R.W. Bro. Fred­er­ick Skeggs
Dis­trict Deputy Grand Mas­ter
Algoma East District

Brethren,

On behalf of our Grand Mas­ter, Most Wor­ship­ful Brother D. Garry Dowl­ing, Grand Mas­ter of the Grand Lodge of Canada in the Province of Ontario, I bring you greet­ings to all of the brethren of Algoma East District.

Masonry in our dis­trict is healthy and vibrant.  We are expe­ri­enc­ing more growth in our mem­ber­ship now than we have seen in years, even in decades.  Masonry’s promise of self-improvement, of cre­at­ing good­will and hap­pi­ness, is an attrac­tion to men of all ages.

Brethren, let us use this great oppor­tu­nity to use this growth to strengthen our Lodges.  We have a golden oppor­tu­nity, tak­ing a line from the Grand Lodge Brother to Brother pro­gramme, “… to retain, revi­tal­ize and renew…”

So what is our plan for Masonry in our Lodges in Algoma East Dis­trict to respond to this great opportunity?

The pur­pose of the craft Lodge is to progress the can­di­dates through the three degrees.  It would there­fore seem log­i­cal that we should give renewed effort and impor­tance to how we deliver the rit­ual to our can­di­dates and to how it is explained to them.  Improve­ment of the rit­ual work, the floor work and the spo­ken word will make a last­ing impres­sion on our can­di­dates and will influ­ence them to con­tinue their Masonic journey.

I believe that Masonic edu­ca­tion will also allow us to retain more of our can­di­dates and keep other brethren inter­ested.  The rit­ual with­out mean­ing is mean­ing­less and sym­bols with­out expla­na­tion of their higher and secret truths are insuf­fi­cient to illu­mi­nate the mys­ti­cal path which Masons seek.  As well, let us divide the rit­ual work where we can to allow the brethren who want to par­tic­i­pate and want to learn to deliver the work in open Lodge.

Broth­er­hood should also be an also impor­tant com­po­nent of our growth.  Free Masons are broth­ers.  We have a bond that holds us together.  We are imme­di­ate friends with another Mason and we have a spe­cial rela­tion­ship with each other.  We must pro­mote between our­selves an atti­tude of good­will and harmony.

Lastly, the use of Grand Lodge pro­grammes which have been devel­oped can strengthen, revi­tal­ize and renew our Lodges.  The use of the Men­tor pro­gramme will ensure that every can­di­date is prop­erly instructed in the fun­da­men­tals of the craft.  The Brother to Brother pro­gramme will held retain mem­bers of the craft, revi­tal­ize long-term mem­bers and will help renew those mem­bers who are no longer active.  The Cor­ner­stone project assists Lodges to

plan, imple­ment and man­age a well-rounded Lodge pro­gramme that pro­motes Lodge activ­i­ties, broth­er­hood, char­i­ta­ble work and com­mu­nity involve­ment.  The Masonic Chip pro­gramme gives Masonry a high pro­file in our com­mu­ni­ties and deserves our participation.

The Dis­trict Chair­men are experts in the var­i­ous pro­grammes and I know they will do what­ever it takes to assist each Lodge rep­re­sen­ta­tive to make sure the pro­gramme is a suc­cess.  We must have, how­ever, some­one in each Lodge where the pro­gramme is not used to step for­ward and take a lead­er­ship position.

Brethren, this is our oppor­tu­nity.  Let us keep our mem­bers inter­ested and do what we can to make Masonry mean­ing­ful.  Let every Lodge have a plan.  I look for­ward, along with the Dis­trict Sec­re­tary W. Bro. Bob Smylie, to a suc­cess­ful and ful­fill­ing year for all Masons in our district.