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Post by Mikepm on Nov 7, 2004 23:25:51 GMT
I have arranged a charity clay shoot for Friday 3rd December, at Northall Shooting ground Near the Blue Bell Railway, Haywards Heath, West Sussex. Arrive between 9.0/9.30 and finish at approx 12.0/12.30 It is a 50 bird sporting, and included in the price are your cartridges, bacon/sausage sandwiches & tea/coffee on arrival & a buffet afterwards, which will be held at the Plough Public House, Lower Beeding, Near Horsham, ( about 20 mins from the shoot) the presentation will be held there as well. Novices & Non-Masons are most welcome, and there is tuition arranged for novices and guns will be supplied for the novices.
Teams will be arranged on the day, to allow a level playing field and for those of you that come on your own or pairs. I have organised this in my role as shooting secretary for the Surrey Masonic Sports Association, and the monies raised will go towards the 2008 festival which is for the Masonic trust for Girls & Boys, and hopefuly one other charity. Please support this function as it is for a worthwhile cause and the fact that we can have a few beers afterwards. If you would like to come along then please email me before the 29th November, regards Mike. ;D
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Post by Mikepm on Feb 11, 2008 1:21:23 GMT
A good call Whistler, as long as the right brothers are chosen, or put their selfs foward, and not, certain bretheren who shall we say, would jump at any Opportunity of climbing the 'Pole' Regards, Mike.
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Post by Mikepm on Jun 18, 2007 18:35:43 GMT
Dear All, John Hamill and Chris Connop from the Information and Communications team at Great Queen Street have been recorded in a fairly light hearted discussion during which they try to debunk some of the myths and misconceptions about freemasonry. It will be broadcast on the Richard and Judy show which starts at 5.00pm on Tuesday 19th June on Channel 4, although they are not sure how much of it the editor will cut. Regards Mike.
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Post by Mikepm on May 7, 2007 15:48:38 GMT
I'm in Royal Arch, and joined Mark last year, i'm looking to join R & S at the end of the year, as the story follows on, i'm looking forward to it, Mike.
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Post by Mikepm on Mar 20, 2007 22:26:41 GMT
Here is the Pro GM's speach. I think this is worth putting on in full. Address by the MW The Pro Grand Master The Most Hon. the Marquess of Northampton, DL at the Quarterly Communication of the United Grand Lodge of England on 14 March 2007 Today it has been my pleasure to invest Bro Nigel Brown as Grand Secretary. The new role of Grand Secretary means that he can concentrate on our Provinces and Districts and I look forward to visiting many of them with him in the forthcoming months. Although the number of Grand Lodge Certificates issued in 2006 showed a drop of nearly ten per cent over the previous year, this is an exciting time for Freemasonry. I believe we are at a turning point. This is a turning point for the better. With this in mind we should all be renewing our efforts to find men of quality to join us. To do so we need to be able to openly voice the objectives and merits of our Freemasonry. We need to do this from the very beginning. By beginning, I mean from the moment we first interview a potential candidate. I am looking at initiatives to help this process. It has always seemed strange to me that, for example, we ask the candidate those three very important questions after the ceremony has begun. He is in a state of darkness, has little understanding of the criteria for membership and even less chance of giving a reasoned answer. So what we need to do is to give clear guidelines for these interviews. We must tell the candidate what he can expect from us and what we will expect from him. I am on record as saying that in this age of openness we should be able to discuss the purpose of our rituals with a candidate before he decides whether to join. To put it another way, no thinking man is going to join and then stay committed to an organisation that cannot talk about itself openly and with clarity. So we have to be clear in our own minds what the purpose of Freemasonry is and what our ritual means. When we are clear, we need to become good at marketing ourselves. Then, in the interview we can explain our Freemasonry in a way that fits the twenty first century and why it will be relevant to the candidate. That will allow us a better chance of competing for his leisure time, his finances and his intellectual stimulation. I am sure like me many of you must