Quarterly Communication of Grand Lodge
11 March 2015
Report of the Board of General Purposes
Minutes
Minutes of the Quarterly Communication of 10 December 2014 were confirmed.
Election of Grand Master
HRH The Duke of Kent was re-elected Grand Master.
Report of the Board of General Purposes
GRAND LODGE REGISTER 2005–2014
Tables showing the number of lodges on the Register and of Certificates issued during the past ten years.
Charges for Warrants
For the year commencing 1 April 2015 the charges (exclusive of VAT) shall be:
Amalgamation
The Board had received a report that New Southgate Lodge, No. 5187 had resolved to surrender its Warrant in order to amalgamate with New Cross Lodge, No. 1559 (London). The Board recommendation that the lodge be removed from the register in order to effect the amalgamation was approved.
Masonic standards and values
The Board stated the rules governing masonic standards and values. They said that Freemasonry is above all a moral organisation, founded on the principles of Brotherly Love, Relief and Truth – or, as it could more familiarly be put in the language of today, kindness; charity and generosity; and integrity and honesty. Those principles – if they are to mean anything – clearly require the maintenance of the highest standards of behaviour by Freemasons in both public and private life.
Electronic communication of formal documents
The Board last made recommendations to the Grand Lodge on this subject in June 2009. Since then, as reported in June of last year, the Board has set up a Committee to consider how electronic systems and methods can be used to streamline systems and produce economies. The first result has been the electronic distribution of the Paper of Business and the printed Proceedings of the Grand Lodge, which is already showing a considerable saving in costs. The Board now recommends the introduction of a new Rule into the Book of Constitutions which will specify certain documents as being of such importance that they must be transmitted only in physical form and bear original signatures. It is not intended that the new Rule should supersede the existing guidance, which will, for the time being, remain in force, but it is intended thereby to establish clearly the irreducible minimum beyond which electronic communication will not be permitted whatever relaxation may in future be permitted from the guidance given in 2009. Notice of Motion to amend the Book of Constitutions accordingly appeared on the Paper of Business.
Erasure of Lodges
The Board has received a report that twenty-eight Lodges have closed and surrendered their Warrants. They are: Prince Edward of Saxe Weimar Lodge No. 1903 (Hampshire & Isle of Wight), Sanctuary Lodge No. 3051 (London), St Aidan Lodge No. 3460 (Northumberland) Leoride Lodge No. 3585 (Surrey), Whiston Lodge No. 3614 (Cheshire) Hendon Aero Lodge No. 3895 (London), Sanderstead Lodge No. 4133 (Surrey), Abbeygate Lodge No. 4219 (Essex), Cambridge Heath Lodge No. 4506 (London), Winlaton Lodge No. 4546 (Durham), Priory Lodge No. 4671 (Yorkshire West Riding), London Nottinghamshire Lodge No. 5133 (London), Beaux Arts Lodge No. 5707 (Surrey), Windmill Hill Lodge No. 5843 (Middlesex), Edgbaston Lodge No. 5980 (Warwickshire), Observer Lodge No. 6015 (South Wales), Heworth Lodge No. 6331 (Durham), Burstow Link Lodge No. 6601 (Surrey), Lodge of Good Endeavour No. 6628 (Cheshire), Lodge of Fidelity No. 7237 (Durham), Blackpool Lodge of Loyalty No. 7332 (West Lancashire), London River Lodge No. 7595 (Surrey), Withy Lodge No. 7733 (West Lancashire), Lodge of Solidarity No. 8018 (London), Walcountian Lodge No. 8417 (Surrey) Lodge of Perception No. 8492 (Warwickshire) and Cudlow Lodge No. 8738 (Sussex).
A recommendation that they be erased was approved.
Masonic Housing Association
There was a presentation by M.C. Clarke, Chairman of the Masonic Housing Association.
New Lodges
List of new lodges for which Warrants have been granted by the Grand Master showing the dates from which their Warrants became effective:
12 November 2014
No. 9903 Lodge of Brevity (Eastleigh, Hampshire and Isle of Wight)
6 January 2015
No. 9904 Sir Louis Mbanefo Lodge (Onitsha, Nigeria)
No. 9905 Glaslyn Lodge of Installed Masters (Porthmadog, North Wales)
Quarterly Communication of Grand Lodge
A Quarterly Communication of the Grand Lodge will be held on 29 April 2015 (Annual Investiture), 10 June 2015, 9 September 2015, 9 December 2015, 9 March 2016 and 8 June 2016.
Convocation of Supreme Grand Chapter
Convocations of Supreme Grand Chapter will be held on 30 April 2015, 11 November 2015, 28 April 2016 and 9 November 2016.