Worthy Knights this is the fourth occasion on which I have the privilege and pleasure of addressing you at our Divisional Conclave.
May I first pay tribute to all the members of this Division that were mentioned in our requiem earlier. Their devotion and dedication to this Order was immense. They were all well known to us all, but I would like to speak about three of them individually.
Ill Kt Les Aylett had been a member of this Order since 1977 – 37 years – and was in his 90thyear. He had been a dedicated supporter of the Order rising to and being promoted within Grand Imperial Conclave. He was an example to all.
Ill Kt Frank Barton had been a member of the order for 21 years. He rose through our ranks to the position of PGStB (C) largely through his leading role in the Order on the Isle of Wight. He would this year have taken the Sovereign’s position in our Past Sovereigns’ Conclave – St Peter and St Paul, – and would have been considered for further promotion in Grand Imperial Conclave.
E Kt Alessandro Bonelli, had only been a member of the Order for 6 years. He was looking forward to being the Sovereign of his Chapter, but we were all aware of his very serious medical condition and the dedication with which he fought it. It was my intention to appoint him to Divisional rank at this meeting and as you have seen from the investiture, I have made that appointment posthumously. His family were very supportive of him and his work in our order. Complying with their request I made the appointment today and his Sash will be presented to the family who wish to retain it in his memory.
All of our members who have died in the last year will be greatly missed and remembered by us all.
I congratulate those who will be appointed to or promoted in Grand Imperial Conclave on Tuesday 1st July 2014 at the Annual Assembly in London. They are:-
On promotion
Charles Shiveral to P G High Chancellor a Very Ill Kt.
Paul Adams to P G High Almoner a V Ill Kt
Steven Groeger to P G Standard Bearer (C)
Stewart Taynton to P G Standard Bearer (L)
On first appointment
Kevin Todd as Assistant Grand Marshal
John Simmons as P.G. Warden of Regalia
Michael Fuller as P G Vice Chamberlain
Les Phillips as P G Vice Chamberlain
They are all very well deserved and follow many years of dedicated service to the Order. I look forward to seeing them in London for their investiture and also I trust many of you who will no doubt be supporting them.
The membership figures in the Summons for this meeting are for the period up to 31st August 2013 and can be seen to have a very considerable increase in memberships. Clearly part of this was due to the new Conclave The Milvian Bridge being consecrated. However when that is removed from the numbers we still had a membership increase of 16 membership (approaching a 7% increase – 15% with Milvian Bridge). This was a remarkable result for the year and almost entirely due to your individual efforts. This year to 31st August 2014 will be very different. The constitution of the new Divisions of Hampshire and Isle of Wight and the Division of Dorset and Wiltshire will cause a substantial reduction in our membership. You have already seen that we have had a considerable increase in deaths for this year, the result will be a substantial decrease in our numbers.
We hope that the figures will be more positive in the following year, but I must remind you all that recruitment is very much the results of personal contact, and therefore relies entirely on your efforts. You are well aware that I have requested that Sovereigns and Viceroys make it their responsibility to supply a candidate for the year they occupy those positions. It is still necessary for the other members of the Conclave to provide other candidates each year. Statistically, it is quite clear that a minimum of 3 is necessary for the Conclave to maintain an even membership, let alone grow. Recruitment is difficult and not helped by the decreasing number of members in the Craft and the Royal Arch, not to mention the other orders who are also struggling to obtain candidates from the same pool. Recruitment must be your major preoccupation in the coming years.
I must link recruitment with retention. You are all aware of my instruction to Almoners to contact non attending members after each meeting, unless there is a known acceptable reason for their absence. It is vitally important for Recorders and Almoners to work closely together in this area.
The Divisional Recorder has indicated in his report the visits that have been undertaken with our own Conclaves and also representing the Division with other Divisions and also other Orders within our area. All these visits have been marked by the warmth of the welcome and hospitality and in the case of the Conclaves, the sincerity and warmth of the ceremonies we have witnessed. The visits within our own Division are enhanced by the support of the active Officers, the Divisional Guard and the many Grand Officers that attend with us. They all have my grateful thanks; their support has been nothing short of magnificent.
I wish to acknowledge the immense part played in this Division by my Deputy Ill. Kt. Larry Peer. He is a tower of strength to me. His guidance , advice and support is invaluable and he also has the knack of keeping me on the straight and narrow path.
The Divisional Recorder Ill. Kt. Stewart Taynton, and the Assistant Divisional Recorder Ill. Kt. Lee Robinson have worked tirelessly throughout the year. They have produced an updated version of the Divisional Leaflet on the Red Cross Order and copies are being supplied to Conclave Recorders and are also available here today to assist you in your recruitment efforts. They have produced our ever expanding year book. They have organised the Divisional General Purposes committee meeting, the Divisional Ladies evening, the official visits to other Divisions and to Conclaves within the Division, not to mention the work involved in bringing this new Division into being. The Divisional secretariat has also been responsible for the organisation of this Divisional meeting. They have my grateful thanks for all that they do.
