Thursday, October 31, 2019

Report from the 2019 North Central Grand York Rite Conference


North Central Grand York Rite Conference 2019
Steve Tiner-General Grand Chapter

     The 2019 North Central Grand Conference was held October 22, 2019 at the Best Western Ramkota Hotel in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. This is the annual meeting of the Leadership of the Grand Royal Arch, Grand Cryptic Council, and Grand Commandery for the states that make up the North Central Conference which is Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin. The approximately 200 attendees travel from a good-sized geographical area.  The conference is an opportunity for the leadership to gather and attend a daylong meeting within their respectful groups. It’s a day that is filled with information on new programs, workshops, and learning opportunities along with an exchange of information. Of course, there is always time to renew old acquaintances, make new ones, and tell tall tales.
 Many years ago, the Grand Rites saw a need to assist the State Chapters, Councils and Commanderies and developed the Grand York Rite Leadership-Emerging Leaders Program. This course is usually held at the regional conferences held across the U.S. and it has been an annual event for many years at the North Central Conference. As the Leadership meets in their day long meetings the Leadership Course is held down the hall. Here is a little more information about the course.
This training recognizes the need to prepare a core group of leaders for the York Rite, and the Masonic family. The leaders of each Grand Body nominate members of their organization who shows signs of leadership or who they feels would have their existing skills enriched by this training.  The entire training program is provided free of charge to the participant. The program is designed to integrate solid leadership skills with a special emphasis on Masonic teaching, this program promotes classroom interaction and participation. The training consists of three courses. The first explores general leadership concepts, The second course builds upon the concepts gained from the first year, and the third year emphasizes development of communication skills. These courses are offered each year at our Area Conference. Once each of the three courses are completed the successful graduates receive a token indicating that they have satisfactorily completed the program.

I have had many opportunities to talk with those Companions and Sir Knights who have attended and they all have very positive comments and glowing reports about the program.

I have always loved to attend conferences for work or Freemasonry. It’s great to be in a room that is filled with likeminded people who share the love of vocation or the Craft. Being in this magnetized atmosphere reenergizes my enthusiasm. This year being the Grand Recorder for the Grand Commandery of Minnesota I attended the Grand Encampment Knights Templar Conference. I found it to be a very interesting, helpful and stimulating program. Grand Master Jeff Nelson runs a great meeting. I must admit that I did sneak out to go over to the Royal Arch to hear Steve Tiner the General Grand King of the General Grand Chapter. Steve is a wonderful speaker and I enjoyed listening to his message. I also had the opportunity to hear the author Worshipful Brother Russell Herner talk about his book “Cathedrals Built by Masons”. You will hear much more about his book for I am preparing an article that should be posted soon.
For me the most touching or heartfelt moments of any masonic conference is hearing from our fraternities’ charities. It is uplifting to see the work of the researchers and physicians who are working hard towards finding new cures and procedures to help our ailing fellow man. This year we were fortunate to have two very committed and dedicated doctors from two very different fields discuss their cutting-edge work.
Dr. Michael P Murphy from the Cryptic Masons Medical Research Foundation and Professor of Vascular Biology Research at the University of Indiana attended. He presented the Seneca Trials Research, and the use of stem cells to prevent amputations. He also shared his experience on his tour of duty in Iraq in the U.S. Army as a Vascular Surgeon on battle injuries.
Knight Templar Eye Foundation Speaker Bela Anand Apte PhD Cole Eye Institute, Cleveland, Ohio spoke on the “Impact on Pediatric Vision Research”. Dr. Apte also presented material on Retinopathy of Premature Babies, and updates on her current research projects. She also gave a very interesting presentation on the vast number of blindness cases that can be prevented.
My hat is off to all those who have spent many hours in arranging a central location and taking care of all the details in putting together such a fine conference. My thanks for all the speakers who traveled across the country who came to share their important message. My gratitude for all the Masonic Leaders for their dedication and vision to move us in a positive direction.





Thursday, October 17, 2019

Minnesota York Rite and the Word" Change"


Minnehaha York Rite and the word “Change”
Tom Hendrickson-PGM

Change is a word that brings discomfort, irritation, torment and pain to some Masons. To other Masons, change is a word that brings to mind freshness, new fashioned notions, the unusual or the out of the ordinary comes to mind.
We at Ark Royal Arch Chapter, Omega Council, and Minneapolis Mounted Commandery (otherwise known as the Minnehaha York Rite) are embarking on making a major change in the way that we meet and in the activities that we do.
We will no longer hold twelve monthly standard business meetings with full ritualist openings and closing. No longer will there be twelve monthly readings of bills and who hasn’t paid their dues.
Our formal meetings will be held four times a year with all the usual Masonic traditions. The other eight months we will be meeting, but that time spent will be doing things. We currently are in the process of deciding what those activities will be. Some ideas that have been mentioned so far are: visiting other York Rite Bodies in the state such as Owatonna or St. Peter and having dinner at one of their local known eateries. Another idea is visiting the Masonic Home and bringing refreshments and as well as fellowship with some of our Brothers. Other ideas are playing Bocce Ball, horseback riding or even throwing axes at a local establishment. Of course, we will always have engaging opportunities to learn more about Freemasonry.
I have been told that sometimes Masonic Meetings have the same feeling as being trapped in a high school detention hall. However, you want to describe it, a bad meeting is a waste of time. Time is our greatest gift, so why waste it.
We held a Waffle breakfast last month and that embarked us on this new way of thinking. We had not held a fund raiser for a very long time and this was a new to us. It was a lot of work but we had a lot of fun doing it.
You may wish to watch the Calendar to see what we are up and if you are so inclined, you may want to join us. Your Minnehaha York Rite is a path to further enlightenment but also a path to worthwhile activities and perhaps having some fun in the process. 

Since writing this story there has been a additional development:

The York Rite of Owatonna, Minnesota (which is pictured above) has also been making changes in the way that they meet, and are currently undergoing changes in  their activities very similar to Minnehaha York Rite. 






Tuesday, October 15, 2019

Veterans Day 2019


     On this Veterans Day, let us remember the service of our veterans, and let us renew our national promise to fulfill our sacred obligations to our veterans and their families who have sacrificed so much so that we can live free.