Piako Royal Arch Chapter No 48

Discussion at Regular Meeting of 18 April 2001

Discussion Leaders: Rt Ex Comp Jim Anderson PGL; Rt Ex Comp Les Borrell Grand Superintendent (Hauraki District)

Convenor: V Ex Comp Gary Kerkin, First Principal

This discussion was convened to raise the issues and problems confronting Royal Arch Masonry and to seek solutions to them.

Rt Ex Comp Jim Anderson spoke about the history of the Order; Rt Ex Comp Les Borrell spoke about the philosophy of the Order and its future.

A number of issues and thoughts were canvassed, but essentially they all reduced to one single comment: the membership of the Order is diminishing. The question then becomes one of survival. But of what? The Royal Arch or Freemasonry in general?

Basically the survival of the Royal Arch depends on the survival of Freemasonry. If the Order has a membership problem it probably has two causes: the membership problem of Freemasonry; and the way in which the Order gains and retains its membership from Craft Masonry.

Why would the Order not be able to gain members from Craft Masonry, and equally importantly, why would the Order not be able to retain its members?

There appears to be three main reasons:

  • Understanding and knowledge

  • The pursuit of excellence.

  • Encouragement

Understanding and Knowledge

Rt Ex Comp Les Borrell made three distinct points:

  • Philosophies such as Christianity and other religions, and Freemasonry are flawless: it is people, and their interpretation of the philosophies that introduce flaws.

  • The physical, intellectual and spiritual qualities of life come from within persons—they are not successfully imposed from without.

  • Freemasonry, although not a religion, has a spiritual element and those who miss that element, miss the point of Freemasonry.

Other contributors concluded that an understanding of these points by Companions is essential to the well-being of the Order. If the Companions of the Order do not understand the philosophy, the symbols, and the allegories of the Order, how can they ever hope to encourage new membership or retain existing membership?

The Pursuit of Excellence

Perhaps this section should really be entitled “The failure to pursue excellence.”

Rt Ex Comps Anderson and Borrell, and others emphasized a feeling that Freemasonry appears to be slipping into mediocrity: that it has drifted away from the desire for excellence.

It is, perhaps a malaise of society in general, rather than the Masonic Orders in particular, that excuses are offered for not attempting to excel at ritual, or understanding of the philosophies of the Orders. There may be reasons why individuals find it difficult to learn ritual—limitations on the time they can make available, pressures of work and family commitments, and failing memory processes being just a few. However, these are reasons—they are not excuses. Thus there is an increasing tendency for people to read their ritual, rather than learn and recite it, and this leads inevitably to a lowering of standards.

Encouragement

Many speakers identified a malaise that appears to be affecting attendance at meetings. Experience seems to indicate that many Companions are drifting into inactivity because their interest is no longer stimulated. This is not restricted to Royal Arch Masonry, but is seen as a malaise that is affecting society at large and Freemasonry in particular.

A feeling was expressed that new members are too often drafted into office too soon, sometimes discouraging that Companion. However, it is an individual matter—too soon for some may be just right for others.

Solutions and the Future

The meeting concluded that there were solutions:

  • Strive for excellence

  • Seek new membership and revive flagging interest

  • Encourage the use of mentors

  • Create enthusiasm

  • Promote the philosophies of the Royal Arch

Striving for Excellence

Chapters should always strive for excellence, responding to a challenge to improve in every way—in the conduct of its business; in the education of its Companions; in promoting itself to potential members; and in its performance of its ceremonies.

It should aim for perfection in its openings and closings; in its reception of visitors; and in the manner of conducting degree ceremonies.

Its challenge should be to get its ritual right and in doing so, enjoy it!

The benefits of this are seen to be threefold: well performed ritual is impressive; the participants get a great thrill from being part of it—and tend to talk about it outside of Chapter; everyone in the Chapter, including visitors finds enjoyment in the meeting.

Therefore striving to achieve excellence is likely to make the business of the Chapter more enjoyable to its members; revive the interest of inactive Companions in the Chapter; promote the character of the Chapter and the Order; and encourage new membership.

It has been suggested that a “top” District Team be organized to assist with ceremonial work. A twofold benefit is seen. Firstly the availability of a Companion from the team to fill in with a “difficult” charge when a Chapter is unable to find someone from within its membership to fulfill the task takes pressure off the Chapter to avoid a debacle by not performing the ceremony itself. Secondly, participation of Companions from a Chapter in the team will assist that Chapter in lifting its “game”. But the team is not seen as allowing Chapters to abrogate their responsibilities.

