I've been thinking a lot about the Past Master’s Degree. Why? Well, as a Past Master, I have taken part in both a virtual (capitular) and an actual (blue lodge) Past Master’s degree. I've been wondering for a while now if the Royal Arch Chapter should confer the degree and whether the degree is still necessary to any Masonic body, whether it be the lodge or the chapter.
I should explain what a Past Master’s degree is for anyone who may
not know what it is. The Past Master's degree was originally intended to impart
the secrets of the Oriental Chair on a newly elected or installed Master. It
was the handing over of the keys from the old guy to the new guy. In fact, many
Grand Lodges still have a chair degree for the new Master. Chair degrees exist
in many Masonic bodies, most especially within the York Rite.
The bizarre case of the Past Master (virtual) degree in the
Chapter is really representative of the fluid nature of Masonry, particularly
during its nascent period. The Royal Arch, as well as the Master Mason degree,
was most likely chair degree. There was an old requirement that a candidate for
the Royal Arch to be a Past Master. This created a problem. Lodges, and the
chapters that ultimately took on the Royal Arch, wanted to make the degree
available to all Master Masons. The easy fix would have been to actually read
the by-laws of that era, an example of which Jerusalem Chapter in Philadelphia
states, “[n]o brother can be exalted until he has been at least three years a
Master Mason and has presided six months as Master of some regular warranted
lodge or has passed the Chair by Dispensation.” (I believe that it’s
still the practice of the Grand Chapter of Pennsylvania to allow Master Masons
to be passed by dispensation of the Grand High Priest.)
Sadly, our ancient brethren believed that to allow all Masons, not
just Past Masters, to take the degree would be an innovation and thus illegal.
So what did our ancient brethren do? They created an innovation by allowing a
Master Mason to sit in the chair for a brief moment and be called a Past Master
(virtual).
In our more modern times, our English and Canadian brethren
removed this requirement from the Royal Arch. I think we should do the same.
The Royal Arch is not under the jurisdiction of the Grand Lodge, at least in
the United States and Canada, so there is no need to follow any old regulation.
I think the one advantage for removing it from the Chapter work
and conferring it only in lodge is to really get that brother, who has been
elected to serve a term in the East, ready for his installation. Being Master
of the Lodge is not easy. When I was Master, I felt incredibly overwhelmed as
I’m sure that all future Masters also feel. There's a lot of planning that goes
into a lodge.
Lodges are, for all intents and purposes, a small business. Many
lodges own property, collect revenue, and have costs that have to be
considered. The lodge has a duty to its members and to the public at large.
Sadly, most Masters are ill-equipped to take on a lodge and its various
business needs.
I think, by conferring a Past Master’s degree on a new Master, he can
become ready. He becomes ready not because he must stand alone but because he
learns to stand united with the other Past Masters that sat in the Oriental
Chair before him. That’s its purpose.
Conferring the degree so as to teach a lesson is laudable but I
really think that the original purpose as a Chapter degree remains, to allow Master
Masons to be exalted. We can dress it up in all kinds of different costumes,
add beautifully written lectures and the like but it remains unnecessary like
an appendix or tonsils. It’s time to have our Chapters focus on capitular work
and our lodges to celebrate the work and sacrifice of its officers.
Chair degrees are both a reward for service and a call to the
leader of a Masonic body to be mindful of the work that he will have to perform
for the good of the Craft. Being a Master is hard. A lot is sacrificed by the
brother who takes that responsibility. Shouldn’t we at least be there, as PMs,
to encourage him and give him our support, for the good of the Order?
What’s your opinion? Should the Past Master’s degree remain a
necessary degree in the Royal Arch? Should it only be conferred in lodge?
Posts
5 comments:
I agree completely, there is no purpose of the PM Degree in Capitular Masonry.
I would take it a step further and abolish all degrees that are conferred only on those who sat in the East of a body. It's a nod to title and gives the impression that some are "first among equals." Remember, we all have white aprons, and we all work without expecation of fee or reward. Yes, WMs sacrifice much, but so do many other brothers in many other roles. PM Degree is just another source of unnecessary pride and swag.
I happen to agree with you Not Quite a Cowan. Although I am a Past Master, I don't correct brothers to use the "Worshipful Brother" appellation because the only honorific I need is to be called "Brother." I actually had a public struggle on this blog with the whole idea of setting apart brothers based on service and I came to the conclusion that I won't require brothers to call me Worshipful but I won't stop them either.
The Swedish Rite has a great concept for removing the lodge leadership as a title conferring venture. Just like Cincinnatus returned to his fields, the IPM is invited back to a seat among the brethren. He lays down his tools of authority and regains his tool to serve and adorn without title being conferred upon him. I think that's a great system.
I think that PM degrees used as a tool of ego stroking is wrong. However, I can see some use in getting the WM-elect ready for the Chair. I'm okay with a lodge hosting a PM degree as a mode of instruction and to give the Master support.
All tools have a good and bad use depending on the intent of the user.
Nick
(I believe that it’s still the practice of the Grand Chapter of Pennsylvania to allow Master Masons to be passed by dispensation of the Grand High Priest.)
Not quite. The situation in Pennsylvania is that the Past Master degree (officially "Passing to the Chair") is retained by the Blue Lodge. It is only conferred upon a newly-elected Worshipful Master at his installation, and only the first time he assumes the East (that is, a reelected Past Master doesn't get redegreed). Royal Arch Chapters only confer the Mark Master, Most Excellent Master, and Royal Arch Degrees and simply ignore the PM/VPM requirement (Grand Chapter has also warranted a few Mark Lodges that confer only the Mark Master degree). A candidate for Capitular degrees needs only be a Master Mason, which being the highest degree in Freemasonry, is exactly the way it should be.
--Mark Adams, PM, Greater Johnstown Lodge 538 / King, Portage Chapter 195
I completely agree @Mark. I find the PM degree to be an appendix that we, as the body Masonic, should evolve away from.
Nick
Nick, I have enjoyed seeing you participate in the Masonic Roundtable. I have read your article regarding the non-essential nature of the virtual Past Master degree in Chapter. You make some articulate, forceful arguments. I respect your point of view. The same arguments, however, could be made for a number of other degrees in both York and Scottish Rites. I believe that the VPM is more than a superfluous activity. While there is no esoteric mystery about the degree, I believe it sets an expectation in the candidates mind (sets the stage, so to speak) that something greater is truly coming. He, then, receives the MEM and RAM degrees. If these are both done crisply and with solemnity, the candidate goes away feeling he has ruly received something special (and, indeed, he has). Plus, there is a great moral lesson in the VPM degree. I do not see any harm keeping it right where it is.
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