The Grand Lodge of Antient Free and Accepted Masons of Scotland

William Ramsay McGhee, MStJ, D.L., Grand Master Mason

Brethren

Hits: 1571

The Grand Lodge of Antient Free and Accepted Masons of Scotland

William Ramsay McGhee, MStJ, D.L., Grand Master Mason

Brethren

Hits: 1460

The Grand Lodge of Antient Free and Accepted Masons of Scotland

William Ramsay McGhee, MStJ, D.L., Grand Master Mason

Brethren

Reopening Lodge Buildings

On Monday morning, 10th August, a meeting of the Heads of Orders took place to discuss a united approach to reopening Lodge buildings and the commencement of meetings in all Orders.

It has been unanimously agreed that no meetings will take place in Scotland during the remainder of this year and that the position will be reviewed early in January 2021. The position of Lodges abroad remains as it was — Lodges can open in accordance with the Laws and Guidelines of their respective countries.

Should matters change significantly in the interim period all Lodges will be notified

I would be obliged if Lodge secretaries could assist in ensuring this Update is circulated as widely as possible among Brethren in all Orders.

W Ramsay McGhee

Grand Master Mason

Hits: 1487

The Grand Lodge of Antient Free and Accepted Masons of Scotland

William Ramsay McGhee, MStJ, D.L., Grand Master Mason

Brethren

On top of all the Covid-19 issues, the spikes in Aberdeen and in Inverclyde we were horrified to learn of the explosion in Beirut. I have been in touch with our District Grand Master in Lebanon, Brother Rabih Jarmakani who initially was able to inform me that many of our Brethren had been injured and a number of close relatives of Brethren had been killed. In the past hour I have received the following update from Brother Jarmakani.

Good Morning Brethren - a quick update from Beirut: burial for relatives of our brethren who tragically lost their lives are underway and we are taking account of the damages for our own membership and temples.

We are liaising with each other to ensure provision is made for medicines for our brethren as we have fully covered accommodation for those whose homes are not viable.

In the next 48 hours, we will be launching a contribution page for anyone wishing to assist along with the two other jurisdictions in amity with our Grand Lodge, Grand Lodge of Washington DC, and Grand Lodge National de France. This is becoming critical as the government has not done anything to assist and the situation is getting more difficult for many by the day.

On Lodge level, many of our Lodges have started various initiatives to support their own communities in the areas they meet, from providing hundreds of meals for the medical teams who are practically living in the hospitals to provision of soup kitchens, blood donation and volunteer work for repairs.

Our Cypriot brothers have organized a shipment of food which will be making its way to the port of Tripoli in the Northern region of Lebanon.

May the Great Architect of the Universe continue to protect us all. 🌿

Grand Lodge will be assisting the Brethren of the District and I will ensure that details of the contribution page will be circulated widely. Our thoughts and prayers are with our Brethren and their families in Beirut at this exceedingly difficult time for them.

Next Monday I will be chairing a meeting of the Heads of Orders to work on a strategy to ensure that we are all in agreement as to the way forward in respect of Covid-19. It is important that we all work together at this difficult time. On Thursday we are having our second Grand Committee Zoom meeting to take forward several issues that have accrued since we last met.

Latest news from the Scottish Constitution Freemasonry Supports Facebook page is as follows –

undefined

                                                Last week                                 This week

Members                                  3006                                        3127                                                   

Posts                                        332                                          358                                         

No of Members posting             172                                          177                                         

Lodges mentioned                    180                                          204                                                     

Provinces mentioned                 29                                            29                               

Districts & Lodges abroad         11                                            12       

Monetary Value                        £237,470                                  £258,230

Another milestone in the membership of our Overseas Brethren has been reached. Last week, the 600 barrier was broken. This week, because of previous weeks’ recruitment efforts and the support of several extremely proactive Overseas Brethren, whose endeavours are greatly appreciated, the 700 barrier has now been broken. 

• We had 85 Overseas Brethrenjoin this week (with another 10 just one click away from being Members) bringing our Overseas Membership of the SCFS Group to 709.
• We had new members join from Bahamas, Barbados, Botswana, Central South Africa, East Africa, Far East, Jamaica, Jordan, Lebanon, KwaZulu Natal, Mauritius, Middle East, Namibia, Newfoundland and Labrador, New Zealand South, Nigeria, Sierra Leone and The Gambia, Trinidad & Tobago and Grenada, Zimbabwe. 
• The largest increase was seen in the Districts of Sierra Leone and The Gambia (18), Lebanon (14) and Central South Africa (10)and we welcomed our first Members from a significant number of our Overseas Lodges.
• We would strongly encourage our Overseas Members to maintain the excellent frequency and quality of their submissions to the group. 

