will make a difference. Remember brethren in order to survive we must first thrive.
My thanks must go to W Bros Kyle Whitbread, Nick Edwards, Martin Wilson and the other hard working members of the Awareness Team who made it all happen by putting on a highly entertaining and informative evening that I am sure will benefit us all in the future.
For those who may have other potential candidates in mind please remember the Province does providehandout leaflets explaining both the Mark and the Royal Ark Mariner degrees which are available from the Provincial Grand Secretary via your own Lodge Secretaries.
As a further means of attracting interest to our Order you will have noticed the Exhibition Stand on display here today for the first time since its launch at the Awareness Evening on Monday.
It is intended this Exhibition Stand will form part of a manned “Pop Up Shop” to visit Masonic Centres throughout the Province to publicise and recruit new members to the Mark degree. Despite its size when displayed it takes fifteen minutes to erect and ten minutes to dismantle and will fit in the boot of a car.
My thanks to my Deputy, Chris Burgess for this initiative, BroIain MacCormick on the work undertaken to produce the stand and Bro Mick Palmer for sponsoring it.
Six months ago, in order to promote further interest to the Royal Ark Mariner degree I introduced the appointment of a Royal Ark Mariner Representative to each of our Mark Lodges regardless if they had a Royal Ark Mariner Lodge attached to it.
It is too soon to draw any conclusions but I am encouraged by the work the Representatives are doing and I am confident it will show dividends.
I am pleased more Masters of Mark lodges now take wine with Royal Ark Mariners at their meetings but I do ask they do not invite them to stand when doing so. It is not a head count, we have computers for that, as it may embarrass those not yet in the Order who have to remain seated.
I myself bitterly regret that I delayed joining Royal Ark Mariners for 14 years, which was due to my work commitments. The early start of the Mariners Lodge moored to my Mark Lodge made it impossible for me to consider otherwise.
Any Lodge starting before 5.00 or 5.30pm is unlikely to attract interest from those who are working, whatever age they may be.This is particularly so with people today having longer working lives.
I therefore urge those units which are starting their meetings before 5.00 or 5.30pm to seriously consider adjusting their timings accordingly. The circulation of the Minutes, plus the Almoner and Charity Steward reports beforehand which still allows for any brief verbal updates can reduce the amount of timespent dramatically and so allow you to concentrate on the ceremony and festive board.
In this ever fast changing world, we should not be afraid of that change, neither should we as Masons be afraid to make changes ourselves.
It is encouraging news that more Installed Commanders from Bedfordshire have joined the N’Hants, Hunts and Beds Installed Commanders Lodge which meets at Rushden.
The Lodge is a legacy from when we were part of the Province of Northamptonshire and Huntingdonshire and membership of it continuesthe enjoyment of the Royal Ark Mariners degree and our close association with Northamptonshire and Huntingdonshire.
Increased membership from Bedfordshire continues to prove very popular with RW Bro George Bonham, as the Lodge, is still in his Province and under his Rule, for a while longer anyway.
For those brethren who joined me in April at The Grand Master’s Lodges of Instruction for Mark and Royal Ark Mariners Annual Festival would have observed from the perfect ritual which was performed that day, that if we are to retain the interest of a new candidate then that is the standard we should be aiming for.
My thanks therefore goto the important work by our own Ritual Support Team which provides good ritualists to fill any gaps in Lodge offices for both the Mark and Royal Ark Mariner degrees to ensure candidates receive the highest standard of ceremonial entrance to our Lodges in Bedfordshire.
Any requests for assistance should be directed to the Provincial Grand and Provincial Deputy Grand Directors of Ceremonies. As a further reminder,including those who wish to join their Team the Provincial Deputy Grand Director of Ceremonies will soon be contacting many of you by email.
Two new recent initiatives this year are the Travelling Keystone which was the brainchild of our Director of Ceremonies, Very Worshipful Mike Jolley, to whom I am extremely grateful for introducing it and in fact making the Keystone itself.
The purpose of which is to encourage reigning Masters supported by brethren of their Lodge to visit other Lodges within the Province. It was received here today at Provincial Grand Lodge from the Worshipful Master Colin Caldicott of Sir John Cotton Lodge and is currently on display at the Secretary’s table. It will be collected by the Worshipful Master Oliver O’Toole of Chiltern Lodge at the conclusion of this meeting to restart its journey around the Province.
Wealso now have a Breakfast Club that meets at alternative venues within the Province as a light-hearted gathering for fun, food and conversation. I can assure you the food is anything but light hearted. You have all received invitations to partake and further details are available on the website or by contacting the Deputy Provincial Grand Secretary.
We have in this Province a Web Administrator for our two excellent informative websites and a Communications Officer who I appointed three years ago to improve our communication within our own organisation, liaison with the Other Orders and the media. I fully support and in some instances, have led the way to ensure we fully embrace all that social media can offer.
The speed and to the numbers we are able to transmit messages by social media to the members of our own Province and beyond is without question truly amazing. But on a cautionary note please use them as the tools for which they were intended and not as a substitute for personal contact.
An email, text, Facebook or similar communication however convenient will never replace the experience of a telephone call or personal contact with another brother. In this degree, we meet only three times a year in our lodges and then briefly.
Do please therefore consider extending your friendship and brotherly love through informal gatherings such as the Breakfast Club, the social functions of the Summer Lunch and other events to keep in touchand further your enjoyment with each other.
In May, we entered a team of six for the MBF Charity Walk in London. My grateful thanks to my Deputy Chris Burgess and Brothers Colin Embley, Nick Edwards. Iain MacCormick and Kyle Whitbread who ensured I completed the course with them and had fun doing so. I will say no more on that subject as I suspect more may be said of that special day later.
If you have already had time to read the booklet for today’s meeting you will see in the Provincial Grand Charity Steward’s Report that every member of the Province is to receive a MBF lapel pin in support of Lincolnshire’s 2018 Festival. The pins will be distributed to you today but I urge you to note cannot be worn until after the 9thJuly in just under a month’s time. Your generosity in giving has allowed us to give to next year’s MBF Festival in Lincolnshire over £7,500.
Brethren, my thanks as always to those who by their hard work in the organising and planning of today have made it both a memorable and enjoyable one. The Provincial Grand Secretary and his team, the Bedfordshire Lodge of Provincial Grand Stewards, and of course the Provincial Grand Director and Deputy Grand Director of Ceremonies, to all of whom I am most grateful.
Brethren once again it has been my privilege to serve you as your Provincial Grand Master and I look forward to the year ahead with all the challenges it may bring.
May God,bless you all and sustain you in good health.
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