Tessellated Tales - Winter 2016

TESSELLATED TALES Newsletter of the District Grand Lodge of North Island, New Ze aland

Spring 2016 Issue

IS NO NEWS GOOD NEWS ‘No news is good news!’ A saying used in times of strife to pacify the concerns of those left behind at home.

Sadly in the case of the District Newsletter No News is Not Good News, as there is very little to report on in this edition.

Firstly I would like to thank the few who have, and continue to contribute on a regular basis.

Brethren the newsletter is your means of communicating with your fellow masons within English Masonry on the North Island.

From the lack of material received, I can only assume that very little is happening at District level and within the lodges that make up our district.

The Newsletter has four editions a year, here’s hoping that the next edition will be a bumper one.

Regards Editor .

?

Newsletter of the District Grand Lodge of North Island, New Zealand

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Celebrating 300 Years of the Grand Lodge of England in 2017 As everyone will be aware, 2017 marks the 300th anniversary of the formation of the United Grand Lodge of England, the first Grand Lodge of Freemasons to be formed.

The main event for our District will be held in Rotorua on the weekend of 17th and 18th November 2017.

The draft programme is as follows: Friday evening will be a Meet & Greet, followed by a hangi and entertainment from a local Maori Concert Party.

Saturday morning, the District Communication followed by lunch.

Saturday afternoon the screening of a short film on the celebrations in London, followed by a charity event.

Saturday evening will be a Formal Dinner.

Sunday morning a Parade and Church Service.

The weekend is not just for members of our own District. We will be joined by members of the South Island District and we will be inviting:  District of New Zealand North, Grand Lodge of Scotland  District of New Zealand South, Grand Lodge of Scotland  Province of New Zealand, Grand Lodge of Ireland  Grand Lodge of New Zealand  Members of English Constitution lodges in the region (that is, from Fiji, Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea and Australia).

We are also inviting a Ruler to come out from London although there is no guarantee one will be able to attend.

Individual lodges are also planning their own events in their own areas and, as these are confirmed, details will be circulated.

W Bro Tony Mansfield

A Big Thank you to W Bro Andrew Conlan On behalf of our readers, I would like to extend a big thank you to W Bro Andrew Conlan, who has been doing the layout and formatting of the District Newsletter for the past few years. Due to work committments he is unable to continue with his contribution to the newsletter.

Ed.

Newsletter of the District Grand Lodge of North Island, New Zealand

A Message from the District Grand Almoner Brethren, it has been interesting following the developments at Grand Lodge, on the new structure for the Grand Lodge charities. As you may be aware, on the 1st of April, Grand Lodge amalgamated their four charities, into one overall structure called the Masonic Charitable Foundation.

The MCF will simplify the 'brand' therefore, of Masonic charitable works. It should become instantly recognisable as the symbol of Masonic charity. A company, the RMBI Care Company, will operate within the MCF to look after day to day operation of care homes.

The change has been made, to create a 'parent' overarching charity with as few restrictions as possible, operating efficiently financially and prudently with the money so generously donated by lodges and those in the craft.

The numbers from Grand Lodge often amaze me.

Each year the charities in the UK assist 5000 masons, and last year this amounted to ÂŁ15.5 million pounds, roughly equating to $32 million NZ dollars. As well, they will assist non-masonic causes in the community with another ÂŁ3-5 million pounds.

On top of these figures, are the numbers assisted

by Provinces, Districts, and the English lodges around the world, themselves. If we consider masonry in general, imaging adding to the above, the amounts raised within the other constitutions around the world, in the US, Europe, even here and in Australia. I presume it must then get into the hundreds of millions!!

Information like this should be shared much more widely than it is, I believe, to allow people in our communities to form a more enlightened, encouraging, sympathetic, and realistic view of masons, and masonry, and our aims.

W Bro Ron Agnew District Grand Almoner.

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Lodge of the Future What will the lodges of the future look like?

Will they be dining clubs, community service groups or esoteric associations? Whatever they will be, Freemasonry will undoubtedly be smaller - fewer members in fewer lodges.

This is not your typical gloom and doom prediction. It is the natural cycle, which we have seen time and again throughout our history.

Lodges have always been formed and closed as needs and circumstances dictate. A group would form in an area of economic growth, work while that area was prosperous and then when the men left that area, it would close. That is surely how the operative lodges building cathedrals worked. When the cathedral was completed, the lodge would disband.

