TERCENTENARY CELEBRATIONS HEAD FOR CHRISTCURCH

The quarterly newsletter

of the District Grand

Lodge of the South Island

A U G U S T 2 0 1 6

V O L U M E 6 , I S S U E 4

D E G R E E S S O U T H

I N S I D E T H I S I S S U E :

S T R I C T L Y C O N Y E R S 2

P H I L J A C K S O N 2

F R O M T H E N E W

A S S I S T A N T D G M 3

F R O M T H E N E W

D E P U T Y D G M 4

I M P O R T A N T

D A T E S

Sat 20th August - Dunedin

Lodge Installation, Blen-

heim

Sat 10th September -

Greymouth Installation

Mon 12th September - The

Lodge of St John Installa-

tion, Winchester

Saturday 15th October -

Southern Star Installation,

Nelson

Tuesday 18th October -

Ashburton Installation

Thursday 20th October -

St Albans Installation,

To celebrate the 300th anniversary of the

founding of the United Grand Lodge of Eng-

land, plans are well underway to hold an

event to coincide with the 2017 Communi-

cations meeting.

It is intended that a formal banquet will be

held at Christ’s College School on Saturday

13th May with a Service of Thanksgiving at

the school chapel the following day.

Communications will be held at the Freema-

sonry Centre in Shirley earlier in the day

than is usual, to allow for a special meeting

of District Grand Lodge in the afternoon.

During this meeting we will be joined by

guests, both masonic and non masonic, for

an Oration by our District Grand Orator, W

Bro Karl Moen, giving a brief history of the

United Grand Lodge of England.

Registration Forms will be distributed with

the November Issue of Degrees South and

will also be available to download from the

District website.

W Bro Bruce Russell and his team will be

inviting a number of dignitaries and hope to

engage the services of an appropriate after

dinner speaker for the event. W Bro Bruce

says “To dine in such an atmospheric dining

hall as Christ’s College is an event in itself. We

are thrilled that the Principal and governing

body have made us so welcome and we look

forward to celebrating the 300th anniversary

of the founding of UGLE in some style.”

“Guests will enjoy pre-dinner drinks and

canapes prior to the banquet.

The timing of the event, in May, allows for

members who may be travelling to London to

join in Grand Lodge’s celebrations there dur-

ing October.

13th May 2017

"Nigel, Emma and Phil raised a fantastic figure of $4606, well above the asked for target."

Page 2 D E G R E E S S O U T H

S T R I C T L Y C O N Y E R S

T H E E L E C T R O N I C M A S O N . . .

June 9th saw the second year of the charity

Home and Family’s fundraiser based on TV’s

ever popular Dancing With the Stars. It was

held at St Margaret's School in front of an audi-

ence of more than 700.

Fresh from last year’s famous victory Nigel Pat-

erson and Emma Kinley set out to prove that it

was no flash in the pan.

Nigel, of Conyers Lodge, this year enlisted/

cajoled/persuaded fellow member Phil Thack-

well to join him in the competition. Phil picked

up the gauntlet and, along with his partner,

Scarlett Bay, embarked on the six week inten-

sive coaching from professional dance instruc-

tors, along with Nigel, Emma and the other

competitors.

This year each dancer was set the target of

raising at least $1000 and Nigel, Emma and

Phil raised a fantastic figure of $4606, well

above the asked for target.

On the night the dancers were scored by a pan-

el of judges, including Vanessa and Scott Cole

from the TV version of Dancing with the Stars,

and by audience vote that was through dona-

tions the audience made. Phil gained a very

respectable score from the judges for his Coun-

try and Western dance and the audience con-

tributed well. Nigel and Emma scored straight

10’s from the judges for their Paso Doble and

were also the highest in audience vote so this

meant that they won the night. That makes two

years in a row for Nigel and Emma!

Also on the night the Conyers banner was

proudly displayed on screen and several

lodge members attended, including a number

who travelled up from Ashburton. As well as

providing two spectacular dancers Conyers

Lodge also helped to stock the bar (and un-

stock it - Ed!).

Home & Family Society Christchurch rely on

fundraising events to support their parenting

programmes and counselling service in

Christchurch. All proceeds from the event will

go towards helping Home & Family provide

their much needed services in the communi-

ty. All in all the final amount raised was

$44,288 . Congratulations all round.

Or how to reach the connected man.

There is a constant theme of change in a very

old organisation that is approaching its Tercen-

tenary. But nothing has changed if some of the

ritual is to be believed. Certainly Freemasonry

has withstood the withering hand of time better

than most organisations and it is because we

have adopted necessary change.

And the means by which we communicate is

one of those innovations.

