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Past Masters degree

Bloke

Premium Member
...Another fun fact for NJ. You are a Past Master the moment your butt hits the chair during your installation.
Interesting, you are a PM here as soon as your successor is Installed and not while Installed as Worshipful Master - during that time you are a Worshipful Master, once your successor is Installed, then you become a Worshipful Past Master (generally shortened to Past Master unless in lodge).
 

Companion Joe

Premium Member
Most of our officer installations are in December. Our Past Masters Association has its first meeting of the year, and that's when most people join it. But to officially earn recognition as a Past Master, you have to preside over a lodge for six months. Nobody really calls as sitting WM "past" until their year ends, but after six months you are one officially and become a voting member of the Grand Lodge.
 

Mike Martin

Eternal Apprentice
Premium Member
Interestingly (or not) under the UGLE "Past Master" is just a term for a Master who has completed a year in the Chair his Masonic "rank" is that of Installed Master.
 

Keith C

Registered User
Most of our officer installations are in December. Our Past Masters Association has its first meeting of the year, and that's when most people join it. But to officially earn recognition as a Past Master, you have to preside over a lodge for six months. Nobody really calls as sitting WM "past" until their year ends, but after six months you are one officially and become a voting member of the Grand Lodge.

Interesting. In PA, sitting WMs and Wardens have a vote at Grand Lodge, in addition to PMs. Each Lodge effectively have 4 potential votes in Grand Lodge, the WM, SW, JW and Official representative to GL. In our Lodge the Official Representative to GL is traditionally the immediate Past Master, but other lodges use a different means to nominate theirs. Other PMs have an individual vote if they attend the GL Communications.
 

Brother_Steve

Premium Member
Installed as Worshipful Master
Title is Worshipful Brother
Automatically a Past Master.
We were told by the District GM that we cannot refer to a Worshipful Master as "Sitting" Master during introductions.

So, when I sat as Senior Deacon and introduced the following brethren and we had a Master from a neighboring Lodge, I cannot introduce him as Sitting Master of Blank Lodge. He has to be introduced as Worshipful Brother Smith, Worshipful Master of Blank Lodge.

Next question is: what order do you introduce?
Current Most Worshipful who would be the GM. Last year, the GM was from our district so we saw and introduced him a lot.
Past MW
Sitting Grand Staff
Past Rite Worshipfuls
Current Masters, if in attendance
Past Masters, starting with the most time out of the East culminating with the immediate past master who is just referred to as Worshipful Brother.

I tried to get the year they sat in the east if I was brave that night.
 

Warrior1256

Site Benefactor

Companion Joe

Premium Member
Interesting. In PA, sitting WMs and Wardens have a vote at Grand Lodge, in addition to PMs. Each Lodge effectively have 4 potential votes in Grand Lodge, the WM, SW, JW and Official representative to GL. In our Lodge the Official Representative to GL is traditionally the immediate Past Master, but other lodges use a different means to nominate theirs. Other PMs have an individual vote if they attend the GL Communications.

Here, WMs and Wardens have the lodge votes, but all PMs are permanent voting members of the GL.
Honestly, in my opinion, I wished we didn't. Many of our problems trying to move forward come from voting PMs. I'd really like it if it were one lodge, one vote with delegates voting the will of the lodge.
We've gotten into arguments before over that very issue. Come GL time we've had people try to make motions that everyone vote for or against a proposal. I've refused because my vote is mine, and if that conflicts with the membership, so be it. I'm going to vote my conscience. The lodge reps need to vote how the lodge wants, but PMs' votes are their personal votes.
 

dfreybur

Premium Member
Here, WMs and Wardens have the lodge votes, but all PMs are permanent voting members of the GL.
Honestly, in my opinion, I wished we didn't. Many of our problems trying to move forward come from voting PMs. I'd really like it if it were one lodge, one vote with delegates voting the will of the lodge.
We've gotten into arguments before over that very issue. Come GL time we've had people try to make motions that everyone vote for or against a proposal. I've refused because my vote is mine, and if that conflicts with the membership, so be it. I'm going to vote my conscience. The lodge reps need to vote how the lodge wants, but PMs' votes are their personal votes.

In the California system each lodge has 4 votes. WM, SW, JW. Plus all of the PMs assembled get a vote on topics they can agree upon. Some lodges achieve this agreement by assigning that vote to a specific PM but there are no jurisdiction wide rules for how to conduct that vote. To me it's a good mellowing compromise without an influence that lasts a very long time.
 

Companion Joe

Premium Member
In the California system each lodge has 4 votes. WM, SW, JW. Plus all of the PMs assembled get a vote on topics they can agree upon. Some lodges achieve this agreement by assigning that vote to a specific PM but there are no jurisdiction wide rules for how to conduct that vote. To me it's a good mellowing compromise without an influence that lasts a very long time.

I honestly think one lodge, one vote would be the best with a member acting as a delegate for the will of his lodge. I have seen with my own eyes van loads of PMs show up just in time for jurisprudence, vote on a particular contentious proposal, and immediately leave. The way our state is geographically and GL always being in Nashville, a group of PMs from Middle Tennessee can turn up in numbers and pass or reject anything they want.
 

MarkR

Premium Member
Here, the only ways a PM gets a vote in Grand Lodge are:
Being a current Grand Lodge Officer
Being a proxy for the WM, SW, or JW (only PMs can be proxies)
Being a permanent member of Grand Lodge (PGM, or having served in a non-line GL office for ten years or more)
 

dfreybur

Premium Member
Having current grand lodge officers get a vote sounds like it might not matter compared to each lodge getting at least 3 votes, but is it? District deputies are GL officers. In some jurisdictions even certified ritualists are GL officers. I remember GLofIL wanting to expand the number of GL officers and it got voted down, so the GM appointed them pro-tem. Serving at the will of the GM they weren't listed as GL officers so they didn't get votes.

Past GL officers can be a similar issue. There might be vast numbers of former district deputies. At least one of my jurisdiction defines "past" as a previous elected officer and "former" as a previous appointed officer for this reason.
 

Bro. Landry

Registered User
Interesting. In PA, sitting WMs and Wardens have a vote at Grand Lodge, in addition to PMs. Each Lodge effectively have 4 potential votes in Grand Lodge, the WM, SW, JW and Official representative to GL. In our Lodge the Official Representative to GL is traditionally the immediate Past Master, but other lodges use a different means to nominate theirs. Other PMs have an individual vote if they attend the GL Communications.

Same here


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