Four London lodges founded the Premier Grand Lodge in 1717. By 1725 they had over sixty lodges, by 1730 a hundred, and by 1740 over two hundred. However, by 1750, about a quarter of the London lodges had been expelled or erased from the register.

Still others seceded and joined the rival Antients Grand Lodge after it was formed in 1751. They sought a form of Freemasonry that, at least in rhetoric, returned to the older practices, which had stirred the founders.

However, Antients lodges went dark too. The Antients' practice was to re-assign the numbers of lodges that had closed to new lodges. Between 1751 and 1813, they did this 510 times!

The Union of the Antients and the Moderns in 1813 is held as a triumph for the Craft, but over the first thirty years of the United Grand Lodge of England, the number of lodges declined by a sixth. Fifty nine lodges were erased in 1828 alone, for not making returns.

In addition, no new lodges were warranted in London between 1813 and 1839 - twenty-six years!

Cont on Page 7

Newsletter of the District Grand Lodge of North Island, New Zealand

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The Past Master’s Jewel of W Bro Morris Moses

While sorting through the masonic effects of the late W Bro Dave Betterton, a number of treasures were found. Among these was a part of a past master’s jewel.

The jewel was incomplete as the ribbon and hangers were missing so all that was present was the square and Euclidean proposition. Inscribed on the back was “Wor. Bro. Morris Moses 1884”.

With no lodge mentioned, until recently it would have been quite a challenge to find the lodge for which Morris Moses had been Master. However, as part of tercentenary celebrations, UGLE has recently uploaded all their membership records up to 1921 on the Ancestry genealogy site.

A quick search on Ancestry and much was revealed. Morris Moses was born in Goulbourn, New South Wales in 1844. On 3 March 1866, at the age of 22, he was initiated into Lodge of Hope No. 1123 EC which met in Muurundi, Hunter Valley, NSW where he was working as a Station Overseer.

On 4 June 1868, he joined the Darling Downs Lodge of Harmony, No. 1191 EC in Toowoomba, Queensland, where was working as a clerk.

And in 1883, with William Nicholas Searancke as Senior Warden and Charles Chitty as Junior Warden, he was the Founding Master of The Alpha Lodge No. 2014 EC in Cambridge. Originally an Irish lodge which faded away in the 1860s, The Alpha Lodge No. 2014 EC was formed under a dispensation from the Prince of Wales Lodge in 1883. In 1890, it joined the New Zealand Grand Lodge as Lodge Alpha No. 81. It is still going strong in Cambridge and links with its mother lodge are maintained with occasional reciprocal visits.

On 14 June, a team from the Prince of Wales lodge (above) attended the meeting of The Alpha Lodge and took great pleasure in presenting the past masters jewel of their Founding Master, now suitably framed, to their current Master, W.Bro Scott Wallace.

W Bro Tony Mansfield

Newsletter of the District Grand Lodge of North Island, New Zealand

London Grand Rank It has been said on many occasions that little or nothing is known, outside the holders of the honour, about the proceedings of London Grand Rank.

I will therefore endeavour to tell something about it. London Rank, as it was originally designated, was instituted in 1908, when the Grand Secretary circulated the London lodges informing them that the Grand Master had decided to confer upon a certain number of past masters of London lodges a distinction for long and meritorious service, equivalent to Provincial or District rank.

For the year 1908 only, the number was fixed at one for each lodge. Lodges were asked to convene forthwith meetings of past masters to choose one, who must have filled the chair in a London lodge, for recommendation to the Grand Master.

This practice of selection for the recommendation was referred to at the time as unique, the Grand Master feeling that he could safely rely upon the advice of experienced past masters, who would best know which of their body, by long and meritorious service, earned such a distinction.

The Grand Secretary at that time was Very Worshipful Brother Edward Letchworth, later Sir Edward, and it is interesting to note that Sir Edward was the consecrating officer at the consecration of the Five Orders Lodge, afterwards becoming an honorary member of the Lodge.

The appointment to London Rank was limited in its early years to 150 per annum.

There was no annual investiture, the practice being to notify recipients of their award, this being followed usually by a personal presentation in their own lodge. In 1911 a number of additional appointments were made, bringing the ratio up to approximately one annually

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for every four London lodges, and in 1930 the ratio was again increased bringing it to one in every three lodges – and that is the position to-day. The first investiture was held on February 11th, 1933, at an emergency meeting of the Grand Stewards Lodge, the recipients being invested by the Most Worshipful Pro Grand Master Lord Ampthill.

