Address To The Companions At Provincial Grand Chapter
Thursday, 2nd June 2011.
| Companions, as always, I am pleased to begin my address by congratulating those Companions who were appointed or promoted to Provincial Rank today. It is your day and you have every right to be proud of yourselves. It certainly gave me great pleasure, to invest you all and being a relatively small Province I knew everyone of you and the opportunity to acknowledge the contribution you have made to the Royal Arch is something I look upon as one of the highlights of the year. |
| Companions, let me remind you however that your new ranks are not only recognition of your past efforts, but carry with them the expectation that you will continue to use your knowledge and experience, in your own Chapters and in the Province, for the good of Royal Arch Masonry. You have the continued responsibility to help promote our Order by encouraging Master Masons in your Craft Lodges to take the final step in pure Ancient Masonry and become Royal Arch Masons. |
| I also congratulate those Companions who were recently appointed to Supreme Grand Chapter rank in April.... E Companion John Palmer was appointed PGStdB and E Companion Graham Bayford, PAGDC, in recognition of their services to their respective Chapters and to this Province. Both appointments are well deserved and I congratulate them on their preferment. |
| Companions, I am very conscious of the tremendous efforts many of you have made, and are still making, to promote
the Royal Arch and to recruit new members, and there is no doubt that your efforts have been very successful in reducing the
decline in our numbers in recent years. As you will see from the statistics on pages 8/9 of today's booklet, we have not yet quite reached the point at which our gains are greater than our losses, so I do ask to you all, to keep up the good work... and in this connection I make a special appeal to those Chapters who have not recently attracted new members, to make every effort to do so. Some Master Masons will approach Royal Arch members and ask them to propose them into the Royal Arch, but in the main the approach has to come from us. So it is down to us to talk to our Masonic friends who are not in the Royal Arch and persuade them of the very good reasons that there are, to join us. It would be a real achievement if we were to turn that minus figure in our statistics into a resounding plus. |
| And the challenge we continue to face is to make every effort to ensure that our Order is attractive to both new and existing members alike so that they understand its principles and its meaning and thereby make it enjoyable and stimulating for them to be a part of.... at this point may I extend a warm welcome to a number of Companions who have been exalted within the last twelve months and who are with us today. |
| Companions, today marks the retirement of E Companion Bernard Greenwold, from the Provincial team. I appointed Bernard as 3rd Provincial Grand Principal in January 2006 and in June 2008 he was promoted to 2nd Provincial Grand Principal. He has served the Province wonderfully well during the last five years and he has most certainly met all of my expectations. His advice on matters concerning the Royal Arch has been greatly valued and his enthusiasm and good humour has earned him the respect of Companions throughout the Province. Thank you, Bernard, for your support and all that you have done for this Province... it is greatly appreciated. |
| I was very pleased to promote E Companion Richard Chandler to 2nd Provincial Grand Principal. For the past three years he has carried out his duties as 3rd Provincial Grand Principal in an exemplary manner and I look forward to working with him. I also welcome E Companion Ian Hopgood as the new 3rd Provincial Grand Principal. Ian is well known to many of you, having been an Assistant and then Deputy Provincial Grand Director of Ceremonies... during the past four years. He is very familiar with how the Province works and I have no doubt he will be a great asset to the Provincial team. |
| Companions, as you know, we have supported the PGM's 2011 Festival for the RMBI, since it was launched in March 2006 and it gives me tremendous pleasure to tell you that this Royal Arch Province of 38 Chapters, containing just under 1100 members (most of whom are members of Berkshire Craft Lodges) has raised in excess of £110,000 ... that by any standards is a phenomenal amount to have raised !!!) I am most grateful to everyone who has supported this very worthy cause; I am very proud of what you have achieved and it is indicative of the way that we pull together as a Province. |
| Companions, with the completion of the RMBI Festival... today also marks the retirement of E Companion John Waters as Provincial Grand Charity Steward... I think it fair to say that John's drive and enthusiasm has made an enormous contribution to the success of the three major appeals he has spearheaded since he became Provincial Grand Charity Steward in 1995... beginning with the Sue Ryder Care Home in the late nineties, and the Royal Arch donations to the 2000 Festival in support of the RMTGB, and of course, the 2011 Festival in support of the RMBI. With all three, we have raised a considerable amount of money... John, I thank you most sincerely for all that you have done for the Province and wish you a happy and well deserved retirement.... |
| I was pleased to appoint E Companion John Pegler as the new Provincial Grand Charity Steward and I know that he is an equally dedicated Royal Arch Mason who will follow in the footsteps of his predecessor. |
| Companions last year the ME Pro First Grand Principal said in his address to SGC that it had been far too long
since we last had a Royal Arch celebration, and he was delighted to announce the decision that... we will celebrate the
bi-centenary of the declaration of the Royal Arch, as the completion of pure ancient Masonry... in October 2013. As part of the celebrations it has been decided that a donation will be made to the Royal College of Surgeons, to help fund the College's successful surgical research fellowship scheme, which receives no funding from central government. Therefore, the Royal Arch Masons 2013 Bicentenary Appeal was launched at Supreme Grand Chapter last November. I have not spoken about the Appeal because I wanted us to concentrate all our efforts in supporting our own Festival Appeal for the RMBI. Now that that has finished, I would like us to turn our full attention to supporting this very worth while appeal and I know that, as always, I can count on your support. |
| Further details will be given to Chapters by the Provincial Grand Charity Steward and I would like all donations to be channelled through him so that he is enabled to keep accurate records of our donations. |
| Furthermore, I am very pleased to tell you that a team from the Royal College of Surgeons has kindly agreed to come to Berkshire First Principals next May to give a talk on their particular fields of research... and I can tell you that having heard them speak at SGC it is sure to be a very interesting and enlightening meeting which will be a "White Table" event so that our Ladies and other Brethren will be able to attend. |
| Companions, as you all know our Provincial Grand Master is to retire from office in July, after having served this Province with great distinction for many years... the last eight as PGM. Michael, we thank you for all that you have done for this Province and for the unstinting support you have given to the Royal Arch and we wish you and your dear wife, Vicky, a long and happy retirement. |
| Before I close I must thank the outgoing Provincial Officers of the year who have supported me so well over the last twelve months. There have been various important convocations, as detailed in Provincial Grand Scribe Ezra's report and each and every one has seen a very large turn out of Active Officers. Their presence has added to the enjoyment of those visits and I feel sure that they have made lasting friendships during their year. |
| Companions, I am now in my sixth year as your Grand Superintendent and as time goes by, I realise more than ever that there are so many Companions to thank for helping to make this such a wonderful Royal Arch Province, too many to name them individually... but I know who you are and I am truly thankful for all that you do. |
| I must make some exceptions. Firstly, I am most grateful to the Provincial Grand Scribe Ezra and the Provincial Grand Director of Ceremonies and their respective teams for all that they have done during the past year and their care and attention in making the arrangements for our Annual Convocation, today. |
| I also thank the members of the Provincial Executive who are always there to advise and guide me. We work as a team and their support is invaluable. |
| And finally to you, the Companions of Berkshire... We always enjoy our visits to your Chapters and we are continually delighted at the standard of ritual and the enthusiasm and commitment that we encounter and are enormously grateful for the warmth of welcome you give to us. |
| It gives me a sense of well being to know that I and my team, have your loyal support and please be assured that we will do all we can to continue to earn your trust. |
| I look forward with great enthusiasm to the coming Masonic year and very much hope that you all enjoy the summer break and return refreshed to continue to promote and enjoy this wonderful Order of the Holy Royal Arch. |
| Companions, thank you all. |