Seeking New Members and Reviving Interest

The so-called membership malaise facing Freemasonry affects recruitment into the Royal Arch. The problems of membership of the Order are therefore those of the Craft, and the solution is essentially one of finding new members for the Craft. Solve that problem and the membership of the Order is likewise solved. Therefore a prime objective for every Companion must be the introduction of suitable men for initiation into the Craft.

But the problem is not restricted to falling membership. It also applies to failing membership. So a second challenge facing all Companions of the Order is create the conditions that will revive the interest of inactive members and encourage them to attend meetings once again. And how is that achieved? More than likely the solution will be to make meetings interesting, stimulating and exciting—by striving for excellence.

Mentors

The concept of mentors is not new, and has been attempted in the past with varying success. Grand Lodge attempted to impose it on Craft Membership but there is little sign that it was ever successful. On the other hand it has worked very successfully where individuals have shown themselves to be willing to take responsibility for another, “junior”, Companion.

The key to the success of mentoring seems to be almost solely dependent on the desire of a Companion to take it on for a particular new Companion. That is, it cannot be imposed from above, and it will not work for every Companion in every circumstance. And it will only work where the mentor is either knowledgeable about the order or is prepared to make himself knowledgeable to assist the Companion for whom he has accepted responsibility.

Not every Companion will be able to take on the role of a mentor: there has to be an affinity with the “junior”; he may not feel comfortable as a guide; he may not feel his knowledge and understanding of the Order and its philosophies is adequate; or he may not feel confident in the task. However, it ought to be an objective of a Chapter to foster the concept and encourage its Companions to take on the role. And that objective may be assisted by a program of education—assisting every Companion to make that daily advancement in Masonic Knowledge.

Creating Enthusiasm

The enthusiasm of its Companions will be enhanced if the Chapter strives to make its meetings exciting and educational and its ritual and ceremonies as close to perfect as is humanly possible. To this end Grand Chapter has rewritten “The Archway to Success” and now presents copies to all three Principals.

If the enthusiasm of active members is enhanced, that enthusiasm will transmit to less active members, encouraging their return to active participation, and to members of the Craft who may be interested.

The prime responsibility for lifting enthusiasm probably lies with the more experienced “senior” Companions of a Chapter. It certainly lies with those who have vision and understanding.

Promoting the Order

Promotion of the Order is primarily educationally based. That is, communicating the idea that the lessons of the Order continue the lessons of Craft Masonry. It provides answers to the questions that are left hanging for a Master Mason.

Promotion takes several forms:

  • Individual promotion by Companions to other members of Freemasonry. But to be successful it is essential that the Companion be able to answer questions from an interested person, or know where to direct that person if he is unsure of the answer.

  • Promotion by a Chapter: Grand Chapter providing header boards to be placed on Craft Lodge notice boards is a start, but is not all a Chapter can do to promote itself to its host Lodge. Honours Boards, photographs of Companions (and not just First Principals), and lists of noteworthy achievements as possibilities to be explored.

  • Promotion by Grand Chapter: the Order has been allocated a full page in “The Freemason”.

Many in Grand Lodge have been seen to be opposed to membership of the Royal Arch however Grand Chapter is negotiating ways to improve relations between the two Orders. If this is to succeed, it is essential that Companions do not succumb to reacting to adverse comment by making negative comments about Grand Lodge themselves. A gentle reminder that the Order is recognised in the Grand Lodge Book of Constitution, and the contribution Companions make to the governance of their Craft Lodges should suffice.

Conclusions

  • The survival of the Royal Arch depends solely on its membership.

  • The responsibility for Royal Arch Masonry lies with the Companions and the direction is upwards from the grassroots—not from Grand Chapter down.

  • Where an individual Companion sees a need to improve things he must take responsibility and accept the challenge.

  • Questions from Companions must be encouraged to assist with education and understanding.

  • Promotion of the Order is the responsibility of every Companion. Promotion of the conclusions of this meeting is the responsibility of every Companion, the Chapter and Grand Chapter.

  • The education of Companions is the responsibility of themselves, their Chapter and Grand Chapter.

However:

One Companion cannot achieve success on his own: success will be achieved by a team effort, and the size of the team depends on the size of the objective. It may be a small group within a Chapter; it may be a Chapter; it may be Grand Chapter; or it may be the Order.

Gary Kerkin

13 November 2001

Copyright © Gary N Kerkin, SGRACNZ, 2001

SGRACNZ
royalarch.org.nz