Inaugural Address

Inaugural Address

 

Excellent Companion and Most Worshipful Brother John C. Green, the Past Grand Master of the Grand Lodge Ancient Free and Accepted Masons of Canada in the Province of Ontario, R.Ex.Comp. Paraag Suchak, Grand Second Principal, R.Ex.Comp. George Fairbairn Grand Third Principal, the Most Excellent Past Grand First Principals, Distinguished East and Companions.

  1. Ex. Comp. Richard J Jackson I would like to thank you for organising and conducting the Ceremony of Installation and the Investiture of the Grand Chapter Officers, and I also thank the Past Grand First Principals and the Members of Grand Chapter who participated in this Ceremony of Installation.
  2. Ex. Comp. Alan Donovan, your leadership for the past two years has set an example which will be difficult to follow.

R.Ex.Comp. Paraag Suchak, I welcome you on your advancement to Grand Second Principal and I look forward to your continued support and co-operation as we work together for the next two years.

 

R.Ex.Comp. George Fairbairn I congratulate you on your election as Grand Third Principal. I count on your work with the Grand Superintendents to improve and strengthen the lines of communication between Grand Chapter and the Chapters in the Districts.

 

I appreciate the willingness of all the Elected and Appointed Officers to serve Capitular Masonry and pledge to support you in any way that I can.

 

I thank R,Ex,Comp. Gerald Morgan for encouraging me to become involved in Grand Chapter and all the Companions who have supported me in my journey to the Office of Grand First Principal.
My thanks go out to Ex.Comp. Christopher Beecham for all the time he spent on developing a new data base program to maintain our membership records. Under the direction of M.Ex.Comp. Alan Donovan, this project was reassigned, late in 2017, to R.Ex.Comp. Paraag Suchak and I expect that the new data base will become operational this Masonic Year.

 

MEMBERSHIP

I consider the greatest threat to Capitular Masonry is the shrinking number of Companions. An unacceptably large number of these losses are due to Demits and Suspensions. These Companions were at one time sufficiently interested in Capitular Masonry to join and obtain one or more degrees. Somehow that interest was lost. I charge all the Chapters to contact their members who have not been attending of a regular basis to determine what can be done to rekindle their interest. This information should be communicated to the Grand Superintendents to permit the sharing of good ideas throughout the jurisdiction.

 

As our applicants are drawn from members of Lodges, Chapters should work with the Lodges in their area to promote membership in Masonic Lodges.

Again, ideas how to achieve this should be communicated to the Grand Superintendents.

 

TRUSTEES

I am reappointing the following to serve as Trustees.

  1. Ex.Comp. Howard Adams for Guelph Chapter No. 40
  2. Ex.Comp. Brian Aikins for Kichikewana Chapter No. 167
  3. Ex.Comp. David Hardie for Couchiching Chapter No. 198

The above three Trustees are to assist them in their regular duties.

  1. Ex.Comp. Lachlan Hamilton for King Darius Chapter No. 134
  2. Ex.Comp. Keith Stiles for Durham Chapter No. 221

The above two Trustees are to oversee the Chapter going into darkness, until a Final Report has been issued and all necessary transfers to Grand Chapter have been made.  

The above four Trustees are to oversee the Chapter going into darkness, until a Final Report has been issued and all necessary transfers to Grand Chapter have been made.

 

PLANS

The number of reports etc. submitted by the due date has greatly decreased over the last several years. This  will not be acceptable in the future.

 

I would request all Chapters, if possible, to send their Summon by email to me at  george.napper@royalarchmasons.on.ca  so that I may receive them in a timely manner.

 

During my Term of Office, I plan to visit as many Chapters as is reasonably possible. Many of these visits will be without any prior notice if something is happening in the Chapter which is of interest to me.

I plan to arrange meetings between the three senior Officers of the Grand Chapter of Canada in the Province of Ontario and the three senior Officers of the Grand Council of Ontario to explore the feasibility of holding a joint Annual Meeting.

 

I am re-establishing an Advisory Committee composed of the Past Grand First Principals to provide me with guidance as their knowledge of the past is too valuable an asset to waste.

 

I am dedicating the Release a Miracle Fund this year to the Memory of Mrs. Lenore Walker, the wife of M.Ex.Comp. Alan Walker, who died in 2017 of leukaemia.

 

I thank you for the confidence you showed in me four years ago when you elected me Grand Third Principal and I will strive to justify your faith over the next two years.

 

Lastly, and most important, I am deeply indebted to my wife Judith Napper for her understanding and unfailing support over the 32 years of my Masonic journey.