Back in 1717 the mail service was nothing like

we know it today and it wasn’t until Rowland Hill

reformed it in 1840 to use prepaid stamps

that it became the useful service that we know

today. For over 100 years Lodges survived

without modern post, yet what Lodge could do

so today?

The telephone wasn’t invented until 1876,

and when you think about it, that’s less than

half the life of Freemasonry. Yet we have

adapted to its use. For example it was by tele-

phone, thirty something years ago, that it was

explained to me, in pointed terms, that

“nobody would ever ask me to join”. Simply (Continues opposite…)

F R O M T H E N E W A S S I S T A N T D G M

Page 3 V O L U M E 6 , I S S U E 4

“Please remember that the ritual is intended for the entire Lodge, not just the appointee.”

to what they can expect from each of their

Brethren taking office that year.

It is irrelevant that the appointee may have

occupied that position previously. So far, over

the years, I have installed three Masters, all of

them Past Masters. At no time did I say “I

need not tell you what your duties are – you

already know that. Just sit down there and

appoint your IPM”. So why a Deacon should be

told “Congratulations, have a great year and

here’s your stick!” truly escapes me.

At recent installations I have attended there

have been Entered Apprentices and Fellow

Crafts present for whom this was probably

their first installation. I do wonder why the

Brethren carrying out the investing felt em-

powered to deprive these new masons of the

complete ceremony. I also wonder if our new

Masons have ever heard what the duties of

the DC or the Secretary are, for example.

Please remember that the ritual is intended

for the entire Lodge, not just the appointee.

Finally I would encourage incoming Masters to

invest as many of their officers themselves as

possible. The WM is, after all, the leader of the

team and installation is the start of the team

building process for the coming year. If you are

going to delegate this responsibility then

please do so on the condition that it is done

properly at all times – after which a few hu-

morous words or messages of congratulation

will always be appropriate. Fraternally, Richard

Greetings Brethren,

This time last year, in my wildest dreams, I

would not have expected to be penning this

column as I do now. It has been an incredible

few months of emotions - humility, excite-

ment, trepidation and anticipation to name

but a few. I am grateful for the opportunity

that this office presents and I will discharge

the duties of that office to the upmost of my

skill and ability, such as it is.

I have chosen not to use this newsletter to list

the lodges that I have visited or the ceremo-

nies in which I have participated over the last

three months, as I’m not sure that type of

content is of real interest. If I’m wrong about

this, please call me and I’d be happy to fill you

in on my comings and goings.

However, having said that, this month I would

like to talk about installations and in particu-

lar the investiture of the Lodge’s officers.

For this purpose the ritual does give us a mini

job description for most of these roles, as it

has done since the Emulation ritual was writ-

ten down in 1823, but dating from a lot earli-

er than that.

I know that learning words doesn’t come easy

for any of us but that cannot be an excuse for

presuming to remove swathes of ritual from

this ancient ceremony, only to be replaced by

congratulatory messages and humorous ex-

changes. Those words are in the ritual for a

purpose, not just to inform the appointee but

to set the expectations of the whole Lodge as

I can choose to read it later. Perhaps they

meet on a night when I have another engage-

ment or too far away, so I choose not to read it.

Remember that while you are primarily sending

it to your own members, it may also go to the

other Secretaries who will in turn forward it on.

Phil Jackson

(Part 2 follows next issue - Ed)

The atmospheric Lodge Room at Shantytown

will once again host Greymouth’s Installation

next month. This event continues to be a high-

light of the year for all of us who attend regu-

larly. For those of you who have not managed

to attend in previous years I would urge you to

give Doug Stapleton a call (03 755-6205) for

details. A true West Coast welcome would

await you and this year an opportunity to dine

at the Shantytown Dining Rooms.

The meeting will be held on Saturday 10th

September with visitors being admitted at

12:45pm.

G R E Y M O U T H A G A I N !

. . . A N D T H E S E C R E T A R Y - P A R T O N E

everything used to be organised by phone

“back then”.

And now we have email. It only started 1995,

but nowadays most Lodge members have an

account and much business is transacted with

this method. It is fast, it is easy, and it is cheap.

But is it good? And that brethren depends...

There are three main things you need to get

right with email to make it an effective and safe

communication. And these rules apply to all

email, not just Lodge email.

The Subject

This is the single most important piece of infor-

mation to get right so that the busy Mason can

efficiently process the communication. Try to

think as the recipient when writing the subject,

what does he need to know?

We will take a summons as an example. First,

the Lodge it pertains to. Next, that it is a sum-

mons, and finally the date to which is pertains.

