Monday, November 21, 2011

Marshal the Troops


At Corinthian 67, our bylaws require that the outgoing Master serve as Lodge Education Officer, and that the outgoing Lodge Education Officer serve as the Marshal. That means, if you are Master of the Lodge, you will serve two more years in some lodge leadership role. We designed our officer succession because we wanted to keep the Master in lodge as long as possible. We want his expertise.

As someone who has now been assigned a new role, I have to figure out what the heck I’m supposed to do exactly. I like to do my own thing so I’ve added a bit. Let’s start with the basic framework of a Marshal.

Let’s look at the language of the Minnesota installation ritual:
It is your duty to form and conduct processions of the Lodge on all public occasions, and to attend to such other interests in the practice of our rites, as the Master shall direct.
Okay. So I do some stuff, mostly in public. That's a start but I'm going to need some more information. Let’s go further. 

This is the description from the Minnesota Officers Guide:
The Marshal should:
1. Assist the Tyler to open and close the Lodge and to set up the Lodge.
2. Present the Colors of our country.
3. Assist the Stewards.
Okay, that helps a little bit more. I’m supposed to be a helper. I like to help but again, I’m not sure what aid, other than setup and cleaning, I’m supposed to provide.

I’m writing my own job description for the office of Marshal.

Here goes:

The Marshal should:
  1. Serve as the lodge’s Grand Lodge liaison. At a minimum, he will provide the officers of the Grand Lodge with the calendar of dates and invite them to all important lodge functions. 
  2. Present the Colors of our country. 
  3. Serve as the lodge’s public relations ambassador. These may include: 
    1. Inviting distinguished guests from the community to open lodge functions. 
    2. Asking community officials if they need assistance from the lodge.
    3. Planning and leading any community outreach with the assistance of other brothers. 
  4. Other duties as assigned.
I will probably think of some other stuff that the Marshal should do but that’s what I can think of off the top of my head. I hope to serve Corinthian Lodge well and I want to congratulate all the officers as they continue to lead C67 to further glory.

What do you think the Marshal should do? Does your state do something differently? Leave a comment below.

5 comments:

The Plumbline said...

What about keeping order in the lodge and conduct all masonic trials? I assume that is also written down somewhere.

Millennial Freemason said...

Actually, no to both of those jobs. Our Masonic trials are Grand Lodge level affairs. Interesting to learn about differences in other jurisdictions.

Nick

Tall Cedar said...

The position of Marshall seems to be a big deal at your lodge.

Item #1 is the Secretary's job.

Most lodges do not do Item #1 - the colors are already in the east.

Item #3 - Shouldn't the WM perform these duties? He is leader of lodge, and this is another opportunity for a man to develop his leadership skills.

Barry said...

Congratulations on this appointment. I am being installed this Friday as Marshall of my home Lodge.

Unknown said...

I am being installed as Marshal of my lodge tomorrow! Im super excited. I was raised in September, and this is my first position in the lodge!