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Companions, I am delighted to welcome you to our annual meeting which is an occasion for rejoicing and celebrating. Rejoicing, because we can all take pleasure and satisfaction in respect of our achievements and endeavours during the past year in the Royal Arch, and celebrating, because we will shortly honour those I am about to appoint and promote in Provincial Rank.

As always, we are pleased to receive our distinguished guests from other Provinces and they have, of course, been introduced before Provincial Grand Chapter was opened. Companions, thank you for your attendance and suppport, and it will be our privilege to entertain you at our dinner this evening. 

In my first year, as your Grand Superintendent, I have been impressed with what I have seen. Many senior Royal Arch leaders have referred to the Royal Arch as “the serious masons’ degree”. My Deputy prefers the phrase “the thinking masons’ degree”.  Whichever you prefer, it cannot be denied that the Royal Arch gives companions much food for serious thought, as we contemplate our relationship with our Maker.

In this connection especially, Royal Arch Joint Convocations are important events for a number of reasons. Not only do they promote serious thought and enable us to learn more about this beautiful and colourful degree, but they also bring Companions together as a team, and as such the work is shared. In many ways they are the ultimate example of what we have been striving for in Freemasonry for many years, namely, sharing the work. Furthermore, Companions, let us never forget the benefits, discipline and satisfaction of learning and delivering ritual.

During the past year, I have attended two splendid Joint Convocations. In January, the eight Royal Arch Chapters of the Blackpool Group put on a stunning performance of ritual in the Chapter Room, giving a comprehensive explanation of the Royal Arch offices, ensigns and banners. In February, the 12 Royal Arch Chapters of the Preston Group were in equally good form, as they explained and developed the fundamental theme of the Indissoluble Link between the Craft and the Royal Arch.

These two Joint Convocations serve to remind us, if a reminder is necessary, of the importance of all Craft Masons completing their journey of pure and antient Masonry by taking the Royal Arch.  Indeed, at the meeting of Supreme Grand Chapter on 12 November 2008, when Lord Northampton addressed Supreme Grand Chapter for the last time as Pro First Grand Principal, ahead of his retirement last month, he called upon us to ask ourselves the question: why are some of the other side Orders growing substantially while the Royal Arch is not. Lord Northampton fully accepted that the Royal Arch is not for everyone being a more mystical Order, but, as he put it, that does not explain why much less than half our members join it.

In this Province, we are addressing that question in a positive way. We now have Royal Arch Contacts in the vast majority of our lodges. These Contacts are charged with the challenging but sensitive task of helping their craft colleagues in the lodge, as and when appropriate, to think seriously about taking the Royal Arch. I thank my Deputy and his colleagues for their splendid work in promoting and developing this key strategy. This is an important piece of work, hopefully it will make a difference, and I await the result of our efforts with interest.

The West Lancashire Freemason has been printed and is now available in hard copy, as well as appearing on the Website. EComp Derek Hunt and his team have excelled themselves in respect of this publication and they are to be warmly thanked. Please read it, show it to your family, friends and others, because it makes impressive reading and it is an outstanding public relations and marketing tool.  As you know, the third limb of my aims and objectives is for us all to meet the challenge of giving even greater service in and for our communities. The West Lancashire Freemason greatly encourages me in this respect, by reporting on the very many avenues of community service that we are engaged in.

I express my sincere thanks to the retiring Grand Scribe Nehemiah E Comp Chris Blackwell for his excellent contribution to our Royal Arch Province. He has carried out his work and his duties with much dedication and enthusiasm. I also express the thanks of the Royal Arch Province to EComp Neil MacSymons, our Janitor, who retires today after a distinguished period of service in that office, and for a number of years before that as The Janitor’s Assistant, equivalent to Pursuivant in the Craft.  We have been fortunate in having his devoted service for so long, and we thank him most sincerely.

I am truly grateful to our Provincial Scribe E, Comp Geoffrey Lee, and his team for their planning and administrative work not only for this meeting but also for the demanding task of managing the expanded honours list this year. Also, I know that we all enjoy and appreciate the work of EComp Norman Thomas and his team in their work of directing our ceremonial activities.

May I thank the Sandon Group, under the chairmanship of EComp John Wreyford, which has acted as the host group for this meeting. In particular, and on behalf of all who have attended today, may I thank EComp Donald Kelso the Captain of Stewards and his team for the very efficient and effective way in which they have looked after our every need.

My final message is simple. In the year ahead, I invite you all to help me to extend and share the Royal Arch even more widely. If we all play our part, both individually and collectively, we can make a real difference to our Royal Arch degree.

Peter Hosker – Grand Superintendent