A Message
from Provincial Mentor - W. Bro. John Davies APGM
Are you good enough to be a Lodge Mentor? Do you have what it takes to
nurture and encourage the newer brethren, to help them understand our wonderful
organisation and most importantly – instil the feeling that they belong
and will play an important role in the future?
If you are saying yes right now then I look forward to meeting you soon as part
of a nationwide mentoring scheme which our PGM has enthusiastically embraced
and adopted in Essex.
In simple terms, it is designed to ensure that from the moment a man shows an
interest in being initiated into the Craft, everything is done to ensure that
he and his family has a thorough understanding of Freemasonry and what it
offers. It is important that he quickly feels that he is part of the Lodge and
can see a worthwhile and enjoyable future.
Sadly, even in the most friendly Lodge an initiate frequently feels isolated
and possibly insecure. We all know that first day at school feeling and it
frequently fails to improve even by the time the initiate takes his third
degree – particularly if his proposer and seconder are active Lodge
officers with little time to spare at meetings.
You may feel that this does not happen in your Lodge but it is a fact that in
recent years we have seen a steady decline in the number of Freemasons within
the United Kingdom . Even more worrying is that many leave within the first
five years of their Masonic life and the number of active masons in most Lodges
seems to be declining.
While we have fared better than many Provinces we are obviously not immune in
Essex . When we look at why younger brethren leave, it seems that it adds up to
a number of small factors building up to disillusionment with the Craft,
leading to the belief that Freemasonry is not for them. If a Lodge is to
succeed, it is vital to attract new high quality candidates and retain them.
It should be remembered that if a man was worth bringing into a Lodge in the
first place, then it is worth making an effort to retain him, which is why we
are launching and supporting the Mentoring Scheme in our Province.
I have been appointed by the PGM and I shall report directly to him on a
regular basis as to how it is working, Lodge by Lodge, Centre by Centre. He is
totally committed to ensuring that it is a success in Essex. It is therefore
our intention to build a network of Mentors across the Province to ensure that
every Lodge receives the support it needs.
Centre Mentors have been appointed. Their function is to provide back-up,
support and advice to Lodge Mentors, gather and collate information. Centre
Mentors may further appoint assistants to support them.
At the sharp end and where it matters most, experience in other Provinces
suggests that it has been best to appoint a Lodge Mentor to implement and
oversee the Scheme. He in turn appoints his own 'assistants' allocating one
particular brother to each Initiate, ensuring that he fully understands his
responsibilities and is trained to carry out his tasks. The Lodge Mentor
oversees supports and encourages the individual Mentors he appoints.
It means that on initiation, every new Mason is allocated a Personal Mentor or
'Masonic Friend' who will act as his guide and philosopher. The candidate's
proposer and seconder will in many cases assume the role of Personal Mentor if
possible.
We already have a support programme planned for all lodges.
It will include:-
-
A package of Grand Lodge toolkits and training programmes particularly the new
mentoring web site at www.3rlibrary.org.uk which contains most of the
information needed by the Lodge Mentor.
-
Introduce a programme of support for Lodges.
-
Introduce training, advice and guidance to Centre and Lodge Mentors and
Personal Mentors.
-
Arrange Masonic awareness and development seminars.
-
Listen to Lodges' experiences.
-
Provide booklets for each applicant, candidate, etc.
-
Measure effectiveness of System in the Province.
To ensuring the effectiveness of the scheme within Lodges, I shall via the
Provincial Office and assisted by the Centre mentors:
-
Actively encourage those Lodges without Mentors, to adopt the programme.
-
Encourage Lodges to 'publicly' appoint their Lodge Mentor at the annual
Installation Meeting, and to amend their ceremony of Initiation to allow the
introduction of the individual Mentor to the Candidate immediately after the
'Charge' is delivered.
-
Maintain an up-to-date database of Lodge Mentors, Group Mentors and Assistant
Group Mentors, their addresses, telephone numbers and, more importantly, e-mail
addresses for frequent updates of training information.
-
Encourage the formation of informal Lodge groups, to facilitate networking and
actively promote 'supported visiting' enabling the new Mason to visit other
Lodges, where he can watch an appropriate ceremony, in the company of members
of his own Lodge,
-
Review completed Exit Interview Forms in order that resignations and cessations
may be investigated, collated and analysed,
-
Organise Seminars and Workshops on Interviewing, Recruitment, Mentoring and
Retention for sharing best practice around the Province,
-
Arrange Masonic awareness and development seminars for young Masons.
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Arrange personal development for progressive and non progressive Offices.
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Listen to Lodges' experiences.
So as you can see, there is much to be done if we are to succeed. Every
time we lose one of our newer brethren represents a failure. Every
organization, no matter how successful, has to take a look at itself from time
to time and this is our time and I believe with your help - we will succeed.
What have we put in place so far:
Every lodge Secretary has received a letter from the Provincial Grand Master introducing the scheme and asking the Lodge to appoint a Lodge Mentor. Of our 333 lodges, over 270 have responded positively and the remainder are currently holding their GP meetings.
Training presentation and workshop to introduced the new Grand Lodge toolkits, have been held at Southend, Chelmsford, Upminster, Colchester, Chingford, Harlow and Rochford.
John Davies
