Welcome
From the Deputy Grand Master It was with a degree of trepidation that I accepted the invitation to guest edit the Grand Secretary & Grand Scribe E’s opening column in FMT. It is quite an established custom for the Grand Secretary to set the tone for the magazine with reflections on recent events, detailing forthcoming developments and engaging with the readership. I was told, ‘You have a blank canvas – over to you.’ The last 15 months, from the run-up to the first lockdown, have been some of the most challenging for our country and society that most of us can remember. The tragedies experienced by families throughout the land will be with us for many years to come and will leave their scars. There have been periods when familiar aspects of our lives, such as spending time with our extended families or seeing our friends at lodge meetings, were no longer available to us. I have heard it said many times during the pandemic that Freemasonry has gone into abeyance – this is certainly true for our physical lodge meetings. Zoom, WhatsApp and even old-fashioned telephone calls have all been helpful for staying in touch, but are no substitute for personal contact. In another sense, so many of our members have remained active in demonstrating the values and ideals of Freemasonry. They have engaged wholeheartedly in our communities and contributed to our society in so many
‘I received a message from a friend and brother: he had just visited his local clinic on a Sunday to be vaccinated, and was delighted to say all the volunteers supporting the medical staff were members of a local lodge’
practical ways, as well as through the joint efforts of UGLE, the Provinces and the Masonic Charitable Foundation (MCF, the Freemasons’ charity) in supporting local charities. The Grand Master granted 258 Certificates of Commendation to members throughout England and Wales ‘for their outstanding contribution to Freemasonry’s role in our nation’s fight against COVID-19’. This emphasises something the Grand Master has made clear on numerous occasions: it is the engagement with our communities in practical ways, with our members using their many and varied skills, which is one of the key traditions of being a Freemason. These practical efforts have not slackened, even as we saw the hoped-for end of the pandemic come into view. In late March, as the vaccination programme was in full swing and almost 30 million people had been given their first jab, I received a message from a friend and brother. He had just visited his local clinic on a Sunday to be vaccinated, and was delighted to say all the volunteers supporting the medical staff were members of a local lodge. To all who have contributed to these efforts, thank you. As you will be aware from the annual report published in April, the Pro Grand Master asked me to chair a small working party to consider the future strategy for UGLE. We benefited with ideas from a number of the other working parties looking at membership and communications, as well as comments from updates provided by Provincial Grand Masters and Grand Superintendents on what they felt should be addressed in 2022 and beyond. One of the key considerations was how best to articulate clearly both our purpose and the tangible effect of being a Freemason today. There is a much greater awareness in society of the need for organisations to state their values and FMT Summer 2021
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to live up to them. Those that do will hold the commitment and engagement of members old and new. The conclusion was a mission statement, published with the annual report, that presents what Freemasonry is and what its members do. This can be shared with our families and is a good basis to talk about Freemasonry with those who are not Freemasons. Within the mission statement, there is a challenge for us all. We must ensure that Freemasonry under UGLE enhances its ‘reputation as a thriving organisation that people aspire to join and broaden our membership across all age groups’. This is something to which we can all contribute, both as individuals and within our respective lodges. Without your support we cannot succeed. This is not something that can be done by UGLE, the Metropolitan, Provincial and District Grand Lodges alone. All lodges and members have a crucial role to play. It is as important to engage and enthuse our current members as it is to attract potential new ones. Your enthusiasm is the best advertisement for potential future Freemasons. I very much hope, brethren and companions, that by the time you read this, the Government will have been successful in following its roadmap out of the pandemic and that lodge and chapter meetings will have resumed in a way that we can all thoroughly enjoy again. Jonathan Spence Deputy Grand Master Cambridge, Easter 2021
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