FREEMASONRY AND PUBLIC AFFAIRS
Freemasonry and Public Affairs: Stoking the Flames of Excellence Bro. Garrison K. Co ourtney Asst. to the Grand Master for Publicc Affairs
Since affiliating with the Grand Lodge of Washington D.C., I have seen a flame from within the membership; a flame that has been slowly building within the hearts and minds of the members, regardless of age, background or length of service to the Craft. You can see it in the eyes of the Grand Lodge Officers and in the voices of the new candidates as they are initiated…there is something within them that is yearning to be unleashed. As I have watched this flame build, I realize that it is being stoked by a belief that Freemasonry is more relevant in today’s world than it has been in the last forty years. Freemasonry was always known as a society where good men work to become better and its members were considered the Who’s Who in politics, science, math, civics and business. However, due to major social/political issues and shifting priorities of our times, our fraternity has struggled to achieve the status it once enjoyed during the 1940’s and 1950’s in America.
that those that we seek will come to us by virrtue of who we are. By way of introduction, my name is Garrisson K. Courtney and I am currently the Chief of Public Affairs for the Drug Enforcement Administratiion. In this position, I interact with media outletss both domestically and internationally. Formerly, I was a television news anchor in the Pacific Northwest and have been a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security and for a member of Congress. As the Assistant to the Grand Master for Public Affairs, my role over the course of this year will be to help us create an unstoppable wildfire of Masonic action and a voice that originates from the Washington D.C. Free and Accepted Masons that spreads worldwide. Working together, we can do it.
We must know and understand our community, and our D.C. community must know and understand us and feel confident with our work.
Over the last several months, I have pondered deeply about how to stoke the flame, this passion within the Grand Lodge membership, in order to assist in the elevation of our fraternity back into its rightful spot as the voice of moderation, tolerance and civic debate in America. I have read the many member websites, Grand Lodge publications and other forms of communications that exist within our great fraternity and have seen the same flame throughout blue lodges worldwide. As such, I am determined to provide my services in order to create a prominent public face for the fraternity in Washington D.C.. We must create visibility. We must know and understand our community, and our D.C. community must know and understand us and feel confident with our work. We can no longer afford to simply hold our stated communications, and hope
As Assistant to the Grand Master for Public Affairs, I will play an active role in reviewing, designing and implementing the fraternity’s efforts in strategic communications including, media relations, electronic and print communications. Our communications activities will operate with two main objectives: institutional communications, in which our Grand Lodge communicates to external audiences; and program communications, in which communication activities are undertaken by the fraternity in the context of its program initiatives. The communications function is therefore both a central and cross-cutting function of the future of this great fraternity in our Grand Jurisdiction.
I am truly looking forward to serving you within this capacity and hope to work with every lodge this year to provide the working tools needed to educate potential members, create public opportunities and generate news interest in the service we as Freemasons provide to our community. I
The Voice of Freemasonry
21
