Lodge Offices
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Topic: Lodge Offices
Posted By: CanadianPaul
Subject: Lodge Offices
Date Posted: November/14/2014 at 8:49am
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My mother Lodge here in Canada holds of the GL of Scotland, and I am therefore familiar with lodges under that constitution and also with those under the GL of Newfoundland and Labrador. Although there are many different rituals in use in these lodges they are all roughly similar to 'Emulation'. I have noticed two things when reading posts on this site that indicate that the Offices found in some American jurisdictions differ from those I am used to. Firstly, I have read references to the office of 'Marshall'. This office is not found in lodges here but it is found in both our District Grand Lodge (under the GL of Scotland) and in the GL of NL. In our DGL the Marshall is in charge in processions in public. Inside the lodge during meetings the 'Director of Ceremonies' is in charge of organising the floorwork etc. I am wondering if those lodges that have "Marshalls' also have Directors of Ceremony or are the Marshall's duties essentially those of our DoC. Secondly, I have read that in some jurisdictions there is no 'Inner Guard' whose duties in my lodge are to ' admit brethren on proof, to receive candidates in due form, and to obey the commands of the Worshipful Junior Warden'. If a lodge has no Inner Guard, who carries out these duties? I would appreciate any information on these points. ------------- Paul Miller, Ass'nt. Gr. Sec. (Hon. Scot.) Past Master, Lodge Conception No 1679, GL of Scotland Conception Bay South NL CANADA Past Master Farnham Lodge of Research No. 33, GL of NL |
Replies:
Posted By: BroScubaSteve
Date Posted: November/14/2014 at 9:27am
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I am a Marshal in New Jersey. I keep decorum when a ballot is open. I make sure everyone has voted and ask those to vote if they have not done so. I ask the brethren to give the grand honors, lead the craftsmen in double files and have the pleasure of holding the candidate by the arm as we circumambulate around the lodge room. If there are more than one, I assign assistant marshals to help me. The SD leads the circumambulation. I return to my place when the SW takes over to instruct the candidate how to AtE. I sit next to the Chaplin on his left. We do not have a DoC or an inner guard here. The JD attends to all alarms at the od. Our SD attends all alarms at the ID, receives CiDF and also receives guests. Edited: Even some jurisdictions in the US do not have a Marshal's place. It is a weird chair. Your staff is a baton. Nice for thumping Brothers who get too rowdy when in line to vote! ------------- Initiated 4-22-13 Passed 5-29-13 Raised 6-27-13 Junior Deacon F&AM GLNJ 32°AASR NMJ, Southern Valley of NJ |
Posted By: edwmax
Date Posted: November/14/2014 at 10:59am
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In my Lodges, and I presume some other GLs in the Us, the Marshall is appointed as needed when needed. He officeates at Ceremonies, primarily at installations. ... We have no Inner Guard. Those duties are the duties of the Jr. Deacon who sits on the right of the SW near the outer door. Since Freemasonry came to the US long before the Unification of 1813 directly from the GL of England, Scotland, and Ireland. I attribute the difference you see as being part of the changes cause by the Unification. ------------- "He who would assume to govern others must first learn to govern himself." Thomasville 369 |
Posted By: cemab4y
Date Posted: November/14/2014 at 12:38pm
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In Kentucky, some (not all) lodges have a "marshal" (notice the spelling). The marshal assists in some duties, especially in the installation of new officers. ------------- Charles E. Martin Alexandria, VA Bowling Green Lodge 73, Bowling Green KY (GL of KY, F&AM) Alexandria VA Scottish Rite Bodies (AASR, Southern Jurisdiction, USA) |
Posted By: CanadianPaul
Date Posted: November/15/2014 at 10:15am
These are basically the duties here of a Director of Ceremonies, which is a regular lodge Office. His seat is in the middle of the North. The DoC even carries a baton! About the only difference I see is in the conducting of candidates - here in the EA degree that is the duty of the JD; in the FC and MM degrees the SD. I assume OD = outer door and ID = inner door. Our lodges only have one guarded door - in the west, with the Tyler outside armed with a sword and the Inner Guard inside armed with, according to our ritual, a 'sharp instrument'! Other lodges call it a 'poniard' - basically a dagger! My understanding is that at the time of the uniting of the two English Grand Lodges ( the "Moderns' and the "Ancients') in 1813 (?) one of them usd the system with an IG and one the system without. I understand sume jurisdictions in the US claim descent from the 'Moderns' and others from the "Ancients'. Are there then some Grand Lodges in the US that use an IG? The object in both cases, of course, is to see that only those qualified to do so can enter the Lodge when it is open. As to the two systems - they have, as we say here, 'the same difference' - ie nothing important, really! ------------- Paul Miller, Ass'nt. Gr. Sec. (Hon. Scot.) Past Master, Lodge Conception No 1679, GL of Scotland Conception Bay South NL CANADA Past Master Farnham Lodge of Research No. 33, GL of NL |
BroScubaSteve wrote:Posted By: BroScubaSteve
Date Posted: November/15/2014 at 2:36pm
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The marshal here is a permanent position. The inner door is only used during degree work and the knocks from within are answered by the SD. interesting to read about yhe subtle differences in the layout of the lodge ------------- Initiated 4-22-13 Passed 5-29-13 Raised 6-27-13 Junior Deacon F&AM GLNJ 32°AASR NMJ, Southern Valley of NJ |
Posted By: CanadianPaul
Date Posted: November/15/2014 at 4:19pm
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Respecting the layout of the lodges - in all but one or two lodges here the altar is not located in the centre of the lodge but rather towards the East at the east end of the mosaic pavement. The Three Great Lights are, of course, upon the altar while the three lesser lights - now electrically lit, alas, rather than being candles, are not located around the altar but one each in front of the Master, the SW and the JW. ------------- Paul Miller, Ass'nt. Gr. Sec. (Hon. Scot.) Past Master, Lodge Conception No 1679, GL of Scotland Conception Bay South NL CANADA Past Master Farnham Lodge of Research No. 33, GL of NL |
Posted By: jdeal
Date Posted: November/15/2014 at 4:23pm
| Interesting discussion. |