Worshipful master installation

Introduction Serving your Lodge as Worshipful Master can be, and should be, a high point in your Masonic career. I wanted input on this topic, aside from my own ideas, for a very compelling reason, perhaps best illustrated by: The Blind Men and the Elephant It was six men of Indostan To learning much inclined, Who went to see the elephant Though all of them were blind , That each by observation Might satisfy his mind.

What It Means to Be Worshipful Master For starters, here is one PM's description of the position: "To become the model Master of a Lodge should be the ambition of every brother; and to discharge with efficiency and zeal the duties of that office should be his most anxious desire.

Frank Kendrick: Study the books of ancient lore and modern proceedings in order to qualify for the high and important office of Worshipful Master. Get to know, really know, all the members of the Lodge. While serving as Senior Warden, learn all the Master's Ritual and so have time when Master to plan the programme and prepare the speeches. Stow away in the Grey Matter of the Cranium a set of five minute speeches for various occasions, and thus be ready whenever called upon to do justice to the Lodge and Office.

Consult the Chairman of Committees before appointment of members, and afterwards keep them active by calling for regular reports of progress. Many members working means much enthusiasm in the Lodge. Have all the Officers and the Chairmen of Committees meet together on convenient occasions. Plan the programme of the Lodge meeting and harmonize its details with the Great Masonic Design, then go over the Agenda with the Secretary before Lodge and thus avoid those irritating delays, whispered consultations and mutterings in the East.

Keep a timepiece always at hand and let not procrastination become the thief who robs the Brethren of their beauty sleep. The visitors are honoured guests of the Lodge, therefore proclaim a welcome to them with happy words and smooth phrases, and never call upon a visitor to speak in Lodge or at the Festive Board without previous notice and due enquiry as to his ability and willingness to do so.

Preserve the Dignity, Courtesy and Privilege of the East at all times. Let no matter of personal modesty affect those Ancient Rights and Prerogatives of the Oriental Chair which must be handed on untarnished to those who follow. Preparing for the Position You cannot start too soon preparing for the position of Worshipful Master!

What makes a WM's year good, bad, or indifferent? The WM's ability to "play to his strengths. The WM's ability to determine who to seek out for that help. The WM's ability and willingness to set goals and determine what he wants to do during his year In the East. The WM's ability and willingness to craft a plan for his year In the East.

The WM's ability and willingness to seek help from constructive Brothers and PMs to aid in the crafting and execution of that plan. The WM's ability and willingness to master the Degree work and ritual work of the Lodge. The WM's ability to inspire the Brothers. The WM's ability to lead by example. The WM's ability to anticipate problems and events, and to plan for contingent ways to respond to them. The WM's ability to make decisions.

The WM's ability to be flexible and accommodating. The WM's level of interest in the position. The WM's ability to evidence enthusiasm for the position.

The WM's willingness to listen to suggestions and comments made by others. The WM's ability to separate the wheat from the chaff, in receiving advice and counsel. What does it mean to be Worshipful Master? What can the Worshipful Master do? What programs or projects can the Worshipful Master advocate or sponsor?

How far can he lead his Lodge? In what direction? To what end? The "Working Tools" of a Worshipful Master Once I had adjusted to the position of Worshipful Master--and, even with the best of preparation, that adjustment will take some weeks--I crystallized a mission statement for my year as Worshipful Master, from the ideas I had been working on.

Here it is: I want to make Jackson Lodge a better place to be associated with to be a member of ; a better place for its Brothers and families to spend time attending meetings and special events and banquets ; and, a better Community asset; and, I want to try to showcase these achievements in a TrestleBoard that will be the best one published by any Indiana Lodge. You probably are better suited than any article writer to judge what programs and activities will interest your Lodge Brothers; here are just a few of the suggestions from some of the contributors which worked for them in their Lodges: Law Enforcement Night Teacher Appreciation Night Citizen of the Year Banquet Adopt A School Program Adopt A Highway Program Lodge responsible for picking up litter on a particular street Bears on Patrol Lodge furnishes stuffed animals to police officers to provide to children who are involved in traumatic events--wrecks, fires, domestic quarrels, etc.

Christmas Miracle Program providing Christmas gifts to needy families in the local Community A "Masonic Minute" in each stated meeting a "mini" Masonic Education item The Brothers and other people associated with the Lodge "vote" on the WM's programs, and on Lodge activities generally, with their feet--they vote by attendance, in other words.

Some General Pointers for the Worshipful Master Once you have assumed the position of Worshipful Master, you will find a myriad of expectations, duties, responsibilities waiting for you. But, here are five general pointers which you would do well to remember and practice: The WM must evidence enthusiasm for the position by showing up at the various Lodge meetings, programs, and banquets throughout the year.

This position requires a significant time commitment which you must be prepared to make, and which probably will interfere with other things that are important to you in life. Be sure those in your household understand this, before you assume the position! The WM must demonstrate support for the youth programs that the Lodge sponsors by his presence and attendance. Yes, the Lodge provides a place for them to meet, and usually some funding.

