Grand Master’s Installation Address: June 2, 2025

Grand Master 2025 – 2026

Empowering the Craft for the Future

Good Day, Brethren and our Special Guests:

When I started this journey in Freemasonry 27 years ago, I would have never imagined standing here before you as I am today, your Grand Master for the GL of BC and Yukon. In fact, like most of us, I wasn’t really sure what exactly I wanted but I did know that the men I knew that were Freemasons acted like I wanted to act and thought like I wanted to think. And still the number one achievement is becoming a Master Mason. I have always been a leader but the men I came to and continue to admire in our Fraternity seemed to be a different kind of leader, in a really good and positive way. As the years have progressed, I came to realize, with some encouragement from many people that maybe I had something more to offer. So, in this very place in this room, you made my decision to lead our Fraternity a reality. Brethren, are we in for it now!!!  I do hope that you will enjoy the year with me and this great group of Grand Line Officers!!

Now to the ambitions I would like us to achieve this Masonic year.

I will be continuing much of the work plan submitted by our IPGM and they are:

1. Lodge Recovery Initiative, assisting and supporting those Lodges who require some guidance to move forward and continue to operate. The Grand Line, DDGM’s and our Committee’s will continue to work this.
2. Masonic Building Recovery and Masonic Building Foundation including improving how we support our Lodge buildings in need of renovation and renewal.
3. Grand Lodge Strategic Plan alongside the 5 Pillar Plan. This is being worked by a small group of brethren, and we hope this will be presented at our next Annual Communication.
4. Youth Relations is now a significant focus for our Masonic Family. Job’s Daughters are having some success rebuilding their Bethels and I am encouraged by the good work going on with them. Demolay really needs some assistance, especially by those Brethren who are past Members. Do not wait for someone to ask you to assist, please be that group of Freemasons who will step up to push this forward.

My intention this year is to Empower the Craft for the Future.

We often speak of Freemasonry as a “system of morality, veiled in allegory and illustrated by symbols.” But as we look toward the future, we have to ask ourselves: Is that system a museum piece to be preserved, or a toolkit to be used?

The world outside of here is louder, more divided, and more digitally saturated than ever before. In an era of instant gratification and “disposable” connections, the Craft offers something radically different: permanence. To empower the Craft for the future, we don’t need to change our landmarks; we need to change how we demonstrate their value to the modern world.

Empowering the Craft for the Future rests on three main pillars:

1. Intentional Mentorship: We cannot continue to initiate, pass and raise a man and then simply hand him a book and expect a Master Mason to emerge. Empowerment means moving beyond “proficiency” and toward true “proficiency in life.” We must invest time in the “why” of our rituals, ensuring our newer Brethren feel they are part of a living philosophy, not just a social club or a meeting once a month organization. We memorize Ritual for a reason, to better understand Ethics and Morality. We all have the ability to read but only through memorization does the true experience of what it means to be a Freemason, and a better man make it become clearer. So, I do expect that memory work for Ritual will continue just as we practice it now. Reading of Ritual is not an option except in extreme circumstances and consulting with your DDGM should resolve your questions.
2. Digital Stewardship: While our secrets are kept within these walls, our presence must ever increasingly be felt outside of it. We empower the Craft when we use modern tools—social media, clear websites, and digital communication—to show the world that Masons are active, relevant, and modern men. We aren’t hiding; we are simply being selective about our inner work while being visible in our community.
3. The Quality of the Experience: The future of the Craft depends on the “Lodge Experience.” If a brother leaves his family and his hobbies to spend an evening with us, we owe him an experience that nourishes his intellect and his spirit. This means well-delivered ritual, engaging education, and genuine, deep-seated fellowship. Business for the Lodge does need to be transacted, but there are other methods then tying up a good portion of a stated meeting at the expense of other more interesting and positive experiences. We are not just Freemasons once a month at a meeting, we are Freemasons for life that hopefully includes more than one meeting a month. Lodge leadership should establish written plans that include these events and a plan for continued growth and support.

Brethren, “empowerment” isn’t a top-down directive from Grand Lodge or the Grand Line. It happens right there in your Lodge. It happens during our Festive Board and celebrations. It happens when you pull a younger brother aside and ask how his career is going, or when an older brother shares the wisdom of forty years or more in the Craft.

To empower the future, we must be willing to listen to the “Millennial” or “Gen Z” Mason. We cannot ignore the stewardship of our senior Brethren and what they have achieved to bring us to today. But those senior Brethren need to be willing to guide and counsel the newer Brother and help him implement some of his ideas.   We need to listen!! The newer Brethren want to learn how to memorize Ritual, be a good Lodge Officer, be a better citizen in our community and you older Brethren are the wise and experienced sages that can do that. The men of today aren’t looking for a watered-down version of Masonry. In fact, they usually want more tradition, more history, and more solemnity.

They are looking for the “authentic” in an “artificial” world. By giving them a seat at the table and a voice in our planning, we ensure the Lodge remains their sanctuary, not just their obligation.

The working tools of an Operative Mason were meant to build structures that outlasted the builders. Our speculative tools are no different. When we empower a Brother, we aren’t just helping one man; we are strengthening a link in a chain that stretches back centuries and, with our effort, will stretch forward for centuries more.

Let us always have our eyes on the future but continue to honour our past.

Let’s go forward here from today and have a great year and always make it fun!!!

Thank you, Brethren.