Grand Master's Program

[Torence]

Our Grand Master, M.W. Brother Rick Swaney, has asked the Secretaries
in Illinois a very good but potentially vexatious question. I would
appreciate it if the group would help me out before I poll my lodge
for an answer. His question is this:

“Is the Lodge participating in the Grand Master’s Award of
Excellence? YES or NO
If not, what were the primary reasons the Lodge decided not to
participate?”

Any thoughts?

Fraternally,
Torence Evans Ake
Secretary-Elect
Auburn Park Lodge No. 789
Crete, Illinois

[Rob Sandilands]

Post by Torence
Our Grand Master, M.W. Brother Rick Swaney, has asked the Secretaries
in Illinois a very good but potentially vexatious question. I would
appreciate it if the group would help me out before I poll my lodge
“Is the Lodge participating in the Grand Master’s Award of
Excellence? YES or NO
If not, what were the primary reasons the Lodge decided not to
participate?”
Any thoughts?
Fraternally,
Torence Evans Ake
Secretary-Elect
Auburn Park Lodge No. 789
Crete, Illinois

Apart from the cynical side of me which says 'never ask a question if
you don't want the answer', it would help a little if we knew what was
involved in the program ... will it take a great deal of time/resources
that the Lodge can't afford? ... does it require major variations in the
Lodge's work program? ... will it delay candidates receiving their
degrees? ... will it cost the Lodge $$$? ...

Overall, though, it's probably a fair question, especially if the answer
is used constructively to the benefit of the Lodges and the Craft in
general ...

I would also suspect that part of the reason for asking is to determine
the amount of GL resources required to administer and adjudicate the
award ...

[KIV11]

Post by Torence
“Is the Lodge participating in the Grand Master’s Award of
Excellence?    YES or NO
If not, what were the primary reasons the Lodge decided not to
participate?”
Any thoughts?

Bro. Torence, perhaps, if we knew what the qualifications and reason
for the award were, we could give you an intelligent response. Thank
you.

George K.

[Doug Freyburger]

Post by KIV11

Is the Lodge participating in the Grand Master's Award of
Excellence?    YES or NO
If not, what were the primary reasons the Lodge decided not to
participate?
Any thoughts?

Bro. Torence, perhaps, if we knew what the qualifications and reason
for the award were, we could give you an intelligent response. Thank
you.

http://www.ilmason.org/files/forms/GMAE_score_09_10.pdf

There are six pages worth of activities in the list. Do one of the
activities and earn a point. Get enough total points and your lodge's
representatives get to march onto the floor at the annual
communication and get a photo op with the new Grand Master as
congratulations. Do more of them that any other lodge in your area and
you also get a trophy.

Listed individually I doubt many of the events would draw comment.
It's a lengthy list.

My view is the list are events that active lodges should do with or
without grand lodge guidance. A thriving active lodge would have such a
program across the calendar year so I consider it a suggested menu of
events. For lodge Masters without much management experience such a
menu is a very nice resource to draw upon to decide what events to have.
That and the reporting of the events is extra paperwork by the Secretary
so make sure to help out and do the paperwork yourself for any event you
do for your own lodge. ;^)

To someone who is suspicious of the motivations of the grand line, the
list contains several programs by the grand line and different lodges
have different opinions of GL programs. I ignored child ID events until
I volunteered at one, then I loved it and now my wife and I go to any we
hear about.

I see the program as a way to measure the health of a lodge. One of
many ways not the only way of course. Seen that way my lodge's
participation reflects a history of having trouble finding active
members and then recovering to become an active lodge again -
We've gone from struggling to get together degrees and a line to using
the list as a guide for what events will probably work and stuggling to
get any of them done, to doing plenty of the events, to doing enough of
the events that we'll march on the floor next time at GL.

