Changing of the Guard - On Masters and Past Masters

This is the time of year in Iowa when we change our Lodge Officers. (I have never been able to understand why we do this at this time of year when the weather is so crummy and lousy. We were scheduled to have our Installation of Officers Thursday night but because of the impending ice storm it has been postponed to January 2 which may have just as rotten weather as has been promised for Thursday.)



That got me to thinking about the peculiar nature of the Masonic
Lodge. In Masonry the Master has great power and authority.

It is the duty of the Master:
a. To preserve the Charter of the lodge with unfailing care and to deliver it to his successor in office.
b. To select the appointive officers.
c. To appoint all committees, except as otherwise provided.
d. To appoint the standing Committee on Finance on the day of his installation.
e. To serve on the standing Committee on Charity.
f. To open and preside over the lodge when present and to make all necessary provisions for the faithful performance of that duty when absent.
g. To make pro tem appointments in the place of officers who are absent from the communications of the lodge.
h. To decide all questions of order.
i. To see that visiting brethren have courteous attention and are welcome in his lodge.
j. To cast, as Master, in the event of a tie vote, the deciding vote, in addition to the vote which he has already cast in his capacity as member of the lodge.
k. To give Masons instruction at every communication of the lodge.
l. To read and expound to the lodge the proceedings of the Grand Lodge.
m. To sign all orders drawn upon the Treasurer, after approval by the lodge.
n. To convene the lodge in called communications whenever there shall appear to him a necessity.
o. To see that the bylaws of the lodge, the Code of the Grand Lodge of Iowa, and the Ancient Constitutions of Freemasonry are duly understood, respected, and obeyed by the members.
p. To take command of the other officers; to claim of them, at any time, advice and assistance on any business relative to the Craft.
q. To see that the proper officers collect and truly keep the moneys of the lodge; to see that the furniture and other valuables are properly cared for; and should the Charter be forfeited or surrendered, to preserve these things subject to the order of the Grand Lodge.
r. To see that the Returns to the Grand Lodge are properly made out and forwarded by the Secretary within the time required by law.
s. To see that all unmasonic conduct that comes to his knowledge is dealt with according to the laws of the Grand Lodge.
t. To guarantee everyone charged with unmasonic conduct a fair trial and an appeal to the Grand Lodge if demanded.
u. To preside at the Masonic burial services of deceased Master Masons.
v. To inquire at each stated communication “Have all moneys received by the Secretary been paid over to the Treasurer and receipts taken therefore?”
w. To represent his lodge, in conjunction with the Wardens, at all communications of the Grand Lodge.
x. To install his successor in office

You can see that much is expected of the Master. His Jewel of office is the Square and he is expected to Act on the Square. To be honest with his Brethren and to lead the Lodge during his term of office and move the Lodge forward. If he is disengaged and does not pay attention to his duties the Lodge will suffer. Ultimately the Code gives him the responsibility to see that things are done as they are supposed to be done and to accommodate the Brethren. In a very real sense while he is the Master he is also the servant of the Lodge and the Brethren.

I have been a Mason for a lot of years (43 in March). During that time I have seen a lot of Worshipful Masters. Some have been great and others not so great. Not only the Masters of my Lodge but from many other Lodges. To a great extent the Master sets the tone for his year. He can be welcoming and cordial or he can be arrogant, dictatorial and drive people away. No one has to come to Lodge.

I remember one Master in particular. A really nice guy. But when he was Master he hung around outside while the members gathered in the Lodge room. When it became time for the Lodge to open he would walk to the East and assume his station, sound the gavel and open Lodge. Nothing wrong with that but there was no warmth, no welcoming to the members. He didn't talk to anyone but a few of his cronies and I decided that there were other places to be that year. So I got involved in the York Rite.

