Some ideas for your consideration
There are a number of things I have thought about over the years that the Grand Encampment might be able to facilitate or do that would be of benefit to the Grand Commanderies, Commanderies, and individual Knights that are somewhat out-of-the-box and not part of the “normal” things one might consider in the Grand Encampment “wheelhouse.” What follows are some of those thoughts. I’d appreciate hearing from you on these and other ways the Grand Encampment leadership can be of better service.
- Develop a “beefier” Order of Malta short form ritual. I appreciate the need for a version of the Order of Malta that requires a smaller cast. However, I think it is lacking in several areas, most especially with the absence of the banner lectures. What is presented in the short form is too little, and provides no context for the candidate as to why the information on the banners has been so chosen. Commanderies can’t arbitrarily change the ritual to add these lectures to the work, but maybe we should, at an upcoming Triennial Conclave, consider a resolution to do so. In the meantime, there is nothing that prevents a Commandery from offering education as part of a Conclave and perhaps have someone read the lectures in order to share the teachings and, hopefully, encourage one or more Knights to take it upon themselves to learn the lectures as a step toward moving to the full form of the Order. There is also a declaration that is included in the full form that should be incorporated into the full form, but is of a nature that I’ll have to leave a discussion for a tiled Conclave or private conversation for now, but you are probably aware of that part of our Ritual already and the importance of declaration.
- Review language, style, and flow. Let’s all be honest–there are several places in our Ritual where the language really would benefit from being updated, revised, os smoothed out. I’ll pick on the Order of Malta again, and note that the closing 2 paragraphs of the short form have a great message, but it flows so poorly that it makes memorization a challenge and delivery. In a similar manner, there are parts of the Illustrious Order of the Red Cross that could be smoothed out as well. I admit that Ritual changes are the “third rail” of Freemasonry. However, if we can improve the work and make it more understandable without changing the lessons, why should we not consider that?
- Joint Business Meetings. In many areas, especially smaller communities, Chapter, Council, and Commandery are meeting together one night a month for business, and then a second time each month individually when necessary for Ritual practice or conferrals. It’s not a bad idea, actually. Right now, though, every group has its own version of how it will open, conduct business, and close. It may be wise for the General Grand Chapter, Council, and Grand Encampment leadership to put their collective brains together and design a sound, acceptable, and faithful Ritual and procedural guidelines. Sure, Chapters and Councils can’t be required to use it, but something would certainly be better than nothing or, worse, a mishmash of poorly written “pseudo-ritual”. [Lest one thinks I don’t like this idea, let me say I think it makes a lot of sense, and is especially a good idea if preceded with a good dinner!]
- Better guidance on how to do things. We have a great resource in our DVDs of the Illustrious Order of Red Cross and Order of Malta, and I cannot wait to see the Order of the Temple training video. We need to take this further by creating videos to help us learn sword manual, drill team work, and other parts of the “mechanics” of our work. These don’t need to be long and involved, but they will, in some cases, need professional development (drill team movements are not easy to film and demonstrate, for example). Where we can create scripts for use (like the introductions of distinguished guests at a Grand Conclave), we should do it. In this, I mean more than just the protocol list of officers (which always seems to overlook the Grand Prelate of the Grand Encampment for some reason), but a complete “fill in the blank” with the name script of exactly how to introduce each dignitary and in what order.
- Continue to use pandemic-era technology and expand on it. We learned that we could use videoconferencing to connect with one another around the globe and conduct our business. We should continue to use these tools going forward. Certainly, nothing beats the in-person experience, especially outside of the formal meetings. However, we learned that we can connect with one another with both audio and video and successfully join in worship, deliberation, conversation, and business. The ability to increase attendance and participation, especially for our non-US based members and how homebound US members in particular, by video at our Grand Conclaves and the Triennial Conclave should not be summarily dismissed as unnecessary or “dumbing down” our work. As a practical example, the American Legion Department of Maryland conducted one of its pandemic-era annual sessions from a central site and four satellite locations. At the satellite locations, there were designated facilitators and tellers to assist in getting participants to the microphones and, when needed, to collect and securely report voting results. We could do the same, for example, with regional sites in Central/South America, Asia, and Europe connecting to a central location here in the US (e.g., Salt Lake City for the upcoming Triennial Conclave).
- Leverage Grand Encampment buying power. A final thought, for now at least, is that the Grand Encampment could use it’s position to negotiate on the behalf of all our Grand Commanderies and Commanderies to negotiate for special pricing at hotels for our Conclaves, airlines for transportation to and from events, and so on. That way, rather than 60+ individual jurisdictions working, often without a lot of experience in conducting these kinds of negotiations, the Grand Encampment leadership could take the lead and work for arrangements that would be beneficial across the board. Just something for us to consider.
Apologies to those timing the read and realizing it is averaging a little more than 4 minutes this week. But, sometimes it take more than a brief quotation and an avatar to share ideas of substance. I look forward to hearing from you with your comments, suggestions, and ideas.