Following the tragic loss of life, homes and multiple injuries sustained in the dreadful explosion in Beirut, Lebanon, the support of the SCFS Group to our Brethren in the District of Lebanon has been expressed by making personal contact with the District Grand Master and our Lebanese members, in addition to a prominent visual being placed on the SCFS page. They are in all our prayers. 

The Grand Lodge of Scotland Clay Shooting Championship will be held a week on Sunday,16th August at the National Shooting Centre to participate, please contact the organising committee on either This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..  Alternatively, you can make contact through the Scottish Masonic Clay Championships Facebook page.

Brethren, please stay alert, look after yourselves, your families and the Brethren who are in any of the vulnerable categories.

Kindest regards

Ramsay McGhee

Grand Master Mason

Hits: 1439

The Grand Lodge of Antient Free and Accepted Masons of Scotland

William Ramsay McGhee, MStJ, D.L., Grand Master Mason

Brethren

There has been no response from the Government to my letter. I intend therefore to drop them a wee reminder this week now that I have a reference number from them. As soon as I receive the specific guidance that we have asked for, I will circulate it to all Lodges.

As I mentioned last week, I am in the process of rescheduling all the meetings into 2021. The exercise is almost complete, and I will be in touch with all the Lodges involved very soon.

Latest news from the Scottish Constitution Freemasonry Supports Facebook page is as follows –

undefined

                                                Last week                                 This week

Members                                  2934                                        3006                                                   

Posts                                        322                                          332                                         

No of Members posting             169                                          172                                         

Lodges mentioned                    177                                          180                                                     

Provinces mentioned                 29                                            29                               

Districts & Lodges abroad         11                                            11       

Monetary Value                        £226,970                                  £237,470

Another milestone in the membership of our Overseas Brethren has been reached ... last week’s suggestion that the 600 barrier may be broken has indeed been realised. It is wonderful that this coincides with the overall membership of the SCFS Group breaking the 3000 barrier this week.

• We had 35 Overseas Brethren join this week bringing our Overseas Membership of the SCFS Group to 624. 
• We had new members join from Bahamas, Barbados, Belgium, Bermuda, Central South Africa, Far East, Fiji, Middle East, Namibia, New Zealand South and Western Australia. 
• The largest increase was seen in the District of the Middle East and, in addition, there was an encouraging number of new members from The Bahamas and Bermuda.
• We welcomed our first members from Lodge Somers Isles, No. 1503, and Lodge Eleutheran Adventurers, No. 1816. 
• We now have members from almost all of our Overseas Districts, Countries under Grand Superintendents and Countries under the Supervision of Grand Lodge. Hopefully we will soon be able to report on our first Overseas Members from Guyana, Western Australia-Goldfields District, Togo and West Indian Islands.
• We would strongly encourage our Overseas Members to maintain the excellent frequency and quality of their submissions to the group. 

We have a number of Overseas Brethren who are proving to be extremely supportive of the SCFS Group by proactively promoting it and by unstintingly assisting in the building up of its membership. This is very much appreciated and sincere thanks is extended to them on behalf of the SCFS Team. 

Over the past week there has been a number of Zoom meetings. The Overseas, External Affairs and Special Purposes Committee met on Wednesday and had a very productive meeting under the chairmanship of Brother James Jack. While a number of items will go forward in due course to Grand Committee there was one issue discussed regarding Zoom meetings organised by irregular Grand Lodges. Under normal circumstances if Brethren were going to be visiting abroad, they would check with Grand Lodge as to which meetings they could attend and those they cannot. The same caution should be applied with regard to invitations to attend Zoom meetings by Grand Lodges who are deemed to be irregular or are not recognised by the Grand Lodge of Scotland.

The second Zoom meeting I attended on Wednesday was with a group of “young Masons” from throughout the Highlands. The Brethren involved are all within their first three years of joining the Craft and what a delight it was to be with them for almost two hours. They meet regularly under the guidance of Brother Raymond MacKeddie, Depute PGM in Ross and Cromarty assisted by Brother Donald MacLeod, Past Substitute PGM. The enthusiasm and interest displayed by the Brethren was indeed refreshing. I am aware that there are similar initiatives in other Provinces but would appeal to all PGM’s that during this enforced lock-down, if you don’t already have such a group, now is a good time to start.

