Provincial Grand Lodge and Chapter 2025 were held at the York Racecourse on Saturday 10 May 2025.

Provincial Grand Lodge was held in the morning and Chapter in the afternoon, separated by lunch. During the Craft meeting WBro Paul Barham, Deputy PGM of the Mark Province of N&E Yorkshire, presented a cheque for £5000 from the Mark Province in support of our Festival (image above).

The meeting also saw the launch of the new Guidance Document for Charity Stewards.

The Provincial Grand Master's Address to Provincial Grand Lodge

Brethren, since we have returned to holding the Craft and Chapter Convocations on the same day it is incumbent on me to bear in mind that ears and behinds can only take so much in a day. Couple this with the fact that the majority are here morning and afternoon, and will have to endure the same address twice, you will be relieved that it is hopefully shorter than previously.

I want to reflect on some of what has happened since last year and what will happen or is projected to happen over the next twelve months but, before launching into recent history and the immediate future, I do need to formally welcome all our distinguished visitors and heads of other orders. All were introduced to you as they were escorted into Provincial Grand Lodge / Provincial Grand Chapter, and I won’t repeat those individual introductions. I will, however, content myself with asking you to welcome them again with a YN&ER barrage of applause.

To say that all were introduced is not absolutely correct, because we are honoured by two Rulers in other orders who has been otherwise engaged this morning. Can I ask you to acknowledge W Bro Stephen Cox APGM as Deputy Grand Supreme Ruler in the Order of the Secret Monitor [and of course one of this year’s Grand Officers of the year] and W Bro Ling Fang Yu Provincial Deputy Grand Master in the Order of Athelstan.

Welcomes completed I can now safely turn to what has happened over the last twelve months.

We have made significant advances in our membership. We are one of a handful of Provinces to have been awarded an additional APGM and an APGP plus two additional Grand Ranks all of which, and I emphasise this point, are directly linked to membership. Thanks are due to the Membership Support Group who had worked constantly on our behalf and continue to do so.

We have finally introduced a three-area model for the administration of the Province which will bring Provincial support closer to Lodges and Chapters and in turn make for a more equitable distribution of visits. This approach will enable us to celebrate your achievements and progress ,as changes being introduced by Grand Lodge and Supreme Grand Chapter, start to impact on how we operate and enjoy our Freemasonry. On the issue of visiting can I say that there are times when I simply enjoy coming out for an evening, to sit and have a chat with Brethren and Companions, not respond to a toast or answer questions just to have a night off. If that causes comment, then so be it, because that’s what I do and will do!

Festival 2029 is now a year on and going well but, as with all festivals the stages are those of initial euphoria followed by a long drive forward. Lodges and Chapters are very clearly getting into Festival Spirit as the number of Vice Patron Lodges, just one year in, has already started to grow. [ To reflect this, I am able to present Concord Lodge with a Vice Patron Certificate in recognition of its having raised £6400 to date for Festival 2029.] The Festival Team, led by Martin Eggermont, has an extensive programme of events and other cunning plans and schemes to keep up the momentum, so please make sure you look at the Provincial website for full details. These of course will appear at relevant intervals in the Yorkshire Mason, that masterful publication so effectively managed by our PCO Chris Ansell [one of our Grand Officers of the year]! The publication has clearly caught the attention of the Director of Communications at Grand Lodge as Chris is part of the team developing the digitised version of Freemasonry Today , of which you will have already seen the first publication.

Please sign up for your Festival Jewel by entering into a standing order for Festival. Just remember that historically we receive back more than we contribute to an MCF festival, with support for members, their families and other causes. We never know when we might need support but there is comfort in knowing that if that day comes funds will be available, so don’t delay sign up and contribute to that “comfort blanket”!!
Emphasising my reference to the website, just register for it and use it. It is a powerful resource which keeps you informed and may just prevent the “I didn’t know that was happening”! Oh, and while you are registering for the website take the time to register for Portal, the new system designed to enable you to maintain your Masonic details and record. At the moment we have about 25% of members in the Province registered but this needs to be 100%, so get on with it - please.

Our two “Which Way Now” days have proved popular as a mechanism to introduce developments to your attention. Both received excellent feedback. This initiative will continue in the future, and I trust it will become a route to positive developments.

And what further positive developments can I identify during the last twelve months.