Since that date the Grand Stewards Lodge has continued to sponsor the investiture and I am sure that the holders of London Grand Rank will agree that no more fitting an atmosphere for the occasion could be conceived. On June 7th, 1939, as his first message to Grand Lodge after his election as Grand Master, His Royal Highness the Duke of Kent granted the new designation of London Grand Rank and my own view is that the addition of the word “Grand” has considerably enhanced the opinion of the honour in the minds of not only the holders but of the brethren generally.

So much for history. I can imagine someone saying – but what do they do?

An organisation known as the London Grand Rank Association has been formed and every holder can become a member if he so desires, on payment of the appropriate fee. Whilst meetings are held they are not lodge meetings as such; Masonic clothing is not worn nor are ceremonies worked or Masonic signs exhibited. There is an elected committee which includes the usual Officers such as President, Secretary, Treasurer.

The Association has quarterly meetings at which one can hear lectures on a wide variety of Masonic matters.

Not infrequently these lectures are delivered by prominent brethren not necessarily holders of London Grand Rank. Written questions on Masonic procedure are invited and, if time permits, questions from the floor, all of which are fully dealt with either by the invited speaker or by a member of the committee.

Newsletter of the District Grand Lodge of North Island, New Zealand

The Association has contributed much to the Masonic charities and has been pleased to undertake as occasion arose activities for the benefit of Freemasonry.

In 1963 Right Worshipful Brother the Right Honourable the Earl of Warwick, Provincial Grand Master for Essex, undertook to preside over the 1964 Festival of the Royal Masonic Institute for Boys. This not as PGM Essex but solely as Treasurer of the Institution, and did so at very short notice. Consequently there was no province as the focal point for raising subscriptions and donations for the 1964 Festival as the Province of Essex was engaged in sponsoring the Girls Festival for 1963.

The Grand Master was therefore pleased to announce that the London Grand Rank Association had offered to sponsor this great undertaking and expressed his confidence that the

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success of the Festival rested in safe hands.

That his confidence was justified is indicated by the magnificent result of the appeal -over ÂŁ675,000-ÂŁ476,000 of which came from London alone, and this despite the fact that the Association had but two years in which to deal with the matter compared with some seven or eight years usually available in the Provinces.

The two most important things to remember about London Grand Rank are:(I) It is bestowed personally by the Grand Master and (2) A brother is recommended for the honour by his fellow Past Masters.

In short it is given for services rendered and anticipated.

W Bro D. Hall, L.G.R., P.Z. Five Orders Lodge, Architrave Lodge & Five Orders Chapter

Newsletter of the District Grand Lodge of North Island, New Zealand

Lodge of the Future cont....

During the French Revolution, Freemasonry almost disappeared from France, and edicts of Popes, Kings, and Emperors suppressed Masonry at various times, from Portugal to Russia.

The fallout from the Morgan Affair decimated Freemasonry in the United States. By 1837, almost two-thirds of the lodges in Indiana had closed. Only twenty-six lodges sent representatives to the annual communication of the Grand Lodge of New York that year.

Illinois, Michigan and Vermont didn't even hold sessions.

Whether because of the issues in England or those in the U.S. and even in Canada, membership declined. Of the twenty-six lodges listed on the Provincial Register of Upper Canada in 1829, eighteen became dormant within the next decade.

Nevertheless, Freemasonry rebounded in all of these jurisdictions; then declined and rebounded again.

As RW Bro James W. Daniel, Past Grand Secretary of the United Grand Lodge of England has said: ‘Lodges come and go. They always have, because they are essentially groups of friends.

Sometimes those friends almost isolate themselves and they do not bring in the next generation. Then the lodge will die. It is a matter of regret, but everybody dies. Even Grand Secretaries die. They are human.

Lodges must not be kept alive unnaturally.

One of the great things about Freemasonry is that basic units are allowed to die gracefully and new units are born as friends fall out and go on to form another lodge. It is a fantastic organisation we have which allows this to happen and the organisation goes on. It is like an amoeba.

We get worried about retention rates. We did some research into the 1880s, one of the high eras of Freemasonry. Then, the average age of a lodge before it died was only 15 years.

And we think we have problems today?’

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There is no question but that we in Ontario have been in a period of declining membership. Twenty five years ago, we had 91,000 members in 653 lodges. Now we have 31000 in 540 lodges. Apart from the total decline, notice what that has done to lodge membership. In 1989, we had an average of 139 members per lodge, now it is only 69. Given that less than a quarter of the members usually attend a given meeting, some lodges are having trouble getting enough out to open lodge.

