I think this is a great idea. Perhaps there is a major illness gripping the community. Or the building has severe damage. Or perhaps a power outage. There are plenty of good reasons to cancel a meeting beyond the scope of bad weather.
I like the idea, but if this passes this year hopefully all the lodges will do what is necessary for the bills to be paid until the next stated meeting.
"The Grand Master, lacking the ability to give a Lodge permission to violate its own bylaws, likewise can not use his authority to allow the Worshipful Master to cancel for other reasons." MW, your quote says it all. Our code is mired in so many silly rules that rational well-thinking men are prohibited from thinking rationally. In the case of cancelling a meeting those rational well-thinking men have to call the GM, the most rational of them all, and even he can't make a decision. You'd think that the better men that we strive to be would have cleaned up this kind of stuff a long time ago.
Should the WM be allowed to cancel meetings? Absolutely. Under the current rules WMs, the ones that Brothers with first hand knowledge of their WM's character and qualifications, are elected to the East to rule and govern their Lodges. Nowhere in the Master's obligation or the Charges does the Master explicitly commit to asking "Mother may I" for any number of picky details that may routinely come up. (And, MW, I've never asked you about this, but I'd bet a paycheck that you didn't aspire to be Grand Master so you could adjudicate a bunch of picky details). One could say that much of that flowery language in the Master's installation ceremony is a bit misleading.
We have to remember when some of these rules originated. There was a time when Masonry ruled many household schedules, and it was easy back then. Dad left the office at 5PM sharp, Mom had dinner ready, and the kids were told to "leave Dad alone, it's Mason night". I vividly remember those days ... I was there. But now I'm here and I'm acutely aware that stuff comes up. If we don't trust our WMs to deal with stuff and make responsible decisions then why are they WMs?
Just before COVID Maine Grand Lodge recommended lodges to add a section to their bylaws that would give the WM the ability to charge a meeting for weather, civil unrest or any act that would put members in harm’s way up to 48 hours either side of meetings night.
I was Master at the time and changed our bylaws as fast as our laws allowed. Covid opened our eyes to things that are out of our control.
I think this is a great idea. Perhaps there is a major illness gripping the community. Or the building has severe damage. Or perhaps a power outage. There are plenty of good reasons to cancel a meeting beyond the scope of bad weather.
I like the idea, but if this passes this year hopefully all the lodges will do what is necessary for the bills to be paid until the next stated meeting.
"The Grand Master, lacking the ability to give a Lodge permission to violate its own bylaws, likewise can not use his authority to allow the Worshipful Master to cancel for other reasons." MW, your quote says it all. Our code is mired in so many silly rules that rational well-thinking men are prohibited from thinking rationally. In the case of cancelling a meeting those rational well-thinking men have to call the GM, the most rational of them all, and even he can't make a decision. You'd think that the better men that we strive to be would have cleaned up this kind of stuff a long time ago.
Should the WM be allowed to cancel meetings? Absolutely. Under the current rules WMs, the ones that Brothers with first hand knowledge of their WM's character and qualifications, are elected to the East to rule and govern their Lodges. Nowhere in the Master's obligation or the Charges does the Master explicitly commit to asking "Mother may I" for any number of picky details that may routinely come up. (And, MW, I've never asked you about this, but I'd bet a paycheck that you didn't aspire to be Grand Master so you could adjudicate a bunch of picky details). One could say that much of that flowery language in the Master's installation ceremony is a bit misleading.
We have to remember when some of these rules originated. There was a time when Masonry ruled many household schedules, and it was easy back then. Dad left the office at 5PM sharp, Mom had dinner ready, and the kids were told to "leave Dad alone, it's Mason night". I vividly remember those days ... I was there. But now I'm here and I'm acutely aware that stuff comes up. If we don't trust our WMs to deal with stuff and make responsible decisions then why are they WMs?
Just before COVID Maine Grand Lodge recommended lodges to add a section to their bylaws that would give the WM the ability to charge a meeting for weather, civil unrest or any act that would put members in harm’s way up to 48 hours either side of meetings night.
I was Master at the time and changed our bylaws as fast as our laws allowed. Covid opened our eyes to things that are out of our control.