Provincial News

The Provincial Grand Master

After an unprecedented year, and being away from our families, friends, lodges and chapters, it now seems that we can hope for a return to some sort of normality before this calendar year is out.

Before we look to the future, we must first take time to remember our brethren and family members who have lost their lives to this terrible disease. We should also remember in our hearts and minds, those of our nation’s heroes, still working tirelessly to keep our hospitals running, our services going, and our country moving towards recovery. Many of our members have taken up the challenge of volunteering to help in many ways, but none perhaps more important than those assisting in the administering of the vaccines, and the coordination of what we all hope is going to be the end of this pandemic. The speed and efficiency in which Sandie and I have received our vaccines, I know is being replicated up and down the country. But what about the future of our lodges? As you will know, the Provincial Grand Secretary and his team have been working tirelessly to understand and interpret the rules and guidelines from Grand Lodge, and how they affect each of our lodges. I am so grateful for the time and effort that Paul and his team, and the Comms committee, have put in to our “Back on the Square” initiative that will give us all a solid base for when we do return to our lodges. I am sure that you will all agree that when we do return, we will be celebrating very hard indeed. The team will be in touch soon to disseminate the details of how and when Freemasons’ Hall, Leicester, and our other centres will be opening their doors again in time for a new season! Watch out for the opening on our halls on July 5th, when we will all be joining the UGLE National initiative in support of NHS day. When you all next enter Freemasons’ Hall, Leicester your will see many improvements that have taken place whilst Freemasonry has been on ‘Hold’. We hope that you will approve! Nicola, Evie, Greg, Adam and the team have all been very busy whilst you have been away. Many of our lodges have several candidates waiting to join our fraternity; this is excellent news and certainly bodes well for the future of our Province. Our APGM, Andy Green, has a team from the Universities Scheme Lodges ready and waiting to assist those Lodges who wish to hold multiple ceremonies, so please do not be afraid to ask for help in this regard. We all hope that we are now on the home straight, so dust off those regalia cases and get ready! I thank you all once again for your efforts in supporting the Government’s guidelines, and supporting each other through Zoom meetings, phone calls, emails, letters, and other video calls.

I am very much looking forward to the day when we can meet once again on the square, and gather together at the festive board to raise a glass in celebration of a renewed bright future of Freemasonry, in this Province in particular, and the Country in general. Please all continue to take care and keep safe.

Peter C Kinder,

Provincial Grand Master

Wanted: Marketing Officer

Would you like to join the Provincial team and help out with our marketing and communications? If so, we have a Marketing Officer vacancy to help shape how we engage with the public social media and open days.

Under the guidance of the Provincial Communications Officer, the role of Marketing Officer is designed to ensure the Province has an effective and consistent approach to messaging. The specific duties include: 1. Working with the Social Media team to supply and guide consistent, relevant content and messaging. 2. Working with the Communications Officer to create the messaging for any future advertising of events. 3. Through the Communications Officer, coordinate and implement marketing initiatives from Grand

Lodge. 4. Assist with the creation and management of future events, such as open days. The successful applicant will gain insight into the workings of communication and marketing of the Province and Grand Lodge. This is a new and exciting role created to support the expanding team and the professionalisation of our operations. Please contact me at communications@pglleics.co.uk if this interests you.

Richard Barnett, Provincial Communications Officer

Time for Change

In our enthusiasm to return to how things were, it is important to consider moving forward as we look to engage with our members and attract the Brethren of the future.

We would all surely agree the pace of modern life is far removed from that time when many of our more senior members joined the Fraternity. The employer expectations of a young, working-man are also very different from the often nine-to-five working day of previous generations. It is now extremely common for men to regularly work into the early evening. Young men also have intense personal lives with multiple activities making calls upon their precious time. In the era of scheduled zoom calls, meetings and conferences, a modern man expects his professional life to be efficiently planned with little or no time wasted during his working week. With this in mind we need to be time sensitive, if we are to successfully attract and initiate suitable younger working men into a fraternity which still often commences meetings prior to 18.00hrs.

Clearly the ceremonial aspect of our meetings remains central to our Masonic education and development, and as such should not now, or ever be subject to change. However, in an effort to make meetings more accessible, whilst continuing to carry out unchanged the formal part of the evening, we have suggested several time-saving alterations to the administrative sections of our meetings. Whist acknowledging all Lodges quite rightly have their own traditions, it is important to consider these suggestions which can be found in the Lodge DC’s guidance booklet within the Director of Ceremonies section of the Member’s portal on the Provincial Website.

If some or all of these suggestions are implemented, it is hoped no meeting will be required to commence prior to 18.00hrs with opening times of 18.15 & 18.30 hrs actively encouraged. Clearly the final decision rests with individual Lodges. However, as you consider your options, I urge you to look at your current active membership and compare it to where you were ten and maybe twenty years ago. Your membership may have increased, or you may well see it dwindle as you retain all of those historic Lodge traditions. If you like - “do it like we’ve always done.” Once again this is an issue to be addressed by the Lodge, but the harsh reality is, if membership numbers continue to fall without being addressed, individual Lodges will in turn dwindle and ultimately close. If you want to ensure the future of your Lodge, we must guard against apathy and complacency. The time for doing nothing has passed. The future of your Lodge may well depend on your willingness to embrace change and adapt.

Holding on to tradition may be the last thing your Lodge does.

Dale Page,

Provincial Grand Mentor

Introducing the Lodge Membership Officer

This year sees the introduction of a new collared office within our lodges. The important role of Lodge Membership Officer is now being introduced to assist with the selection process of candidates prior to them becoming a member.

It is not often we see Grand Lodge introduce a new role to assist with the smooth operation of our lodges. We are now planning our return to lodge after a considerable period of absence, so we need to ensure the backlog of candidates we have are managed in an efficient way, prior to them becoming Freemasons, and prior to our Lodge Mentors taking the ownership for their development. We are also looking forward to the relaunch of our Pathway initiative later this year, where we will outline an effective way of supporting attraction and retention of members. The role of Lodge Membership Officer will be crucial to the success of the Pathway. Specifically, the role of Lodge Membership Officer will be to support those who propose or second a new member into our fraternity, as well as to advise the lodge interviewing panel about best practice and the necessary steps which need to be taken. The Lodge Membership Officer is a vital part of our lodge operations, who will also work very closely with potential members who are not sponsored; those being from an external source such as the lodge or Provincial website. The role is also key to implementing and interpreting the lodge Planning and Attracting Policy, which will help to attract the right individuals to the specific characteristics of our individual lodges. Once the interview process has been completed, and we have welcomed our new member into his first meeting, the Lodge Membership Officer will ensure a smooth handover to the Lodge Mentor for the next stage in his learning and understanding. The two important offices will work very closely together as we strive for continuity and care of our members, both old and new.

It is very important to stress the skills required to successfully fill this role: he must be adept at interviewing skills, be positive, supportive, and inspiring to encourage proposers and seconders to achieve a high standard for the next generation of Freemasons. He must also be open minded and supportive of the Lodge in general, to ensure we only admit men who meet the qualifications for membership and who are suited to the lodge, in both time and fit with the existing members. The full duties are explained further on our member’s website, www.pglleics.org. uk/members-portal . Above all, this is a fantastic office for someone to take on a role of such high importance, and also a great opportunity to ensure we achieve a high standard of membership who will grow with the lodge and become active members.

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