Post by staffs on Jun 16, 2006 21:55:28 GMT
Following on from a section in a previous thread i post the following .
I see that the UGLE address on masonic forums and chat rooms was dated 2002.
Well that counts me out and out of the frame as i was not even in the Craft then. Bill , Mike, Geoff at UK list ??
I wonder though just how much it has now changed as i believe that it is probably now acknowledge that this type of communication can be used as a very powerful tool for the good of Freemasonry.
For example how many of us have visited other lodges that we would never have done had it not been for this new "working tool" ?
Think of all the alms and charity collections that have been hasd by these visits and also think of the number of us who have organised large numbers to attend these meetings and often swelling these meetings to numbers that they have not been used to in a long while.
Now in a talk entitled ;
‘FREEMASONRY – THE MEDIA – THE FUTURE’
A talk by
VW Bro John M Hamill, PGSwdB
Director of Communications
John Hamill
A section of this is as follows :
This is from a recent update and goes to show that the stance has indeed changed.
So all of you WADITW take note that UGLE are making changes so dont be left behind waiting for the bus.
Quote:Internet - Forums and ‘Chat Rooms’
It has been brought to the notice of the Board that some Brethren are using the Internet not only to make contact with other Freemasons, which may be unexceptionable, but also as a means of seeking guidance on questions which should properly be addressed to their Provincial or District Grand Secretaries, from whom authoritative answers are available. Such enquiries frequently elicit a variety of different answers (of which many are, in the nature of things, likely to be wrong) and the Board considers that directing questions on protocol and similar matters to those participating in an Internet forum is inappropriate both for that reason and because of the nature of the subject-matter involved.
(Extract from Report of Board of General Purposes, adopted 13 March 2002)
It has been brought to the notice of the Board that some Brethren are using the Internet not only to make contact with other Freemasons, which may be unexceptionable, but also as a means of seeking guidance on questions which should properly be addressed to their Provincial or District Grand Secretaries, from whom authoritative answers are available. Such enquiries frequently elicit a variety of different answers (of which many are, in the nature of things, likely to be wrong) and the Board considers that directing questions on protocol and similar matters to those participating in an Internet forum is inappropriate both for that reason and because of the nature of the subject-matter involved.
(Extract from Report of Board of General Purposes, adopted 13 March 2002)
I see that the UGLE address on masonic forums and chat rooms was dated 2002.
Well that counts me out and out of the frame as i was not even in the Craft then. Bill , Mike, Geoff at UK list ??
I wonder though just how much it has now changed as i believe that it is probably now acknowledge that this type of communication can be used as a very powerful tool for the good of Freemasonry.
For example how many of us have visited other lodges that we would never have done had it not been for this new "working tool" ?
Think of all the alms and charity collections that have been hasd by these visits and also think of the number of us who have organised large numbers to attend these meetings and often swelling these meetings to numbers that they have not been used to in a long while.
Now in a talk entitled ;
‘FREEMASONRY – THE MEDIA – THE FUTURE’
A talk by
VW Bro John M Hamill, PGSwdB
Director of Communications
John Hamill
A section of this is as follows :
I deliberately used the word Media in the title of the talk because of course the latest medium is the one which is going to have the most profound influence. That is the internet. Just before I came up here today I went onto the internet. I use the Google search engine. If you type in the word Freemasonry, in nineteen seconds you get access to two million and forty thousand items mentioning Freemasonry. It is a double edged sword, as our enemies have as much access to it as we have. Certainly my surfing over the last few years has shown that the good positive websites are starting to outweigh the bad websites and those of the conspiracy theorists.
We now run four websites within the building. There is the Grand Lodge website, last autumn we set up and opened a Supreme Grand Chapter website and The Library & Museum and the Letchworth’s Shop have websites as does the Grand Charity.
Now MQ Magazine also has a website where, within a week of the magazine going out, you can access that issue on the web. That was done deliberately because we promised all subscribing members under the United Grand Lodge of England that they would have access to it. After the Board got over the shock of the postal bill of sending the magazine direct to thirty thousand members overseas they retrenched a little on that and we put up the idea of having the website so that they would have access to it. From my point of view, and more importantly, anyone else outside who tapped into the web could also have access to it. At the moment it has from Issue Nine up to the current issue on it, with the previous issues all gradually being made available. Anybody going onto the site has free access and can read any of the articles and items in the magazine.
The internet is increasingly playing a significant part in getting out information about Freemasonry, and it is also having the effect of introducing people to Freemasonry.
Once a year we have an informal meeting of the European Grand Secretaries. The last two meetings that we have had, October last year and the year before, the internet has figured on the agenda. One of the things we have all been finding is that people who are interested in Freemasonry but think that they don’t know any Freemasons are using the website to get in touch with Freemasonry. Chris Connop, my assistant, has a regular stream of enquiries from people who have seen the Grand Lodge website or one of the Provincial websites and they are interested in Freemasonry and want to know more.
We now run four websites within the building. There is the Grand Lodge website, last autumn we set up and opened a Supreme Grand Chapter website and The Library & Museum and the Letchworth’s Shop have websites as does the Grand Charity.
Now MQ Magazine also has a website where, within a week of the magazine going out, you can access that issue on the web. That was done deliberately because we promised all subscribing members under the United Grand Lodge of England that they would have access to it. After the Board got over the shock of the postal bill of sending the magazine direct to thirty thousand members overseas they retrenched a little on that and we put up the idea of having the website so that they would have access to it. From my point of view, and more importantly, anyone else outside who tapped into the web could also have access to it. At the moment it has from Issue Nine up to the current issue on it, with the previous issues all gradually being made available. Anybody going onto the site has free access and can read any of the articles and items in the magazine.
The internet is increasingly playing a significant part in getting out information about Freemasonry, and it is also having the effect of introducing people to Freemasonry.
Once a year we have an informal meeting of the European Grand Secretaries. The last two meetings that we have had, October last year and the year before, the internet has figured on the agenda. One of the things we have all been finding is that people who are interested in Freemasonry but think that they don’t know any Freemasons are using the website to get in touch with Freemasonry. Chris Connop, my assistant, has a regular stream of enquiries from people who have seen the Grand Lodge website or one of the Provincial websites and they are interested in Freemasonry and want to know more.
This is from a recent update and goes to show that the stance has indeed changed.
So all of you WADITW take note that UGLE are making changes so dont be left behind waiting for the bus.