Another Master made sure that all of his officers understood that they were to be the hosts at Lodge and to make sure that all of the Brothers would greet and visit with the members on the sidelines. They were to spread themselves out and not hang out together ignoring the members. He himself walked up and down and talked to and shook hands with everyone. You felt very welcome and glad to be there. I attended Lodge more frequently that year. Earlier this year I was at a Lodge where the Master announced a "dress code" from the East. Members must dress a certain way or they would not be allowed to attend Lodge. I thought that was deplorable. I believe that Masons should dress appropriately for Lodge but I would rather have a Brother there in shorts and sandals in the summertime than not there. ("Masonry should regard no man for his outward apparel." I believe I have heard that somewhere before)

No Master can accomplish his goals by himself. Indeed he should not make his goals by himself. He should use his officers as a planning cadre so that they are invested in the program he has laid out for the Lodge to accomplish. I developed a plan that I used when I was Master for Arcadia Lodge. I had a pretty successful year. There are things in place that I started about 30 years ago and I am proud of them. I wrote it up for the Knights Templar Magazine and you can read about it here. I have to blow my own horn once in awhile because I am proud of what I did. But I did not do it alone. Every one of my officers had input into our plans and we all worked together to accomplish the goals.

One of the reasons I did that was because I had been listening to a Brother who was following me in the line and he was complaining that he had no input into what the Lodge did. So I decided to involve people. Unfortunately the next year things went back to a dictatorial year with him running the whole show. Others who followed were not that way. Each was different. One Master worked with his officers to make good plans and had a wonderful year planned out. But then he fell down on the job. It is not enough to make plans and delegate them. As Master you have to push, inspire, cajole and work to see that those who have jobs to do will do them. He didn't and his plans fell through.

Some Masters are interested in being Master and the prestige that goes with the office but aren't interested in what needs to be done to move the Lodge forward. Some like to do Ritual but are not interested in the day to day workings of the Lodge. Some see that a Lodge wants to have many and varied activities and work to accomplish those goals. Some just fill the position and don't co much. I am not going to judge but you can see that there are many and varied types of Masters. The Grand Lodge wants certain things to happen and have published guides for the Master to use but if the Master does not read those guides or listen to the messages that are given it just "ain't gonna happen." I personally think that the Leadership Seminar that Grand Master Butler has planned for next June is an exciting step forward for Iowa Masonry. I hope it is well attended. (I just wish I could attend but I have another meeting out of state at the same time.)

That brings me to the other topic I want to just touch on. As a new Master is installed the old Master goes out of office. He becomes a Past Master. An important post. Past Masters are honored with the emblem on the left. To be eligible to wear it (in Iowa) you need to have completed your term and installed your successor. I carried my Past Master's ring around for about 4 months before I could wear it. As with Masters there are all types of Past Masters. To me the job of a Past Master is to support his Lodge and the new Master. To help him and his officers in the ritual and activities of the Lodge always remembering that he is no longer Master and is not in charge of the Lodge. He should give "wise counsel" to the new Master and endeavour to help and assist him in the requirements of his office. After all he has been there and he can either be a help or a hindrance.

We had a speaker at our Past Master's night this year. He thought he was going to do us a favor by chastising the Past Masters and started out by telling them that they should attend Lodge and participate in the work and support the Lodge. The only problem was that he did not know his audience. Our Past Masters already do that. He was "out of line" in his remarks. Almost every Past Master in that room had been to lodge within the last two months and those who had not had made an effort to come that night from out of town. It was the first time that we had held a Past Master's Night for about 7 years. It was to honor those men and it turned out insulting some (most) of them. That was unfortunate. One of the reasons my Lodge is strong is because we have Past Masters who work in the Lodge and who support the officers and who (remembering how they were helped) help the current Master and his officers accomplish the goals on their Trestle-board. I am indeed fortunate to be a member of this Lodge and to be a Past Master of this Lodge.

Sorry for going on for such a long post. I know a lot of you aren't really interested in my Masonic Posts but sometimes I need to write some things and you don't have to read it. Thanks for stopping by on this cold, snowy day. ARTYAL, Bear Hugs, j