In the summer of 2000, at the Imperial Grand Sessions of the Shrine,the Shrine, by majority vote of all delegates present, changed the qualifications required for entrance to the Shrine, an action that was well within their power and prerogative. The earliest mention of the Shrine comes in 1870, when two prominent New York Freemasons started thinking about organizing a new "Order" for a group of friends who were all senior Masons. The first Shrine Temple was organized in 1872.From the earliest days of the Shrine, the requirement for admission to the Shrine was that a man must hold either the degrees and orders of the Royal Arch Chapter and the Christian Orders of the Preceptories or Commanderies of the Knights Templar, or that he must hold the 32° of the Scottish Rite. The requirements for entry to the Shrine are now only that a man be a Master Mason in good standing in his Grand Lodge.
There has been much negative discussion on the effect this move will have upon the memberships of the Knights Templar and the Holy Royal Arch. Across North America, Brethren of good conscience have been questioning the propriety of the move by the Shrine, and also,prophesying the death of the "Concordant Bodies".
While I think it is perhaps hyperbolic to speak of the change by the Shrine as "ushering in the death of the Concordant Bodies", I do think it is time for all of the Concordants to take a serious look at themselves, to see if they are meeting the needs of their members, or indeed, if they are meeting the needs of Freemasonry.
I believe it is important to recognize two things in regard to this matter. First, the Holy Royal Arch was a popular and well-known part of Masonry long before the Shrine was conceived. Secondly, the Shrine will continue to raise money to fund their 22 hospitals, regardless of the degree of Masonic affiliation they require. That being the case,let's take a look at the Holy Royal Arch, and think for a bit about what it means, and teaches.
Freemasonry has been facing a worldwide decline in membership for the past forty years. Our numbers peaked, here in Nova Scotia, in the late1940's, and we have been in decline since then. Our experience mirrors the results seen in jurisdiction after jurisdiction, around the world.The "good men" of today have much more choice in terms of what they can do with their spare time than was the case 50 or 100 years ago. Infact, the amount of "spare time" is not greater than it was in the past. There are more and more demands on the time and resources of people, and there are more and more places to spend that time and those resources. Churches have also been affected by declining numbers. We are not alone in our concern over membership.
Let's take a very quick look at some very rough statistics. Out of one hundred petitioners to Freemasonry, we seldom see more than twenty of those Brethren, on any kind of basis, following the Degrees. Of that twenty percent, we are usually looking at an average of half of themas being "regular attenders", the backbone of Freemasonry. That is only ten percent, Companions, of all the Petitioners we bring in to the Lodge; is it any wonder that numbers are dropping? Extend that trend to the Concordant Bodies, Companions. How does it fit?
With the pace of modern society, with the wealth of "other attractions" available, with the increasing demands of family and employment and society, I think it is inevitable that overall numbers will decline. Chapters will return Charters. Preceptories will close.Lodges will surrender their Warrants. There is no question it willh appen. The only question is how long will it go on. I have seen predictions that we will no longer exist within twenty years.
My feeling, Companions, is that we will exist in twenty years; we will continue to seek out good men who can benefit from our teachings; we will continue to teach our lessons, and people will continue to learn from us. But things will be different.
The earliest mention of the Royal Arch as a separate ceremony is recorded in a newspaper clipping from about 1740. The Sublime Order of the Holy Royal Arch has been conferred on qualified Brethren here in Nova Scotia since at least 1780. The earliest record of the Mark Master Mason Degree is in 1756, in a set of By-Laws found attached to a copy of Anderson's Constitutions of 1723, in the Library of the Provincial Grand Lodge of Durham, and the Degree has been performed here in Nova Scotia since 1782.
The traditional history of the Royal Arch suggests a French origin for the degree. In its earliest versions, the Arch in question was the Arch of Enoch, taking the Degree to a much older Biblical period. The Royal Arch in Ireland is still based on the Enochian story. Our Archis in the Second Temple, the one built by the Jews returning from the Babylonian Captivity. This Temple is the one that existed when the Romans occupied Judea.
