Greetings, Sir Knights! The Triennial Conclave is about 10 days away! Thank you for your commitment to our Order. I look forward to seeing you in Salt Lake City. Please make sure to stop by the Hospitality Suite and chat with Brian DiMatteo (candidate for Grand Captain General) and me.
The Grand Encampment has had a global footprint for much of its history. As we have moved into new parts of the world, we have taken our Ritual along, and in doing so, brought a translation of it to the new nations where we stand up Commanderies and, in many cases, Grand Commanderies. This is a wonderful thing, because even when the language might be different, if one is familiar with the work, one knows exactly what is going on and being said. This is one of the strengths of our Order and in having a common Ritual.
What we have been less intentional in doing is building the ties between the non-US Grand Commanderies and Subordinate Commanderies and their US counterparts. Other than a Department Commander and occasional visit by an elected Grand Encampment officer for a Grand Conclave, we don’t really do a lot to connect with our Fratres, and unfortunately, many of you non-US Templars aren’t in close contact with your Fratres in the USA except every three years at the Triennial Conclaves. We must do better.
During my campaign, I have made it a point to reach out more to our non-US membership. With the help of a few friends, as well as some AI tools, I have tried to make these weekly messages and some other materials available in the languages of our Grand Encampment. I am an intermediate-level German reader and speaker and can at least get the general meaning of things printed in Spanish and Italian, but I know I need to work on my language skills to be a more engaged partner with our non-native English-speaking membership.
We need to encourage, and even solicit, non-English content for our great magazine. We have some great Masonic scholars across our Order, and we need to hear from many more of them. We should also consider establishing the office of Assistant Grand Recorder to extend our central office support to at least the South and Central America region and Europe. Having regional assistants will allow better support for the membership in those areas and, by staging key supplies and materials, reduce the time and cost to provide awards, certificates, and other materials. We also need to ensure there is appropriate access to the MMS from our foreign locations. We should also explore how we can extend contact with one another via Zoom/Teams/other video tools for meetings, education, and fellowship.
I believe we should also look at the elimination of Subordinate Commanderies where possible, aligning them with existing Grand Commanderies or encouraging several Subordinate Commanderies in reasonable proximity to petition for multi-national Grand Commandery. For example, our new Commandery in Serbia could easily be a Constituent Commandery of Croatia (they are already working together in many ways). This not only strengthens the Grand Commandery of Croatia, but also give the Serbian Commandery a “home” nearby where it can find support, leadership assistance rather than relying on support from the Grand Encampment office in Texas, and leadership opportunities while they work to expand their presence in other communities in Serbia, with the goal of becoming a Grand Commandery of their own during the coming Triennium.
It is important for these non-US jurisdictions to see and know their Grand Encampment leaders. Therefore, I am encouraging the Grand Encampment leaders to review budget priorities and set aside additional travel funds so that our elected leaders can visit and meet with our non-US members more frequently than we have in the past. Our non-US members need to know the Grand Encampment is more than their Department Commander and some people they see online or once every three years on a trip to the USA. Every jurisdiction—in the USA and overseas—and every Subordinate Commandery should receive a visit from an elected Grand Encampment officer at least once every Triennium. These visits need to be well-planned, have a solid agenda, and include discussions and action steps to strengthen Templary in the jurisdiction and tighten the relationship and communication between the jurisdiction and the Grand Encampment.
Strengthening our bonds across the Grand Encampment is something we all need to do, and I encourage all of us to find ways to do so, regardless of where we live.
I appreciate your time and would also appreciate your support and vote to be the next Deputy Grand Master when we gather in Conclave in August 2024.
If you have questions or comments, feel free to contact me at art@40mileproject.us or through my Facebook page Art Hebbeler for Deputy Grand Master. I am happy to also chat on the phone or in a video call—just ask!