So a well addressed summons would look like:

Lodge Of Timbuctoo, Summons, 21st May

2022. There is no mistaking that. If it is my

Lodge, I know I must read it, but if it is not, then

40, Tancred Street,

Geraldine

7930

Phone: 03 693 9793

Mob: 021 1589 021

E-mail: richardtaylor@btinternet.com

The views expressed in these pages do not

necessarily reflect those of the District Grand Lodge

T H E Q U A R T E R L Y P U B L I C A T I O N

O F T H E D I S T R I C T G R A N D

L O D G E O F T H E S O U T H I S L A N D

www.sifreemasons.org.nz

Degrees South Deadline: Oct 31st for the November edition

F R O M T H E N E W D E P U T Y D G M

On the night of Tuesday 26th July, the

Worshipful Master and Officers of

Southern Star Lodge 735, initiated

their latest member to join the Lodge –

Mr Allan Rey Pascua. As Allan is rela-

tively new to this country, I was curious

to know how his interest in becoming a

Freemason began. At my request, he

has written the following which I

thought I would share with you:

“I can't remember when was the exact

time I first heard of freemasonry. But

my best guess would be when I was a

newly graduate nurse working in Met-

ropolitan Medical Centre in Manila. I

had an elder male stroke patient who

has no family. But there were men who

regularly visited him. These men wore

large rings on their fingers. One time

they asked me if I knew of a mason

doctor in the hospital. I didn't exactly

understand what they meant so I just

said no. Then they introduced them-

selves as masonic brothers of the pa-

tient.

The second time was when my uncle

Peter Robert Garchitorena joined free-

masonry. He joined the San Jose Del

Monte Lodge No. 357 in Bulacan, Phil-

ippines. I remember whenever I visited

them, I often saw him reading and

memorizing scripts from a small book-

let. One time, I chanced the booklet on

the table. Curious as I was, I opened it,

only to find incomprehensible texts and

symbols.

Then I heard that they provide medical

missions to urban communities and

that they are charitable. I started to

see their stickers on bumpers, usually

with 2B1, Ask1 and the square and

compass. And sometimes on shirts, like

"Making Good Men Better". So my curi-

osity grew and grew.

When I worked in Qatar in 2012, that's

the time I got serious about joining free-

masonry. I googled the lodges in Qatar

and I got only 1 website: MHC of Qatar

So I sent an email, saying that I wanted

to join and wanted to know more. I got a

response after a week but it said that I

needed to go to Libya for my initiation.

There was no other info other than the

address, the dress code and payment

info. I got suspicious if they're really le-

gitimate because there was no introduc-

tion and no other information. But the

major reason why I didn't go was at that

time, it was the Arab Spring, and Libya

has insurgencies. So I decided to put my

desire to join on hold.

When my wife got me to move New Zea-

land, one of the first presents she gave

me was an information card with a DVD

about Freemasonry. The DVD was very

helpful for people who wanted to know

more. She also told me about Bill Moffat

and you. I got excited. It was the perfect

time for me to join, but I had to sort out

my visa issues and find a job to be really

ready to join. So you and I eventually

made contact by email and proceeded

from there.

There were some difficulties with my

wife being a devout Catholic and one of

her fears was that if I become a freema-

son, the Catholic Church would excom-

municate us. But I told her that Freema-

sonry is not a religion, and certainly not

a devil worship. I think her prejudice

faded away when she finally met real-

life masons like Bill and yourself. Bill is

a fine old man, she always says, and

his wife Margaret is a kind and dear

wife of a mason. Since then she has

been very supportive of my joining.”

Following on from my first meeting with

Allan I introduced him to the Lodge

Rooms in Collingwood Street, Nelson a

couple of years ago, where he was over-

whelmed by its age and grandeur. After

that we communicated regularly by

email and phone and, as his interest

grew, more and more questions were

being asked. So I gave him the DVD and

booklet that was produced by Southern

Star Lodge using material supplied by

the UGLE. Allan became even hungrier

for information on Freemasonry and

during recent social times together, and

with other members of the Lodge, he

was eventually introduced to a board of

officers to prove himself. This led to his

being signed up. During his initiation,

although seemingly a little nervous, the

DC commented that Allan had a smile

that grew from ear to ear.

Allan is a very keen and motivated

young man and from what we have

seen so far, I’m sure he will make a very

fine Freemason.

What made the evening even more en-

joyable was that at the end of the meet-

ing there were three Entered Apprentic-

es sitting in the North East, one of

which was a visitor, and one Fellowcraft

sitting in the South East.

Dave Stenning

Bro Allan Rey Pascua with the Deputy District Grand Master and WM W Bro Nicholls