2008 Programs
M.W. Grand Master Reg Kuhn spelled out his programs for the coming Masonic year to delegates attending Annual Communication. He encouraged all Nebraska lodges to participate in the following programs.
Who Are You?
He challenged each lodge to develop a mission statement which will best answer the question, “Who are you?”
“It will require a lodge to seriously consider those core values which are most important to it, and then put those values into words,” he said. To assist lodges, resources that will be helpful in this process will be sent in the next month. At Annual Communication next year, the lodges’ mission statements will be displayed about the lodge room.
Building Maintenance
The Grand Master also expressed concern about the maintenance of Masonic buildings. To begin to address the situation, he announced that four, $1,000 grants will be presented to lodges to make improvements. To be eligible to submit a grant application, a lodge must raise at least $750 of new funds to support either Masonic youth programs, such as CHIP, our youth groups, the band camp, or a youth program in the local community.
Ritual Work
In addition, he challenged each lodge to ensure that its ritual is done in the best possible manner. He urged everyone to double their efforts to maintain and improve the quality of the ritual.
“I do not believe the ritual is the holy grail of our fraternity,” he said. “Rather, it is the bonds of fraternal brotherhood and the lessons taught by the ritual which are of the utmost importance. However, our ritual does set us apart from every other social order and association, and I suggest provides many useful insights and tools to assist us in answering the complex question which I have put before us today.”
Grand Lodge
He added the Grand Lodge will respond to similar questions about its own functions, including exploration of new ways of doing business to ensure it is both relevant and nimble in these times of rapid technological change. He said the Grand Lodge also recognizes the current Grand Lodge committee structure is cumbersome, hard to coordinate and leaves many committee members unable to answer the question, “What do you do?” At the 2009 Annual Communication, he will offer a recommendation to restructure the Grand Lodge committees. “I hope that a new structure can make more effective use of Grand Lodge resources and the expertise of our members,” he said.