In the Craft we have seen the “repurposing” of Phoenix Lodge as a Real Ale Lodge, thereby avoiding “last orders”. It arose like Phoenix following discussions about the possible surrender of its warrant to an installation under its new guise with an excess of fifty in attendance. Since November last the Lodge has had eight joining members with four more being proposed at its last meeting on May 3rd, plus three candidates ready for initiation. And perhaps the notion of repurposing is picking up momentum with Burlington Lodge en route to becoming a Country Pursuits Special Interest Lodge. We wish both well in their endeavours.

The consecration of Invictus Chapter was a memorable event in which Sir David Wootton took the chair, and the Companions of the Province were able to show him just what an accomplished lot we really are. He did a decent job as well by the way!

Also on the horizon is our new Emergency Services Lodge, to be known as Semper Paratus [Always Ready] with some sixty-one founders drawn from the widest spectrum of those who provide “emergency services”. Not just the traditional police, fire and ambulance services but coast guard, lifeboat, air ambulance, doctors, paramedics, etc., where etc. covers all those who provide us with comfort and help at difficult times.
I include in this overview of notable events the St Catherines “Masonic Aware” and Friends of St Catherine’s scheme, the hosting of the “ Not Forgotten Day.” At York Racecourse, where we acknowledged our support for our service veterans and the Forces Covenant. Visits by the Past Deputy Grand Master, Assistant Grand Master, Grand Secretary, President of the Board of General Purposes, all under the auspices of the Grand Officers Mess, which was opened up to members of the Province. All these events were well attended. Still to come is a visit in October by the fairly recently invested DGM, Sir Michael Snyder, again under the banner of our Grand Officers Mess. All these, and more I could call on for support, lead me to the view that we are making positive steps forward. Importantly we do this as a team of individuals, in which regard I can confidently say that without that team spirit we would not be in the position we are.

So , we have much to celebrate, and I believe we can say that we are on the right track. It was for this reason, when Sir David Wootton came to the Province recently, I felt able to say “go back to London and tell them that Yorkshire North and East Ridings don’t just talk the talk they walk the walk.

So, the message is, if you want to be part of these developments speak to a member of the Executive or one of the Provincial Support Groups and we will find a way to utilise your enthusiasm and skills but please do so without an expectation of rank or position. Both may come in time but in the interim do things because that is what we do and, whilst a badged apron may help keep you warm it is being part of the team that gives you a pleasant feeling all over!

Reflecting back on support from London, I am sure there are those who will be only too willing to use reverse logic to comment that London come to the Province to test out what life support we need but in truth they come because they applaud what we are doing.

And the applause isn’t just from London. It was notable that when we had a civic visit from the Lord Mayor of York and the High Sheriff to our Not Forgotten day, we might have expected an appearance before they moved on to their next programmed event, but they all stayed for the whole day because they enjoyed the experience and our company so much.

Now I am not naive, nor do I look at everything through rose tinted spectacles or put a telescope to a blind eye and conclude that everything is right in our world. Some of our Lodges and Chapters could benefit from more members, some of our venues suffer for want of refurbishment.

There is no magic bullet. Province has put in place support arrangements, particularly in the context of ensuring, where possible, assistance with attracting new members and importantly retaining existing ones, and not forgetting our securing the return to the fold of those who have ceased to engage. The only way this support can work though is by a meeting of minds. It achieves nothing when the voice from outside the tent tells us that we have Lodges that have 20 – 30 members! Do they really think that this has escaped our notice. Or a comment that some of our Masonic halls need work? Frequently their comments include “and what are Province doing about it”. My answer is , take the time to look at what our Provincial Support Groups are doing in the context of membership, facilities, support for Lodges and Chapters in relation to their local communities. etc. plus many more forms of help. Remember that Lodges and Chapters are masters of their own destiny and, whilst Province can help to shape that destiny, it can’t and won’t determine it for you. It might be considered a cruel judgement but, if a Lodge or Chapter lacks the energy to progress then rest assured Province will provide an external “energy pack “and help you to explore possibilities, but it can’t arrive with a readymade solution, any solution has to come from within. Part of my message today is that the Province will listen to all comments, positive or negative, but please be ever ready to hear the reply “so what are you prepared to do about it. The reply will reveal your commitment to helping.