I will very soon be extending an invitation to all the PGM’s to join in a Zoom meeting with the DGM’s and am looking for agenda items that can be usefully discussed by all. Groups for Young Masons will very possibly appear on the agenda. If any of our DGM’s or PGM’s have issues that they would like to see discussed, please drop an email to Sue Williams and I will add it to the agenda. This will be an ideal opportunity to swap experiences and ideas with each other

Can I remind all Brethren who would like to participate in the Grand Lodge of Scotland Clay Shooting Championship to be held on the 16th August at the National Shooting Centre to contact the organising committee on either This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..  Alternatively, you can make contact through the Scottish Masonic Clay Championships Facebook page.

Brethren, please stay alert, look after yourselves, your families and the Brethren who are in any of the vulnerable categories.

Kindest regards

Ramsay McGhee

Grand Master Mason

Hits: 1442

The Grand Lodge of Antient Free and Accepted Masons of Scotland

William Ramsay McGhee, MStJ, D.L., Grand Master Mason

Brethren

As I mentioned last week, I have written to the Scottish Government seeking clarity and guidance in respect of the opening of Lodges and the use of Lodge buildings. I have received acknowledgement from the Government that they have received my letter but, so far, no full response. I will update you all as soon as I receive a response.

That said, it is looking more and more unlikely that we will be able to carry out the Rededication of Lodges scheduled to take place between September and December. Accordingly, I am in the process of rescheduling all the meetings into 2021. Once this exercise is complete, I will be in touch with all the Lodges involved to discuss proposed new dates. It is extremely important that we celebrate our Lodge anniversaries and I am determined that, despite the problems posed by Covid-19, we will carry out all ceremonies as soon as it is safe to do so.

Latest news from the Scottish Constitution Freemasonry Supports Facebook page is as follows –

undefined

                                                                Last week                                              This week

Members                                               2863                                                       2934                                                                      

Posts                                                       299                                                         322                                                        

No of Members posting                      161                                                         169                                                        

Lodges mentioned                               176                                                         177                                                                        

Provinces mentioned                          29                                                           29                                          

Districts & Lodges abroad                 11                                                           11          

Monetary Value                                   £214,170                                               £226,970

Brethren, this reflects the tremendous work being carried out by Brethren throughout the Scottish Constitution – over quarter of a million pounds in twelve weeks. On top of the monetary aspect, I am well aware of the diverse range of other contributions being made to communities ranging from delivery of food and medicine to the housebound to organising blood donor sessions and a plethora of other activities in between. My sincere thanks to you all.

Interest in the SCFS page remains at a very high level as more and more of our Overseas Brethren become aware of it and subscribe into its current raison d’être. We all look forward to receiving posts from our Lodges in the Districts and would strongly encourage our Overseas Members to maintain the excellent frequency and quality of their submissions to the group. 

We had 31 Brethren added this week bringing our Overseas Membership of SCFS to 589. We are well on target to break the 600-barrier next week.

We had new members join from Bahamas, Bermuda, Central South Africa, Far East, Fiji, Jamaica, Mauritius, Middle East, Trinidad & Tobago and Grenada. The largest increase was seen in the District of the Far East and, in addition, there was an encouraging number of new members from our only lodge in Fiji ... Lodge Polynesia, No. 562. Following is an overview of our Overseas Membership numbers -

Last Saturday I was delighted, once again, to meet via zoom with our District Grand Masters. We had 31 on the call which included a few DG Deputes, Substitutes and Secretaries but this time round we had seven Districts not represented for various reasons. While we received some very positive reports, unfortunately, the Covid-19 situation was not so good with a number of countries in Africa and much of India reporting escalating cases of the virus. It served as a timely reminder to us all that this virus is still very much alive and kicking. Our thoughts and prayers are with all those who are facing escalating cases of the virus.

It is being planned that our next monthly District Grand Masters meeting will be a joint meeting with the Provincial Grand Masters.

On a much happier note, collectively, we were able to pass on our heartiest congratulations, through her husband, Brother Joe Currie, to Mrs Terez Currie who has received the prestigious Commonwealth Point of Light Award for her amazing work with the Red Cross in respect of both the Covid-19 pandemic and her work following Hurricane Dorian. I’m sure, through this update, you would all wish me to convey the sincerest congratulations of the Grand Lodge of Scotland to Mrs Currie.

Can I remind all Brethren who would like to participate in the Grand Lodge of Scotland Clay Shooting Championship to be held on the 16th August at the National Shooting Centre to contact the organising committee on either This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..  Alternatively, you can make contact through the Scottish Masonic Clay Championships Facebook page.

Brethren, as we enjoy the easing of restrictions, please stay alert, look after yourselves, your families and the Brethren who are in any of the vulnerable categories.