Some Lodges will go dark; others will amalgamate.

Surprisingly we have found that we actually retain more members if a lodge goes dark than if it amalgamates. I think this is because, when his lodge goes dark. a brother is empowered to find a new lodge where he fits in and likes what they are doing.

Having fewer lodges is not always a bad thing. The remaining lodges end up with a larger number of active members, so that they have the critical mass to do things. There is less recycling of line officers and Worshipful Masters, leading to a more enthusiastic governance. The brethren, who had affiliated with several marginal lodges to keep them alive, have fewer mundane meetings to attend and therefore more time and energy to devote to successful projects.

Why do we obsess about numbers? Why do we so desperately want new members? Are we driven by a burning desire to improve men and society by sharing the philosophy of Freemasonry, or are we pre-occupied with paying for the upkeep of our crumbling buildings? Perhaps we should we rename ourselves the Architectural Preservation Association.

What harm can focusing on numbers do? It might lead to accepting a candidate we shouldn't, because we need his money! We might focus our time and effort on recruiting new members, rather than developing the members we already have (and then they, of course, will leave, leaving us just as desperate.) We talk about how things were in the ‘good old days‘, when our temples were overflowing, but who wants to join a group that continually says ‘We used to be great‘?

Moreover, measuring a lodge’s health by its size is not a valid method. Some small lodges are quite healthy, thank-you. Some even purposely limit their size to a small number.

Newsletter of the District Grand Lodge of North Island, New Zealand

size to a small number.

Grand Lodge focuses on this decrease in numbers and feels it needs to help, so it develops programs to increase membership. But as RW Bro Russell Staye, a Past Provincial Grand Master of the Orange Order, and a Past District Deputy Grand Master in our Grand Jurisdiction, said in a speech distilled from his observations of both organisations: 'What follows is what I think of as a period of what I refer to as 1960’s solutions.

Essentially programmes consisting of structured social events, the belief that if only you can train the member to do everything the "right way� all may yet be well, and the desire to engage in events to present the organisation to the public in a favourable light.

However well intentioned, these ideas are, they actually create stress upon the membership. Because the numbers are not what they once were, but the quality and scope of initiatives has increased, those dedicated brethren who remain bear an ever-increasing load of responsibilities.

This in turn may, and often does lead to a disconnection between the leadership of Grand Lodge and the membership. This occurs in main because the leaders continue to seek new ways to rehabilitate the order, while the brethren already burdened with more work, attempt to rationalise doing more with less, with the fact that the numbers are not rebounding.

Structurally while dues received fall with the role numbers, operating expenses never do.

This offers the classic dilemma of maintaining revenue through fee increases or cutting expenses. On a local level, this; may lead to lodges combining into one hall raising dues, or even going into darkness.

Either choice has its pitfalls - increased dues put a certain stress on individuals. Cutting expenses leads to a greater sense of retreat, and a pervasive feeling that the best days are passed.'

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So what can we do? As Grand Lodges, we need to stop making more and more programs to rescue lodges. Instead, we need to empower individual lodges to look at their unique situations and make the changes they need to thrive.

Let them adopt an Observant model if they wish.

Allow lodges to meet in undedicated rooms, so they can sell their millstone of a building and instead rent a room once a month in a multi-use facility. (I favour a room in a hotel, or a tavern that seems to have a precedent) Let them know they can change their bylaws so they meet less often. Then their meetings could be more elaborate, perhaps with proper festive boards, so they become events to look forward to. Let them focus on mentoring, or education, or mysticism - whatever it is they want their lodge to be. Above all, encourage them to strive for excellence in whatever they choose for themselves.

Many a present-day Mason thinks Grand Lodge will not let them explore these options, so we have to give them permission. In addition, some ideas of where to start their thinking, like the ones mentioned above. As long as they don't alter the Ritual or the Landmarks, they’re open for discussion. The funny thing is that none of the above is an innovation. They are all things that Masons have done in the past.

What will the lodges of the future look like?

Certainly there will be fewer of them but the ones that are there will be vibrant. Personally I hope some look like the Lodge at the Goose and Gridiron.

From The Square Magazine - December 2015

By RW Bro David J. Cameron of the Grand Lodge of Ontario Submitted by: W Bro Barry Holland LGR

If you have any articles or other information you would like published in the District Newsletter, please send them to: editor@freemasons.org.nz