I do want to flag up two further things that will assist in strengthening the Province. As an organisation we thrive on new members of whatever age but, what might have been missing in the past is a mechanism to ensure they are fully involved and their voices heard. This is where the Cornerstone Circle comes into play. You will have heard of their exploits already via your own Lodges and Chapters and the Yorkshire Mason, oh and if you have registered for the website there as well , [just another plug] but if you want to know more, or join the 500 and growing who have signed up, then take the time to look around today and perhaps click on the QR code that you will see dotted around which will lead you to relevant details.

And while you are looking for that QR notice take a look at the one which will lead you to the very recently prepared Charity Stewards Guidance which provides exactly what is says on the tin. Guidance for Lodge and Chapter Charity Stewards, which is vital as we progress with festival, whilst not forgetting the way our local communities and our members depend on our support.

Just one more pointer of what is yet to come, and this can be summed up under the banner of harmonisation. Harmonisation is the way in which Craft and Chapter will become an ever-increasingly single entity. It has been repeatedly said that pure antient Freemasonry consist of three degrees and no more, those of the Entered Apprentice, the Fellow Craft, and the Master Mason, including that of the Royal Arch. But what have we done to consolidate this? Well, the time has come to turn mantra into reality and, via changes being developed now and which will become ever more evident over the coming months, there will be a very evident coming together of Craft and Chapter under the umbrella of harmonisation. Rest assured that this is not a “take over” by Craft of Chapter just a clear recognition of their joint importance to the future of Freemasonry.

There will be much information emerging over the coming months of how Craft and Chapter will develop together and, to start that process in this Province, there will be a bringing together of the roles of DPGM and DGS. When Pat Cambage completes his three-year term as DGS in July, Bill Glanville will assume the joint role of DPGM / DGS with his formal investiture later in the summer in a Chapter of his choice. This will make it noticeably clear that Craft and Chapter is developing together, are administered together via a joint ProvGSec/ Scribe E, Prov Treasurer, Communications Officer and of course a joint Executive. We will retain our other Provincial structures so that we lose nothing of the traditional ceremonial of the Craft and Chapter, but we will go forward living up to the ideal of Freemasonry being “one journey, one organisation”.

I did promise a shorter address and I want to conclude by reflecting that today is one of celebration for those receiving Provincial and Grand ranks.

I have said this before, last year as I recall, and I make no apology for repeating it. Any honour conferred, whether Grand or Provincial rank, is dependent in part on what an individual has done but importantly on what he is doing and what he will be doing in the future. Time served is not a substitute spent in actually doing things. Biological age, for which one could perhaps substitute Masonic age, might command some element of consideration when you get offered a “priority seat” on the bus but, without denigrating experience or dismissing ideas based on experience, Freemasonry is a dynamic being and is dependent on identifying and working with those who will take the organisation forward, guided of course by shared past experience. So, when you have time to reflect on those that have been honoured today and last week at Grand Lodge and Supreme Grand Chapter, I trust you will recognise that their preferment reflects their past, current and expected involvement in the Province.

My thanks go to those who formed last year’s team of active officers. You have done the Province proud in your support. We have had some good times out on visits where often the size of the team has seen an army of supporters for the Lodge or Chapter in question. Your enthusiasm to turn out never ceased to amaze and you made the events memorable, so thank you on behalf of all those whose meetings you made very special.

Thanks also to all who have made today happen. You know who you are but, and very importantly, so does the Province!! Whilst I won’t bombard you with names and roles a particular mention to John Davies and his team for once again making the PSA testing happen. It does save lives so thanks to them and to FCYNER for its support of the initiative. And of course, to Tony Stevenson and the Secretariat Team very many thanks for your hard work. I do, however, want to identify Trevor Ions who has been the man behind many aspects of secretarial support for many years – seven I think – and thank him on our collective behalf for his exemplary service, I also of course express my thanks to the ceremonial teams under the direction of Karl Ward and Jimmie Kerr.

So, to all who have received honours many congratulations, your rank is well earned. Use your newfound status in continuing to support and take the Province forward.

We are all on the same journey, or should be, and we have a duty to support our members, their families and our communities and make sure that as an organisation we continue to be relevant to the society in which we live.

Live up to what we hold dear, and we will hopefully go onwards and upwards. Masonry has been around for a long time, and it is up to all of us to ensure that it continues to be around for many years to come.

Thank you.