Kindest regards

Ramsay McGhee

Grand Master Mason

Hits: 1357

The Grand Lodge of Antient Free and Accepted Masons of Scotland

William Ramsay McGhee, MStJ, D.L., Grand Master Mason

Brethren

The Grand Lodge of Scotland has over recent years developed a very positive two-way relationship with Prostate Scotland. In the light of the current pandemic, Prostate Scotland are keen to better serve their client group and gain a better understanding of the challenges that have arisen for men with prostate cancer due to the COVID-19 lockdown. Prostate Scotland have just launched a survey to garner the information needed and have asked for our help to publicise and reach as many men as possible, the survey which can be found by following the link below:-

undefined

From the link the survey can be either downloaded and e-mailed back to Prostate Scotland or completed using the SurveyMonkey version online. Scottish Freemasonry has supported Prostate Scotland well financially over past years, on this occasion the request is for some of your time to complete the survey. If you are personally affected by prostate cancer please complete the survey, if you know of another man with prostate cancer please send him a copy of the link and ask him to complete the survey. The closing date for all surveys to be returned is 24^th July. Please help if you can, the information could help improve services for others!

Latest news from the Scottish Constitution Freemasonry Supports Facebook page is as follows –

undefined

                                                                Last week                                            This week

Members                                            2707                                                       2863                                      

Posts                                                     276                                                         299                                                        

No of Members posting                150                                                         161                                                        

Lodges mentioned                           163                                                         176                                                                        

Provinces mentioned                     29                                                           29                                          

Districts & Lodges abroad             8                                                              11          

Monetary Value                                               £207,753                                              £214,170

Scottish Freemasonry continues to support the communities in which they belong throughout the world. An increase in giving this week of almost £6500 – fantastic achievement. In Barbados, our DGM, Trevor Campbell, gave an excellent interview on the national television – Scottish Freemasonry was given a very positive two-minute slot on the national news programme – congratulations to our Brethren in Barbados.

There has been a commendable amount of positive and encouraging activity on the SCFS page with reference to our Overseas Brethren and interest in the page remains at a very high level as more and more of our Brethren in our Districts become aware of it and subscribe into its current raison d’être. 

• We had 51Brethren added this week bringing our Overseas Membership of SCFS to 558. 
• We had new members join from Bahamas, Barbados, Belgium, Bermuda, Botswana, East Africa, Far East, Fiji, Jamaica, Malawi, Middle East, North Island New Zealand, Sri Lanka, Western Province of the Cape of Good Hope and Zambia. 
• We now have our first members from Japanin the District of the Far East, from Kuala Lumpurin the District of the Middle East and from Fiji, through Lodge Polynesia, No. 562, which is under the supervision of Grand Lodge. 
• The largest increase was seen in the District of the Far East with 22new members. 
• A notable number of Brethren have joined from Lodge Perla del Oriente, No. 1034, from the Philippines in the Far East and from Lodge Api-Api, No. 1826, from Malaysia in the Middle East. 
• The posts being submitted from our Overseas Members have been of an extremely high quality, varied, interesting and, most importantly, inspiring. 

Over the past week, given the easing of restrictions, I have received a significant number of messages and phone calls regarding Masonic Clubs reopening and the possibility of Lodges reopening. The Masonic Club queries have been easy to respond to, not so the questions regarding Lodges reopening. Very valid points have been made regarding churches being able to reopen, so why can’t we?

Brethren, I have gone through the guidelines carefully and while there is reasonably clear guidance regarding churches and indoor live events to name but two, I am uncertain as to whether we as Masonic Lodges fall into either of those two categories. In fact, there is no specific guidance relating to the opening of public halls or for similar organisations to ours such as Probus Clubs, Rotary Clubs and others.

Accordingly, I have written to the Scottish Government seeking specific advice for Masonic meetings. I have also asked for guidance in respect of the many Lodges whose buildings are used as a community hub for all sorts of other organisations as to when those organisations can be allowed to use the premises. Until I get a response from the Government, I would recommend that we continue with our zoom meetings and other electronic means of communicating. We cannot lose sight of the fact that despite there being no Covid-19 deaths in the past week, the virus is still very much with us. That coupled with the age profile of our members should remind us that we need to proceed with caution.

Brethren, as we enjoy the easing of restrictions, please stay alert, look after yourselves, your families and the Brethren who are in any of the vulnerable categories.