The story of the Royal Arch is sometimes believed to have been imported from the Middle East by the Knights Templar (the original ones, not the Masonic Knights Templar of today), and sometimes it is told that it stems from the sixteenth century, although still associated with Templar Masonry. Dr. George Oliver, the Masonic writer, wrote "There exists sufficient evidence to fix the era of its introduction to a period which is coeval with the memorable English Masons about the middle of the eighteenth century".The late Bro. D. Murray Lyon was of the opinion that the Degree was fabricated on the Continent between 1735 and 1740. Bro. Robert F. Gould says that, in England, "the Degree was certainly worked from about the year 1740, and presumably from an earlier date".
It is spoken of, at this date, as being a Degree which was restricted to Past Masters; that ancient provision eventually having given rise to the Degree which we now know in the Chapter as "Past Master,Virtual" to mark it from the "Installed Master" ceremonial. From its earliest time, the Holy Royal Arch was considered something that had to be achieved, not just given to all and sundry. It is often statedthat the Degree is the "completion of the Master Mason Degree",because it is in this Degree that the Lost Secrets of Freemasonry are again discovered.
The Royal Arch Chapter thus has its own reasons for existence, reasons that have little if anything to do with the membership requirements of another Concordant Body.
Has the structure of the Degree changed in significant detail from the form conferred in the late eighteenth century? Certainly, in someplaces it has changed. Yet, the Degree still teaches the same lessons,of humility, of continuity, of struggle, and of eventual victory inthe struggle. Those lessons remain as valuable today as they were in the 1700's.
Once, being a Mason was a very special thing. Only special men, who looked on our teachings as valuable in their daily lives, were accepted through our doors. Over a long period of time, we tried to expand the influence of Masonic teachings, to spread our ways wider and wider, and we eventually began to accept petitions from men who had no intention of working in the Lodge, or the Chapter, or Preceptory. We all know at least one "ring knocker", a man who has taken the Degrees, but never attends Lodge, the fellow who always has an excuse for not attending, but always wears his ring anyway. I do not suggest that we did anything improper, Companions; that is not my point. But, such men are included in the numbers that are now declining. It is unfortunate that we are unable to always reach the hearts of the Petitioners to Masonry; the hearts we DO reach are the important ones.
The change in membership requirement for the Shrine will have an effect on the Concordant Bodies. If we are watchful, we will see some of the ninety percent who never intended to work in the Chapter,becoming aware of the fact that their Masonic Educations are not complete. Some of those will come to the Chapter, later. This is aproven effect, Companions, as seen by several of the Shrine Temples that had been doing the same thing by dispensation for years. In theme an time, the Chapters have an opportunity, and that opportunity is to take the ten percent and educate them, work with them so that their understanding of the lessons of the Royal Arch will sustain them, keep them interested, and encourage them to continue working to improve themselves. We have an opportunity to prove that the Chapter is needed in modern Freemasonry. We have a chance to show that we, here, are the ten percent who can always be counted upon.
The Holy Royal Arch occupies a special position in Masonry,Companions. Only in the Degrees of the Chapter are we given the responsibility to teach, by example, the lessons of life that we learn as Masons. It is our Obligation to ensure those lessons are not lost to future generations, as the "Genuine Secrets of a Master Mason" are lost to the Brethren in the Craft Lodges. Be a "Ten Percenter".
J. Douglas Welsh, PHPGrand Historian District Grand Lecturer
Delivered by J. Douglas WelshDistrict # 1 "Field Day"Sept. 22, 2001Copyright©2001 J. Douglas Welsh. All rights reserved
Note: Anyone wishing to use this lecture has the permission ofR.Ex.Comp. J. Douglas Welsh to use it but credit must be given to The Grand Chapter of Royal Arch Masons of Nova Scotia for it's use.