This will pay dividends, both in their lives as they move to adulthood, and in the life of the Lodge and its appendant bodies.

While it is good to seek advice and counsel, the decisions need to be yours, and not someone else's. I hope you've picked up on that! The Brothers will react negatively if they perceive that the Worshipful Master is only "doing the bidding" of anyone else.

Having a WM "under the thumb" of someone else usually that "someone else" is a Past Master who thinks he knows it all reflects poorly on the WM and the someone else. Each and every decision you make will leave at least one Brother who would have done it differently unhappy. You simply cannot make every one of the Brothers happy. There are a number of paths to a successful year as Worshipful Master, and you will need to find one with which you are comfortable.

One certain path to an unsuccessful year is to try to please everyone. Along with 4, you will make mistakes. Expect to. No one learns anything without making mistakes. Here are some of the succinct points made by the contributors, in no particular order: Seek advice from the Past Masters--you'll know which ones to go to.

Put your heart, soul, and toenails into your Lodge TrestleBoard. Have a term plan, in addition to your mission statement, that includes Masonic education, Lodge visitations, and social events, and be sure your Line Officers, including the Secretary, have copies well in advance of your installation.

Know your ritual work before being installed, and ask for help if you don't. Use common sense. Communicate with your officers and candidates. Be organized and efficient at meetings. Be prepared for emergencies--expect Brother Murphy Murphy's Laws to be a regular visitor to your Lodge. Be patient with the Past Masters who think they know it all.

Find at least three Past Masters and ask them to help you put together a program that will make the Lodge much better by your term's end. Concentrate on what the Lodge needs, not just what interests you. Take your wife, if you have one, on a mini-honeymoon before your installation, and promise her another after your successor is installed.

Direct and lead with the gavel, but avoid dictating with it. Have a solid handle on your Lodge's financial condition. Try to get on the same page as your two next likely successors, your SW and JW. Listen to everyone, even the jerks. If it's important, it needs to be done. Waiting for consensus is procrastination. You were elected to lead, so lead!

Think marathon, not sprint. Try asking people to do specific, achievable things--"Would you write to these three Brothers addresses attached whom we haven't seen for several meetings? Use the phone, in addition to putting Lodge events in the TrestleBoard.

Use a phone committee, with specific Lodge members for each committee member to call. Hold officer rehearsals at least monthly. Keep the business part of the meetings as short as possible. Analyze what programs have worked for Past Masters, and what programs didn't work. Be prepared to be in control of your Lodge during your year as Worshipful Master. Learn the ritual work, and unfortunately, given the aging Masonic population the Funeral Service.

Have your committee appointments lined up before you are installed. If you desire to make significant changes, do so in a way that avoids alienating the Brothers who have brought your Lodge as far as it has come. Try to respond to the desires of the majority, but do not sell yourself or your program down the river to do so.

Seek input from others to define the needs of the Lodge, and formulate a program responding to those needs. The key to success is planning, planning, planning. Involve your Line Officers in your planning. Brother A. The new Master is then regularly invested with the insignia of his office, and the furniture and implements of his Lodge. The various implements of the profession are emblematical of our conduct in- life, and upon this occasion carefully enumerated.

The Holy Writings , that great light in Masonry, will guide you to all truth; it will direct your paths to the temple of happiness, and point out to you the whole duty of man. The Square teaches to regulate our actions by rule and line, and to harmonize our conduct by the principles of morality and virtue. The Compass teaches to limit our desires in every station, that, rising to eminence by merit, we may live respected and die regretted.

The Rule directs that we should punctually observe our duty, press forward in the path of virtue, and, neither inclining to the right nor to the left, in all our actions have eternity in view. The Line teaches the criterion of moral rectitude, to avoid dissimulation in conversation and action, and to direct our steps to the path which leads to immortality. The Book of Constitutions you are to search at all times.

Cause it to be read in your Lodge, that none may pretend ignorance of the excellent precepts it enjoins.

Lastly, you receive in charge the Bylaws of your Lodge, which you are to see carefully and punctually executed. The jewels of the officers of the new Lodge being then returned to the Master, he delivers them, respectively, to the several officers of the Grand Lodge, according to their rank. The subordinate officers of the new Lodge are then invested with their jewels by the grand officers of corresponding rank; and are by them, severally in turn, conducted to the Grand Master, who delivers each of them a short charge, as follows, viz.

Brother C. The Level demonstrates that we are descended from the same stock, partake of the same nature, and share the same hope; and, though distinctions among men are necessary to preserve subordination, yet no eminence of station should make us forget that we are brethren; for he who is placed on the lowest spoke of fortune's wheel may be entitled to our regard; because, a time will come, and the wisest knows not how soon, when all distinctions, but that of goodness, shall cease; and death, the grand leveler of human greatness, reduce us to the same state.

Your regular attendance on our stated meetings is essentially necessary: in the absence of the Master you are to govern this Lodge; in his presence, you are to assist him in the government of it. I firmly rely on your knowledge of Masonry, and attachment to the Lodge, for the faithful discharge of the duties of this important trust. Look well to the West!