Kindest regards

Ramsay McGhee

Grand Master Mason

Hits: 1932

The Grand Lodge of Antient Free and Accepted Masons of Scotland
William Ramsay McGhee, MStJ, D.L., Grand Master Mason
10 July 2020

Brethren
The past week has brought about quite a few changes with some of the restrictions easing, allowing some of our Masonic Clubs to prepare to reopen but not in the way we are accustomed to – the Government guidelines are in place and all Clubs who decide to open will require to adhere strictly to the guidelines – we don’t want any adverse publicity about Masonic Clubs ignoring the rules. In some of our Districts things are changing too with meetings starting or about to start again but unfortunately, we have some Districts where the pandemic seems to be taking hold again and the number of coronavirus cases are rising.

Also published in the past week has been the United Grand Lodge of England’s “Operation Kick Start” in which it has been announced that the cessation of Masonic activity will not be extended after 17th July, therefore Lodges in England (but not in Wales) can start meeting again but with significant restrictions. I have received a few enquiries since the announcement asking if this decision includes Scotland. The short answer is no – it does not include Scotland. The Scottish Government and the UK Government are beginning to move in different ways on several issues and this is one of them. In Scotland we still cannot hold indoor meetings with any significant number of people. The first minister announced yesterday that during Phase 3 we will start to resume and re-open many activities and settings such as opening indoor pubs and restaurants, allowing more indoor meetings between households, and re-opening places of worship. Having ploughed through the changes, my understanding is that the indoor meetings alluded to will be restricted to no more than eight people at present.
The “Operation Kick Start” document contains a lot of extremely useful information. Grand Lodge of Scotland will issue a similar document as and when the time is right but, for the foreseeable future it is unlikely that we will be able to have what we would regard as normal meetings. The First Minister emphasised the fact that eliminating the virus as far as possible now - ahead of the almost inevitable challenges we will face come winter - remains the objective and that the five principles behind the FACTS campaign – face coverings; avoiding crowded spaces; cleaning hands and surfaces; two metre distancing; and self-isolation if you have symptoms – are more important than they have ever been.

We are planning for the return of Staff to Freemasons’ Hall based on Scottish Government guidance and an assessment of business needs. Basically, what they are saying is that non-essential offices and call centres can re-open following implementation of relevant guidance but not before 31st July. We are now compliant with the guidance and I look forward to seeing all staff back in the building before too long.
On the Masonic Homes front, I am delighted to report that after putting all of the necessary protocols in place and having our risk assessments approved by Public Health Scotland, we have been able, in line with Scottish Government guidelines, to resume visits (outdoor only) from family members to Residents in the Masonic Homes.
Latest news from the Scottish Constitution Freemasonry Supports Facebook page is as follows –

https://www.facebook.com/groups/Scottish.Constitution.Freemasonry.Supports/

Last week This week
Members 2584 2707
Posts 246 276
No of Members posting 143 150
Lodges mentioned 148 163
Provinces mentioned 29 29
Districts & Lodges abroad 8 8
Monetary Value £182,933 £207,753

Congratulations Brethren on breaking through the £200k mark – tremendous effort but we also acknowledge the tremendous “in kind” contributions that have also been made. Please keep up the good work – as the furlough scheme ends and redundancies increase there will be an even greater need for our help and assistance.
Once again, there has been an increase in the number of Overseas Members in SCFS. Another milestone has been reached on the back of the Middle East hitting the 100 members last week. This week has seen the Overseas Memberships pass through the 500.

This coming week a targeting exercise will be carried out on identified Districts etc. who have no representation in our group. There is normally a delay following an exercise such as this before results begin to be seen.

The SCFS Group now has Overseas Members from:
Bahamas, Barbados, Belgium, Bermuda, Botswana, Central South Africa, Chile, East Africa, Eastern Province of the Cape of Good Hope, Far East, Gibraltar, India, Jamaica, Jordan, Lebanon, Kwazulu Natal, Malawi, Mauritius, Middle East, Namibia, Newfoundland and Labrador, New Zealand South, North Island New Zealand, Nigeria, Panama, Peru, Sierra Leone and The Gambia, Sri Lanka, Trinidad & Tobago and Granada, Western Australia, Western Province of the Cape of Good Hope, Zambia, Zimbabwe (33 in total)
Within the past week: Belgium has been added
There were 43 Overseas Brethren approved this week
There has been a notable increase in membership from Botswana and East Africa this week
There are now over 500 Overseas Brethren in the group ... the total standing at 507

Brethren, as we enjoy the easing of restrictions, we have also witnessed Covid-19 spikes appearing in some areas so please stay alert, look after yourselves, your families and the Brethren who are in any of the vulnerable categories.

Kindest regards

Ramsay McGhee
Grand Master Mason

Hits: 2133