Lodge of Valour No 4322 proudly held its Rededication Ceremony at Leigh Masonic Hall. The Lodge was embarking on an exciting new chapter as a military-focused lodge, that warmly welcomes all serving and former members of the Armed Forces to join and share the fellowship of like-minded brethren. The WM was Mick O`Brien and the lodge DC was Andrew Savage.
This was to be a truly historic occasion; records confirm that it has been 30 years since a similar ceremony had taken place within the Province of West Lancashire. The Provincial Grand Master, Mark Matthews was accompanied by his deputy Frank Umbers, with a full Provincial team, the ProvSGW John Reynolds, ProvJGW Ezra McGowan, ProvGChap Canon John Hall, and AProvGM’s Malcom Bell and Jonathan Heaton. The ProvGStwd’s were Ryan Mangnall, Nigel Monks and Steve Baldam, ProvSGD Kevin Rigg, ProvJGD David Pickles, Martin Clements, ProvGStdB, Ian Green, Wigan and Leigh Chairman. The whole ceremony and procedures where all under the direction and of the watchful eye of ProvGDC Barry Fitzgerald and assistant Gary Smith, there were many grand and Provincial grand officers in attendance as was those other visitors from within the Province.
The lodge was opened as Provincial Grand Lodge for this monumentous and unique occasion that no doubt left everyone in attendance wondering what was to happen in these completely unknown procedures for many. A Masonic lodge rededication ceremony in the UK can occur when a lodge takes on a new focus, such as becoming a military lodge, and involves a ritual to reaffirm its commitment to its principles and new mission. For a military lodge, this rededication can involve rededicating its banner and reaffirms its pledge to support the armed forces community, sometimes alongside the signing of the Armed Forces Covenant.
That happened at Westhoughton Masonic Hall in January this year. The ceremony often uses traditional elements like the ProvGChap John Hall, giving various readings, Mark giving the offering of the salt to the brethren of the lodge, after which John Hall walked around the brethren twice waving the censer as he walked stopping at the junior and senior wardens, committing the various perambulations, while reciting Exodus 30 Verses 7 and 8.
The whole process of the ceremony reaffirms the lodge’s commitment to its Masonic values and its new purpose, which for a military lodge is a pledge to support the armed forces and their families. Traditional elements like the ‘banner rededication’ ceremony are used to provide a visual and symbolic representation of the lodge’s new direction.
The ceremony can incorporate traditional Masonic rituals as well as specific elements related to its new focus, such as the symbolism on the lodge’s banner. The United Grand Lodge of England has signed the Armed Forces Covenant, and many military lodges have also signed it to formalize their support for the armed forces community. This formal commitment ensures that lodges will support members of the Armed Forces community through various initiatives, such as assistance with housing, education, and healthcare.
After this monumental ceremony, Mark went to the floor in front of the master’s pedestal, what was to come next many thought, why has Barry brought Garry Bryon to the floor and quite plainly just said: “HI Garry are you ok”, he replied: “Yes thank you.” Mark then invested Garry with a new collar, and smiled as he said you have now been appointed as PPJGW of the Province, imagining the surprise to everyone present as the applause was so deserved. The same procedure then was given to Steve Ralph and Mick O`Brien, they were given the same privileged status, neither expected to be given such a high Masonic rank, as they committed themselves to the original undertaking of the making of the rededication of the Lodge of Valour.
Mark eventually after all the preliminaries of the proceedings handed the gavel back to Mick, who gave the most genuine and sincere thank you to Mark and all the brethren of Provincial Grand Lodge for all their help and support in their rolls in assisting with the ceremony. Eventually, at the second rising all those brethren retired leaving the Provincial officers and members of the lodge to close in peace and harmony. For the record there was 97 brethren in the lodge room.
The social board had 109 in attendance, a huge amount in recent years for Leigh Masonic Hall, this gave it a really good healthy atmosphere while enjoying the excellent five course meal. After the formality of the toasts, Mark gave a wonderful heart felt address to the brethren and those visitors present explaining the importance of such a great occasion and what it represented to Freemasonry, he appreciated the work of the WM and his immediate colleagues in their hard work in assisting in the rededication of the new lodge, In particular for the Province of West Lancashire Freemasonry. A suggestion of a Royal Arch rededication ceremony may be considered as a possibility for future occasion, if necessary, Mark thanked all the brethren attending for supporting the Lodge of Valour. Frank Umbers thanked the WM and Andrew Savage in his supporting role in many aspects of the lodge and felt it an honour to be in attendance and thanked everyone for their hard work and commitment.
Chris Jones gave a truly inspiring account, complete with a visual presentation of the many aspects of his early life and the difficulty that he had to endure, there was total silence as Chris went through his journey leading to Freemasonry and how much he gained with an enquiry from the Masonic Charitable Foundation (MCF). A truly compelling account of Chris through his life’s journey, here is a short extract from an article on the MCF website.
After walking an incredible 6,479 miles, taking 13,000,000 steps, and spending nearly two years away from home, Chris Jones has completed his monumental journey around Britain.
A Freemason from Lincolnshire, Chris set out with the goal of raising funds for the Masonic Charitable Foundation. He wanted to shoot for the moon and aim for £100,000 to be raised. Chris is currently amongst the stars with £75,000 collected, with the moon in sight, as donations keep rolling in. Already, Chris has become the largest single fundraiser for the MCF, so the lodge brethren wanted to extend their deepest thanks to Chris for his dedication and support.
Finaly, John Reynolds stood and gave toast to the health of the visitors, he expressed that the fellowship around the table was as nourishing as the food itself, and how privileged it was to share in the history and of the future of the lodge, expressing it has stood the test of time and the rededication has given strength to continue in the future. All in all, such a wonderful and something very rarely experienced, in the lifetime of many Freemasons.
Story and images, A C Roe.