[Torence]

The Illinois Grand Master’s Award of Excellence Program is not a
competition. Every Lodge in any District can receive one of Three
Award by earning points as follows:

Award of Excellence – 7 Primary and 8 Secondary Requirements
Meritorious Certificate - 5 Primary and 5 Secondary Requirements But
Only for Lodges with 80 Members or Less
Honorable Mention - 5 Primary and 5 Secondary Requirements & For
Lodges of 80 Members or Less 4 Primary and 4 Secondary Requirements

Primary Requirements:
Grand Lodge Attendance
DDGM’s – Official Visit
Open Installation of the Lodge
Invitation To Petition
Widows Communications
Candidate Education
Membership Retention
Unfinished Work
Unfinished Work Committee
Officer’s Proficiency
Dinner Meetings
Illinois Masonic Charities Fund
Lodge Officers School of Instruction
Lodge Membership Increase
Lodge Raisings Over 5%
Leadership Workshop
Attend Grand Lecturer’s School
Host and Illinois CHIP Event

Secondary Requirements:
Educational Programs
Community Builder’s Award
Other Lodge Visitation
Masonic Youth Groups
Religious Services
Father & Son or Daughter
Non-Masonic Youth Group
Degree Conferral at Other Lodges
Charity to a Brother
Scholarship Program
Academic Bowl
Coins for Children
Secretary’s Workshop
Masonic Community Days
Lodge Blood Drive
Eureka Challenge
Press Release
Instructors

Fraternally,
Torence Evans Ake
Secretary-Elect
Auburn Park Lodge No. 789 – Crete, Illinois
PM – Arcadia Lodge No.1138 – Lansing, Illinois

[Doug Freyburger]

The Illinois Grand Master's Award of Excellence Program is not a
competition ...

I like to see it as a Trestleboard.

In lodge the Worshipful Master writes the agenda on the Trestleboard,
the officers run the events and the brethren volunteer and participate
and a fun and productive time is had.

Think of the items in the program as the Grand Master writing an agenda
for the lodges. As long as the list is a good one the more items you do
on the list the better the Masonic year will be.

There's always the option of ignoring the list, going your own way, and
not marching on the floor at Annual Communication.

There's a compromise that ldoges are supposed to run themselves and be
largely independent yet the grand lodge has jurisdiction in its
territory. It's much the same compromise as the citizens in a republic -
As long as the legislature writes good law and policy the citizens
thrive in their independence.

[Torence]

Post by Doug Freyburger
I like to see it as a Trestleboard.

Not a bad idea; and a valid point. The Grand Master’s Program is
generally known only so far as the Master and his Principle Officers,
and perhaps the poor overworked Secretary. No member ever gets told of
its components, except as an after thought (as in “hey that thing we
did last week gets us another point”) neither do they get to bask in
much glory should the lodge win. The Award is geared to credit the
Officers and gives only lip service to the membership.
I think the condition exists because the generations that tend to
constitute our Grand Lines are becoming further removed from the
Master Mason Officers who are more and more the sort of man that is
also employable outside the fraternity. At the risk of over
simplifying I would say that in their working day, these Grand Line
Officers were more likely to rely on the instructions of their
superiors to know what to do, whereas today’s working age man is more
prone to work either independently or as part of a team; but with more
decision making and prioritizing done by themselves.

Post by Doug Freyburger
. It's much the same compromise as the citizens in a republic -
As long as the legislature writes good law and policy the citizens
thrive in their independence.

Freemasons, like the citizens of any country, will get only the
sort of government that they deserve. Americans get the government
that they deserve as do the Brits, just as the citizens of
Afghanistan, North Korea, etc. will get the sort of government that
they deserve. Our job as members of our “FreeMasonic Republic” is to
understand our Grand Lodge government, its predilections and
inclinations; and then employ it. Because recent and current
administrations misconstrue “usage” and the “law,” what was good law
for previous generations has been altered into a capricious thing.
“The Law” that will govern Lodges is more of the de facto sort rather
than any written composition because their members have as much
control on it as it does on them. That condition is only right for us
at least for the time being.
Before we can take that step, the one that will offer the most
good in government with the least evil, we must first agree on a
purpose. Then we can choose for our century the form of FreeMasonic
government that is most likely to achieve it.

Fraternally,
Torence Evans Ake
Secretary-Elect
Auburn Park Lodge No. 789 – Crete, Illinois
PM – Arcadia Lodge No. 1138 – Lansing, Illinois