Strangers, whence come you? From Babylon?
Well not quite Strangers, Companions and certainly not from Babylon!
But we re-emerge from the summer recess and, I trust, with renewed enthusiasm and a sense of excitement as we now face the challenges of another Masonic year in 2017/2018. I hope that you have all “summered” well.
For Freemasonry in general, we are now three-quarters of the way through our Tercentenary year and a successful one it has been thus far. The Tercentenary Grand Ball is getting closer, to be held at Wicksteed Park in Kettering on 21st October and we, in the Royal Arch, will have supported all three of the major Provincial events to the best of our ability.
From the Royal Arch perspective, the season started in earnest this week with the September meeting of our First Principals’ Chapter at Ellindon where our guest speaker was E Comp Christopher Maiden, perhaps better known as the Grand High Priest of the Holy Royal Arch Knight Templar Priests and the Order of Holy Wisdom.
And what a tremendously informative and entertaining presentation he gave – an Order which first saw the light of day in the 1700s and now covers 27 countries worldwide with over 8000 members. E Comp Christopher travels widely and regularly as he oversees his domain – an avid collector of Air Miles, no doubt but a charming man with it.
Companions, all remains well within the Royal Arch Province and as reported at the Annual Convocation in June, 2016 was another successful year in terms of membership. We bid farewell to E Comp George Clayton at the Convocation after three very successful years and George played his part in raising the profile of the Order and visiting many a Chapter. He was replaced, as you are now aware, by E Comp Jim Boughton who needed no introduction. Jim had stood down as an Assistant PGM a year or so before and known as an enthusiastic Royal Arch colleague, he was an obvious choice in many ways. The fact that he and I played rugby together way back in the 1960s in the same old boys school team is neither here nor there!
Our new Third Grand Principal, E Comp Gareth Jones OBE, also honoured us with his presence and made an immediate impression on our proceedings as he has done on his many visits to other Provinces all around the country. His address to us was quite inspiring and in conjunction with E Comp Russell Race as our Second Grand Principal, their enthusiasm and encouragement for the Royal Arch raises our profile to another level. We are indeed fortunate to have them both and I personally feel that now is a good time to be a Companion of our Supreme Degree. The future looks good.
And within Province, the various Heads of other Orders continue, as always, to enjoy a close rapport and a degree of co-operation which is the envy of many another Province. There have been changes more recently – E Comp George Bonham stood down as the Provincial Grand Master in the Mark Degree in June, to be succeeded by E Comp Bob Stokes and E Comp Martin Wilson was installed in July as the new District Grand Master of the East Midlands, Royal and Select Masters. Both new incumbents have long been prominent players within our Province, well known and highly respected by us all and that excellent rapport we have so enjoyed with other Orders operating within Northamptonshire & Huntingdonshire over the years is set fair into the foreseeable future.
And whilst we can congratulate ourselves on the continued success of the Holy Royal Arch, we cannot afford complacency. Our success relies so much on a successful Craft Province with whom we work so closely; after all’s said and done, the Royal Arch is the completion of Pure Antient Masonry and the very completion of Craft Masonry itself - the happy ending to the storyline that, in the Third degree of Craft, ends in death, bereavement and anguish and for the teachings of the Supreme Degree then to introduce a spiritual awareness and re-awakening.
So, Companions, we all continue to assume the role of ambassadors for the Holy Royal Arch; we all share a responsibility to promote the Order even further and raise the profile so that those who have yet to join us appreciate that their Masonic journey is so incomplete until they have taken that fourth and final phase of Pure Antient Masonry. The Book of Constitutions makes it perfectly clear for those who seek further reassurance - a journey from “Initiation to Exaltation”, a happy ending with a few trials and tribulations thrown in for good measure along the way! And the Third Degree of Craft gives out so many clues and suggestions that there is still more to come.
Unfortunately, so many of our colleagues miss them initially; we are focussed so much on the intensity of a good, well delivered Third Degree ceremony but on further examination in the cold light of day, those hints and clues are so obvious. And that, my Companions, is the challenge I therefore set you - the very same challenge as I have promoted in recent years past and will no doubt continue to do so in the years ahead.
Our penetration into Craft membership remains at around 39% - it’s about average for most of our Royal Arch Provinces under Supreme Grand Chapter but there are one or two Provinces that really excel. We have a target “market” of some 60% therefore and just a few successes here and there will begin to make a difference. We on the Provincial Executive remain ever grateful for the tremendous support and encouragement you continue to give us; the welcome we receive on visiting your Chapters, formally or informally, is exemplary and we thank you for it.
And on a personal note, I am privileged to have been your Grand Superintendent now for the last – wait for it – ten and a half years. It has been a great experience to have made so many new friends over that time – friendships that will be life-long and that is a wonderful legacy to cherish. But still, together we still have much work to do – enjoy the new Masonic year 2017/2018, enjoy your Masonry certainly but most importantly, enjoy your Royal Arch Masonry.
And I shall look forward to catching up with you all as the season progresses.
Wayne E Williams
ME Grand Superintendent