Brother E. The Plumb admonishes us to walk uprightly in our several stations, to hold the scale of justice in equal poise, to observe the just medium between intemperance and pleasure, and to make our passions and prejudices coincide with the line of our duty. To you, with such assistance as may be necessary, is intrusted the examination of visitors, and the reception of candidates. To you is also committed the superintendence of the Craft during the hours of refreshment; it is, therefore, indispensably necessary, that you should not only be temperate and discreet, in the indulgence of your own inclinations, but carefully observe that none of the Craft be suffered to convert tile purposes of refreshment into intemperance and excess.

Your regular and punctual attendance is particularly requested; and I have no doubt that you will faithfully execute the duty which you owe to your present appointment. Place the right hand on the left shoulder, right foor one pace to the rear, at the same time, incline the body slightly forward, sweep the right hand in a downward arc to the rear and in line with the right foot, recovering the right hand to the left shoulder, feet together and resuming an erect position, before finally returning the right hand to the side of the body.

The Court Master Masons are admitted. The Marshal lines up a maximum of six pre-selected Brethren in the North, facing South, the remainder take their seats. The Salutations are given. It is at this stage that the I. During the past twelve months it has been entrusted to my care and in delivering it to you I am sure it will continue to be treated as a sacred Trust and transmitted to your successor as you now receive it.

I hand to you a copy of the Statutes of the Order, a copy of the By Laws of the Province of … and a copy of the By-Laws of your Court, all of which I recommend to your serious perusal.

I also hand to you a copy of Ritual No. The Marshal presents the Officers for appointment and investiture. There are no fixed set of words for this so it is all impromptu, but it is suggested that it is done in the most expedient manner possible. Installation Address - Part l P. Humility in each is an essential duty. The Brethren elected and appointed to assist in the government of the Court are too well acquainted with the principles of Freemasonry and the rules of propriety to exceed the power with which they are entrusted, and you, Brethren I am sure, are of too generous a disposition to envy their preferment.

I, therefore trust that we shall have but one aim in view, to please each other and unite in the grand design of being happy and communicating happiness. Masonry, founded on the principles of Geometry, is functionally directed to the service and convenience of mankind, but as we are taught in our Lodges, Speculative, or Free Masonry embraces a far wider range, and nobler objects; the landscaping and cultivation of our Faith in our God, the building and improving of our relations to our fellow creatures and the constructing and repairing of ourselves as complete Human beings.

Although through the Millennia its lessons have been veiled in allegory and illustrated by symbols, enquiring minds, leaders and rulers in Freemasonry, have from every generation unceasingly toiled to penetrate that veil and to become ever more acquainted with its Mysteries.

These, Our Mysteries in all their aspects have been truly influential in every Age, they are the guiding star of Peace and Love, never weary or forgetful of their divine mission. They teach us through our Lodges to administer relief and comfort to the distressed with unsparing hands, especially in the hour of darkness and despair. They call to us to bring peace and consolation to the troubled spirit, relief and gladness to the habitations of want and destitution, and light to the darkness and gloom of the grave by pointing to the hopes and promises of a better life to come.

To dry the tears of the widow and orphan, and to widen the sphere of human happiness, is the summit of our Profession. Installation Address - Part 2 W. The utmost extension of fraternal affection is expected to be displayed in our Courts - then only can we attain the chief point of Freemasonry, namely, to be happy and to teach and communicate that happiness to others.

Through our Tenets and Charges, we acknowledge there can be no Right without a parallel Duty, no Liberty without the supremacy of the Law, no High Destiny without earnest Perseverance. May we, like rays of brilliant light from the rising sun, illuminate the West, the South and all the dark places of the Earth, and may God grant that as the work proceeds, we may be of one mind and be given cunning, strength and wisdom to enable us to reflect and impress truth, honour and virtue on all within our circle.

Installation Address - Part 3 I. Be pious without hypocrisy, benevolent without ostentation, and aid your fellow man without self-interest. Let your heart beat warm for friendship, be serene and full of enjoyment.

In adversity do not despair, in fortune avoid presumption. Be resolute in the hour of danger. Gavels once, repeated by Senior Warden and Junior Warden.

IM: The Brethren will turn to the East. All turn to the East. IM: Let us pray. All may rest one knee on convenient seat in action of kneeling and give Sign of Reverence. Brethren in the West will not have such a seat and will therefore remain standing. IM says Prayer: Vouchsafe Thine aid, Almighty Father and Supreme Governor of the Universe, to this our solemn rite, and grant that the worthy and distinguished Brother, who is now about to be numbered among the Rulers in the Craft, may be endued with wisdom to comprehend, judgment to define, and ability to enforce obedience to Thy Holy Law, Sanctify him with Thy Grace, strengthen him with Thy Power, and enrich his mind with genuine knowledge, that he may the better be enabled to enlighten the minds of his Brethren, and consecrate this our mansion to the honour and glory of Thy Holy Name.

IPM: So mote it be.