Worthy Knights, it gives me great pleasure to stand here this morning and address you for the third time as your Intendant General.
I welcome you here today and thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedules to join us. It is much appreciated and I hope you have had an enjoyable day so far.
The turmoil we have seen within the world and also within freemasonry over the last few years with Covid etc are easing but further challenges are now starting to impact everyone. For most W. Knights, thing are getting get back to some semblance of normality but there are still some that are finding it hard to get back to meetings, for whatever reasons, and we must make every effort to keep in communication with them. We are a Christian Order and we should be applying our Christian and Masonic principles and looking after our W.Kts. So I ask you to make contact with those W. Kts that you have not seen at your meetings recently, check how they are doing, show them that they are not forgotten, and let them know that we would love to see them back at meetings, and hopefully they may decide to attend again.
May I pay tribute to the members of this Division that were mentioned in our requiem earlier.
Ill.Kt Derek Radford – Holy Rood – 13/08/2022
P.Kt. Alex Ward – Holy Rood – 15/12/2022
both of whom were members of Holy Rood Conclave. They were both well known to us, and had served this Order faithfully and diligently for a considerable number of years. They will be sorely missed by us all.
I would now like to congratulate all those who will be appointed to or promoted in Grand Imperial Conclave early next month in London .
On Promotion:
- Ill. Kt. John Prizeman to active Grand Senior General
- Ill. Kt. Jonathan Whitaker to active Grand Junior Genera
These are very special promotions, W. Kt’s., as they are only given by the Grand Sovereign himself. This is a high honour for them and the Division and we congratulate them both for the work they will do in these very important active positions.
We have also received promotions for :
- Ill. Kt. Lee Robinson to Past Grand High Almoner
– which also makes him a V. Ill. Kt. - Ill. Kt. Michael Fuller to Past Grand Standard Bearer (C)
On first Appointment:
- P. Kt. Malcolm Whiston as Past Grand Warden of Regalia
These appointments and promotions are all well-deserved and follow many years of dedicated service to the Order. I look forward to seeing them in London for their Investiture and I trust many of the W.Kts of the Division will also be attending to support them.
I also congratulate 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.
In the year 2022 to 2023 we have installed 9 new members into the Order which is excellent. However, to outweigh the losses we have each year from deaths and resignations we need to continue to install the same or more new members each year.
You are all well aware that the best method of recruitment is for each member to make approaches to individuals about joining us. I would remind Sovereigns and Viceroys that they should be bringing in an individual each, in their year of office. This does not mean that the rest of us can stand back and watch, we are all recruitment officers for this wonderful Order.
Over the last year, I officially visited all of the Conclaves within the Division accompanied by my Divisional Team. At these meetings I was pleased to renew past acquaintances and especially meet the new Knights who have joined the Order.
Wherever the Divisional Team went, we were entertained with warmth and friendship, and I am most appreciative of the support given to me by the Grand and Divisional Officers, Sovereigns and Past Sovereigns of Conclaves, and members of the Divisional Guard.
My senior team and I have visited many other Divisions during the year, and enjoyed ourselves immensely, wherever we went. We are pleased today to be able to reciprocate the hospitality extended to us on those occasions and to welcome back so many visitors from other Divisions. We welcome you all.
It has also been an honour for me to be invited to represent the Red Cross of Constantine at the Annual Meetings of many of the other Orders within the Province, for which I thank them all.
Having mentioned my senior team, I now wish to acknowledge them for the immense amount of work undertaken by them, V. Ill. Kt. Kevin Todd MBE, my deputy; Ill Kt Tony Bargrove my Venerable Divisional Eusebius; P. Kt. Roger Curtis, the Divisional Marshal; Ill Kt Mark Denton, the Divisional Recorder. Their advice and guidance continues to be invaluable to me. I also include in these thanks, the Deputy Divisional Marshal, Ill. Kt. Chris Davies and the Divisional Assistant recorder, Ill. Kt. Robert Castle, both of whom have worked tirelessly for the Division and have stood down from their respective positions this year. I thank you both for everything you have done for the Division over many years.
The Captain of the Guard, Ill Kt Mark Gannaway, who also stood down from that office this year, the Deputy Captain of the Guard, W Kt Stephen Abrahams, and all members of the Divisional Sepulchre Guard who play such a substantial role with in this Division, not only on Official Visits but on all Appendant Orders Ceremonies. They have my grateful thanks for all they do.
The collection today will go to our Divisional Relief Chest. I would like to thank all the W.Kts and the Conclaves who have made contributions to the Relief Chest during the last Masonic Year.
Whilst on the subject of charity there are a couple of senior members of the order, who are also heads of other orders, who use a phrase which many of you from Hampshire and Isle of Wight will have heard many times and to which I wholeheartedly agree, which is, “We are all in this together” and no matter what order you are in, we definitely are “All in this together”. Unfortunately one of these heads of order is unable to be with us today, so Divisional Marshal, would you please conduct to me from the Craft their PGM, Ill. Kt. Jon Whitaker and representing the Mark Degree their Charity Steward, P. Kt. Nigel Wilkinson.
W. Kts, both your Orders are in festival at the present time with the Mark due to end in 2026 and the Craft in 2027, and I know both orders are currently raising money for their respective festivals. As we are “All in this together”, it is my pleasure to present to each of you a cheque for £1000 from the W.Kts of this Division to go to your respective festivals.
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 that should be emphasised throughout our sojourns as members 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. My thanks go to Mark, Robert, Roger and Chris for organising today; and the staff at Botley for the meal to come. 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
God bless you all
R.Ill.Kt. Steven Groeger
24th June 2023