feel frustrated when you open your newspapers and read how leaders in our society have been emphasising recently the importance of morality and tolerance. Yet as Freemasons we practise both those virtues and have been doing so for a very long time. We do not shout about it from the rooftops, but quietly practise in our everyday lives those lessons we are taught in our lodges. I spoke at Quarterly Communication in December 2005 about the need to explain ourselves through the virtues of tolerance and trust but there are other ways in which Freemasonry helps us. Anyone who has seen a timid brother climb through the Offices and pass through the Chair of his lodge with new-found confidence can see first hand how masonry instils leadership qualities in its candidates. It also provides a welcome social outlet for the lonely and bereaved. How many times have we heard a brother praising the support he received from his lodge when he lost a loved one, discovered he had a life threatening illness or just felt lonely and needed someone to talk to? These are some of the things we can explain to our candidates and the popular world to show the benefits we get from our Freemasonry. Following my remarks at the last Quarterly Communication about the success of the Centre for Research into Freemasonry at the University of Sheffield I learnt soon after that Professor Andrew Prescott would be leaving his post there. I am pleased to say I have received a positive letter from the Vice Chancellor pledging the University’s strong commitment to the continuation and development of the Centre. He goes on to say that ‘they will shortly be advertising for a successor and will provide the necessary funding to ensure that this is a sufficiently long term appointment to attract a strong field of candidates’. We owe a debt of gratitude to Professor Prescott for all the efforts he has made to get Freemasonry recognised as a serious and worthwhile subject for academic research. Since our last meeting the Grand Master has attended the seventy fifth anniversary of our District of Ghana. Last weekend I visited the Grand Lodge of Spain to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the re-establishment of regular Freemasonry in that country. In May I shall be going to Edinburgh to represent the United Grand Lodge of England alongside the Grand Masters of Ireland and Scotland at the International Conference on the History of Freemasonry which is being hosted by the Grand Lodge of Scotland. It will be a remarkable gathering of academic lecturers drawn from all over the world and details can be found on their website, which will be published in MQ for anyone who is interested, www.ichfonline.org . Brethren, on another subject, you should know that at the Annual Investiture the Grand Master is minded to make a positive statement about our relationship with the other long established and well known orders of masonry to which many Craft members belong. I believe this will be most welcome.
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Post by Mikepm on Mar 9, 2007 23:17:47 GMT
I was sent an e mail this morning asking the following question .. What is the purpose, what is freemasonry trying to accomplish...??Your thoughts and opinions please ! Lee out of Interest who emailed you, and why?
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Post by Mikepm on Jan 16, 2007 23:20:00 GMT
Staffs As I understand it, the official UGLE line is that women can be Freemaons, just not with them. But sometimes I come across people who laugh at this, and it would be nice to have something concrete to refer them to. Stewart I thought you would have realized by now that UGLE is but one of many Freemasonry organizations - it certainly is not the benchmark For Freemasonry - so who really cares what the UGLE Official Line is. It can be the Piccadilly or Bakerloo line for all it matters. A bit disrespectful to UGLE, YES IT IS ONE OF MANY ORGANISATIONS, but one that many use as a bench mark.
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Post by Mikepm on Jan 17, 2007 23:02:10 GMT
I give up!!!!!!!!!!!
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Post by Mikepm on Jan 16, 2007 23:16:04 GMT
Excuse my ignorance, i do have some intelligence, but what the hell is this post meant to be about? have some of you been smoking something funny?
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Post by Mikepm on Jan 5, 2007 20:24:30 GMT
In our lodge every member has a small wooden gavel to use at the festive board, and when a guest is invited the member who invited him pays for it. If memory serves me right i think that my lodge has used Yew & Ash. Ps if you don't turn up with your gavel there is a fine to pay for the charity box.