The Divisional Marshal Ill. Kt. Graham Roberts, and the Deputy Divisional Marshall M P Kt Rod Armitage have also had a very busy year. They have organised the ritual for all the Official visits and most particularly for this Divisional meeting. They have an immense task during the year and I thank them for all their hard work.
My Divisional Guard play a substantial role with in this Division. They are administered by the Guard Commander and his Deputy and escort myself on my 10 official visits to the Conclaves and also the Deputy IG on his 5 official visits. In addition they provide the Sepulchre Guard for all Appendant Orders Ceremonies carried out by each of our Conclaves. The Division is enriched by their presence and I am eternally grateful to them.
There are a number of changes in personnel in this area taking place today. I wish to thank Ill KT Graham Roberts for being an exceptional Divisional Marshal his advice and guidance has been invaluable to me. P KT Rod Armitage has been the Dept. Div Marshal for a short time but has undertaken his duties with sincerity and dedication. He steps down due to circumstances beyond his or our control, but I am delighted that he will be continuing as our Web Master – Many thanks Rod. The Captain of the Guard and his deputy, Ill. Kt. Malcolm Lloyd and soon to be Ill Kt Kevin Todd are also to step down to allow them, as you have seen, to take on more senior roles in the Division. They both have my most grateful thanks for a job very well done.
Our Divisional Eusebius – Ill Kt Fred Blowman is standing down after 2 excellent years in that office. His support, his help and guidance has been invaluable during that period and I am most grateful to him.
I congratulate all those that have been appointed to office today. It is an honour that is well deserved by you all. I look forward to working with you during the next year. I would remind you all that you are expected to attend as many official visits as you can, that also includes those promoted to a Past Divisional Rank, as we treat you all as active for this year.
We have made a number of donations to Charities this year and in addition our members have responded to my request to set up a Divisional fund in the form of a Grand Charity Relief Chests. This to allow us to receive the refund of tax on our donations for distribution to Charity. It also allows us to have a fund that enables us to respond to appeals that come to us from time to time. This is a two year appeal and the response in the first year has been exceptional and I thank you all.
A major preoccupation in the past year has been the agreement to transfer Wiltshire to the Division of Dorset in the hope that their established contacts between Dorset and Wiltshire will lead to a progression of the order in Wiltshire. It culminated in the dissolving of the two existing Divisions and the consecration of two new divisions –
The Division of Hampshire and Isle of Wight
The Division of Dorset and Wiltshire
This all took place at a special meeting in Salisbury Guild Hall on the 14th April this year. It was presided over by the Grand Sovereign, the Deputy Grand Sovereign , and the Grand Eusebius assisted by a full team from Grand Imperial Conclave. It was a wonderful ceremony and celebration that was quite unique as the Order had never undertaken such a ceremony before. All who participated in the day at Salisbury and the organisation for it have my most grateful thanks.
Looking to the future,
I am delighted to be able to inform you that the now Bi-ennial Christian Orders Church Service will take place in May/June of 2015. We are in negotiations at the moment and hope that it will be at St Cross Church near Winchester. The details will be published soon to give you all plenty of warning.
You are all well aware that 2015 will be a very special year for the Order. A number of activities are planned and will be brought to your attention as soon as possible. One we already know about is a celebratory Church service to be held at Lincoln Cathedral on Saturday 19thSeptember 2015. I hope that many of you will be able to be there. Associated with this will be an appeal for the Grand Sovereigns Fund for Children, details will be promulgated by the Division in the autumn.
Recruitment and retention are our major preoccupation for the future. We need to increase our membership. The age demography of our membership, the financial burdens upon us all necessitate our working towards the establishment of a membership base that will take us into the future. The changes that are taking place in charges from your Masonic Centres for the use of the buildings will necessitate the Executive looking at financial costs to our members, and means by which we can keep them in reasonable bounds. I intend to bring these and other matters before the Past Sovereigns Conclave to allow it to be the discussion forum and to be able to put forwards ideas and views on the subject. This will take place before the Executive consider them.
Worthy Knights, the last year as your Intendant-General, has been stimulating, encouraging, challenging and above all most enjoyable. You are all well aware that we are a truly Christian Order and it should be emphasised throughout our sojourn as a member of this order. In fact we should emphasise it in our recruitment so that no candidate should ever arrive at his installation in any doubt as to the relationship between the Order and his Christian beliefs.
Worthy Knights may I thank you all for attending today. I look forward to working with you in the next year and we part with the watchwords of our wonderful Order
FAITH UNITY and ZEAL
R.Ill.Kt. Roger Charles Bricknell
June 2014.