I am excited to announce that I have been appointed as the Representative to the Grand Lodge of Quebec.
Many brothers seem unaware of the concept of Grand Representative. According to Section G1.09 of the Minnesota Masonic Code, a Grand Representative is "authorized to extend the fellowship and good will of the Grand Lodge and to protect the interests of the Craft of this Jurisdiction, as occasion may require." Essentially, a Grand Representative serves as an ambassador for the foreign Grand Lodge to the Grand Representative's Grand Lodge. I'm still learning the position but I'm pretty excited to extend a Brotherly hand to brothers in another jurisdiction.
If you are in the Masonic Light program under the Grand Lodge of Minnesota, one of the competencies is to serve as a Grand Representative and exchange correspondence annually.
Are you a Grand Representative? What has been your experience? How has it enhanced your Masonic life? Leave a comment below.
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7 comments:
Woot! Will you get a dog sled ride up there to visit?
Congratulations!!
Every Minnesotan has a dog sled.
Grand Reps are an interesting Masonic tradition. The Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania does not appoint Reps, but I am a Grand Rep for the Grand Commandery of PA to Romania. Fun stuff!
Hi Nick! Are you the Grand Representative OF Quebec to/near Minnesota or the Grand Representative TO Quebec?
If it is the former, then your job is to represent Quebec IN Minnesota, so your comment that "a Grand Representative serves as an ambassador for the Grand Lodge to a foreign Grand Lodge" isn't correct.
It would be that you serve as an ambassador from a foreign Grand Lodge (Quebec) to the Grand Lodge of Quebec.
I am the Grand Representative OF Massachusetts TO Connecticut, meaning I have been appointed by the GL of Massachusetts (on the recommendation of the Grand Master of Connecticut) to be Massachusetts' emissary to Connecticut and to represent Massachusetts in Connecticut. I have a commission from the GL of Massachusetts which acts as my warrant.
In some areas, it is the opposite. My daughter was a Grand Representative in Rainbow, and she was the Grand Representative TO the other jurisdiction. We would travel and visit the Grand Assembly sessions in those jurisdictions where she would represent The Grand Assembly of Massachusetts (she is a Massachusetts Rainbow Girl, not a Connecticut Rainbow Girl).
I am a Grand Representative in the York Rite bodies, and in each instance I am the representative OF the foreign jurisdiction TO Connecticut.
As a Grand Representative OF a foreign jurisdiction, it is my job to field questions about how that foreign jurisdiction operates, provide contact info to Connecticut brothers seeking to meet brothers from that jurisdiction, and whatever else is required (such as presenting veteran medals on behalf of that jurisdiction).
Then again, Tom Accousti thinks I live in Massachusetts, anyway (which I do not. I live about 4 miles south of the state line).
Funny @Michael. And after I read your comment I get it. You and Tom shoudl sit down and read "How the States Got Their Shape." Than you too can find out why Connecticut and Massachusetts look like that. (And so you can point and yell, "See! I am in CT." :D
In recent years, the terms "from" and "to" have crept into the language used to describe Grand Representatives, and that has caused enormous confusion.
The correct terminology would be to say that you are "The Grand Representative OF the Grand Lodge of Quebec NEAR Minnesota (or wherever you live and hold your Masonic membership).
To be clear, a Mason that lives in, say, Minnesota, will never be the Grand Representative OF Minnesota near a foreign jurisdiction. It would make no sense. If you live in Minnesota, how could you represent the GL of Minnesota to some foreign jurisdiction halfway around the world? You'd have to get on a plane and fly to that foreign grand lodge every year in order to represent your mother grand lodge. Very few Masons would or could do that.
So, instead, the system is set up so that the Grand Master of your mother grand lodge will recommend you as the Grand Representative of some foreign grand lodge (let's say Quebec), and then the Grand Master of Quebec will appoint you as the Grand Representative OF the Grand Lodge of Quebec NEAR Minnesota. Once that is done, it should be relatively easy for you to represent the Grand Lodge of Quebec in Minnesota for the simple reason that you LIVE in Minnesota.
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