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Post by Mikepm on Jan 9, 2007 1:04:54 GMT
Right Chris, apart from revenge at Cricket and trying to collar you for a beer, as i saw you running off in the distance, i will be doing the following.. Almoner & Ass Sec in my Mother Lodge. Sec in my London Lodge from March. Jd In Past Masters Lodge Ist Ass Soj In Ist Principal Chap Ig in Mark Joining RAM in June. I have been asked to join R & SM by the Dist GM in May but not sure yet. 2nd Standard Bearer in Kt but i may come out of that. In my other two lodges, i'm the halls rep, sports rep, & pet rep, and the other nothing. I think thats all, oh i forgot I'm Organising a big National Sporting event which my province is hosting in Aug, more to follow on that, regards Mike. Just in, i have been asked to take the Postion of Scribe E at my chapters installation meeting in Feb, a very busy year.
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Post by Mikepm on Dec 14, 2006 23:46:03 GMT
The move of Steve from UGLE Malecraft Freemasonry to LDH Freemasonry is an example of how freedom to express views in harmony allows people to find their own places of comfort. With out the MFoL, Steve may never have been exposed to the concept of genderless Freemasonry. He certainly would not have had an opportunity to explore, discuss and see how Freemasonry works without a gender bias. Steves move is not a victory for Co-Masonry over Malecraft Freemasony. It is a Victory for the Freedom of Expression. Congratulations to Staffs and the Masonic Forum of Light for creating the harmony that enables people to share thoughts and ideas. Found this little quote which may apply to Steve's journey "Every time that you find in your books a tale the reality of which seems impossible, a story which is repugnant to both reason and common sense, then be sure that the tale contains a profound allegory veiling a deeply mysterious truth; and the greater the absurdity of the letter, the deeper the wisdom of the spirit" Moses Maimonedes (1135-1205 A.D,' , Steve was already on another site long before this excellent one arrived, i am a little surprised, but everyone has a choice. I do think that sometimes some forumites do take pleasure in knocking FREEMASONRY, with cleverly worded posts that appear soft and fluffy, good luck Steve.
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Post by Mikepm on Dec 6, 2006 23:13:03 GMT
Congrats, mind where you put that sword, Mike ;D
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Post by Mikepm on Nov 7, 2006 22:16:41 GMT
Have a great night, and make sure you see a 1st as soon as you can then you will fully appreciate the ceremony, regards Mike.
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Post by Mikepm on Nov 7, 2006 22:05:25 GMT
The Brethern who have been missed out did want to progress, and are suitably qualified, and attend all meetings and have been in the order for some time. I have Pm Steve for his thoughts, Chris iwill bowl you a googly ;D
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Post by Mikepm on Nov 5, 2006 21:09:53 GMT
I was at a meeting the other week (Instalation) and as the brethern were being called up it suddenly dawned on me that one of the brethern had been put/jumped above 3 others in the pecking order by the new WM. At the Festive board i was sitting next to the secretary and inquired as to the jump by this brother, and he said he spoke to the WM about progression, and the WM was insistant that this brother took the office in question, above those who were senior, and qualified. It turns out that this brother is part of a body as is the WM! and has only been in for 18 months! This has left a bad taste in my mouth, in all my years in Freemasonry i haven't come across this before. My friend just shrugged his shoulders, and said so what, if thats what they want to do let them get on with it. Steve F might want to comment as this was not a craft meeting., and i think that he may be in this degree?
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Post by Mikepm on Sept 6, 2006 23:00:44 GMT
Lads the jobs mine
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Post by Mikepm on Aug 17, 2006 20:25:41 GMT
A great Story and i think that i would do the same. My son is always asking, as does my Daughter who has heard my ramblings for 10 years now.
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Post by Mikepm on Jul 12, 2006 22:36:00 GMT
Cheyham a interesting post i can see your point. About Serving wine who cares who does it as long as the glass is topped up (Hic) Stewards roles go further nowadays than just pouring wine, re at installation what does the WM SAY, .............. about learning the various offices and standing in.....
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Post by Mikepm on Jul 5, 2006 21:28:59 GMT
Remember when you entered the Lodge Poor & Penniless, and Cheerfully embrase.........................................................
One of our lodge members years ago fell on hard times and had to deliver pizzas & curries to make ends meet at a ripe old age of 68, he used to attend meetings and then go home, so i used to say one of my guests hadn't turned up and the dining had been paid, none the wiser, and great company.
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