Brothers near and far.
Back in October I mentioned in my column that the Grand Master has asked that the District Leadership Teams certify that each lodge within their district can open and close a communication.
Shawn and I intend to start these certifications after the first of the year. We will be contacting the masters to arrange appropriate times. The opening and closing must be performed with the elected and appointed officers in their respective chairs and without using 'The Book'. I want to make it clear that we will not be looking for perfection but rather that the lodge officers are familiar with the opening and closing ritual and know their parts. Occasional prompting is not a problem but should be 'Occasional'.
I suspect that a few of the masters are concerned about their lodge's ability to execute the opening and closing ritual and that is where your AGL's come in. If you feel the need for help get in touch with either Shawn or myself and we will work with you to get your lodge certified. As I have said in the past, we are not the ritual police. It is not our job to beat up on lodges. Rather it is in the best interest of all to do good ritual. We want all of our lodges to succeed.
Many of our lodges go dark in January, February and even March which leads me to a couple of suggestions. One that has been very successful in our lodge is to have an informal dinner meeting those months at a convenient restaurant. A second idea would be to travel to a lodge in another district that is open and meet some new brothers. Looking through this month's Word will probably help you in the search.
Finally, the holiday season is here. It is a time when the true value of family and friends is made manifest to us. It is my hope that each of you is able to enjoy that value to the utmost and happily look forward to the coming year.
Hope to see you soon in Lodge.