The Grand Master’s Address

29 November 24

The privilege of addressing Grand Lodge for the first time as the Grand Master in the Sydney Town Hall with masons, family and friends of Freemasonry assembled in numbers such as these comes with a profound sense of humility, honour and gratitude. The view from the East, prompts me to ‘behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity’.

Past Grand Masters, Brethren, Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen, I am very honoured that so many of you have taken time and effort to be with us today. I speak for the jurisdiction in extending appreciation for the support of visiting delegations from across Australia and from overseas including Germany, Scotland, Saudi Arabia, Philippines, Japan, Russia, New Zealand and Italy.

I thank the members of our jurisdiction and acknowledge their commitment and involvement in various roles in the Craft and Associated Orders. Many of you brought your wives, partners, family and friends and the decision to involve them in your masonic activity is encouraging. I look to you to continue to support future initiatives especially as we have seen the result of coming together – not as witnesses but as co-creators of history.

I sincerely appreciate our Past Grand Masters for not only honouring us with their presence, but for their active participation in today’s ceremony. I am immensely humbled by your continued support to me personally and to the jurisdiction.

I thank our 40th Grand Master, MW Bro Lesley Hicks for what can only be described as an enthusiastic and productive term of office. With the support of your wife, Narelle, you were able to provide the jurisdiction with inspiring leadership and imperative changes that required your most precious resource – time. May you enjoy the time you have earned for yourself and Narelle, 40th Grand Master. You deserve it.

I am very much humbled by the dignity and high importance of the office to which I have just succeeded.

Being installed in the historic Sydney Town Hall is a reminder of the enormous responsibility attached to the position. The relationship between this building and Freemasonry started when it was presented to our first Grand Master, Lord Carrington in 1889 during his term as Governor of NSW. Since then, except when extraordinary circumstances prevented it, distinguished Grand Masters have been installed in this historic place and, undoubtedly, on this same spot. The magnitude of the thought that today, I stand, literally and figuratively, where lords, governors-general, governors, authorities and leaders of industry stood during their respective installations is overwhelming and quite humbling.

But then again, like you, my masonic journey has been characterised by many deeds in humility: it took me four years to be given an application form by my mother lodge and despite attending all monthly meetings, it took me another three years to be raised. When I emigrated to Sydney, not only did I have to learn a new set of rituals, I also had to unlearn a previous set!

Brother Thomas Alva Edison, who was credited with inventing the lightbulb, once said, ‘If I have seen farther than others, it was by standing on the shoulders of giants’. Throughout my masonic journey, I was taught to be humble, to await a time with patience and to be reliant on others. I served in the Ceremonial Team. I served as Assistant and Deputy Grand Master, counselled by the Board of Management and the Executive Council. I was trusted to lead this jurisdiction with overwhelming endorsement from the brethren; and today, installed as our 41st Grand Master, one of the greatest highlights of my life, with generous support from brethren, visitors, sponsors and friends. I am sincerely humbled.

Humility reminds us that leadership is not about power or prestige but about resilience, service and relationships. We know that our strength comes not from titles or positions, but from the way we treat others and the way we lead by example. Humility grounds us, reminding us that we are always learning, always growing, and always working towards becoming better men.

Brethren, may we ever meet, act, and part with Humility.

The aim of Freemasonry to make good men better results in masons worldwide being gifted with a meaningful inheritance from their membership in our brotherhood. However, membership and retention has become a concern for many membership-based organisations world-wide. The luxury of time previously abundant to our forebears is no longer available to us. Recent technological advancements have created a most precious resource – time. Currently, Freemasonry competes for time with other organisations, social media, television etc. to attract and retain members. Membership and loyalty belong to whomever provides the best experience.

Hence your Grand Lodge leadership team will continue to improve on what is already available to us in providing a great member experience. If we build it and continue to improve on it, they will come. Brethren, you already know my position on well-presented masonic education, appealing masonic meeting places, promotional campaigns, effective two-way communication, charitable work, good corporate governance and tight fiscal management. You would be pleased to know that Grand Lodge is supported by teams of brethren who are all well-equipped to provide the necessary expertise.

The Ritual Advisory Committee collaborating with Lodges of Instruction, the Board of Management, and the College of Masonic Studies will continue to provide more educational content by way of our Content Management System. We will continue to update and produce online courses for mentors, secretaries, presenters and important rank-specific video tutorials. I encourage you to use and provide feedback on the educational content and the tutorials that are available from our website.

Promotion and retention in any organisation represent the cornerstone of membership growth. It all begins at masonic meeting places and our jurisdiction is blessed with many wonderful buildings. With buildings that are well presented and with prominent signage, local communities are aware that we are open for business. The Board of Management will continue to work with lodges to identify opportunities with their buildings to promote and protect the Craft’s interests, support their members, attract likeminded individuals and perform our charitable work.

Under the Board of Management, the Online Presence Team is tasked with taking our use of social media and webpages to ‘the next level’. They will use a two-pronged strategy, one inward-facing with a view to engaging brethren and to assist with retention, and one outward facing with a view to presenting our organisation in a way that is both contemporary and relevant, while at the same time protecting the values, dignity, and traditions of Freemasonry. Truly, you Brethren can contribute much in this regard. I encourage lodges to share their activities with the Online Presence Team. You can share stories and photos of your best practices and occasions to provide others with valuable ideas that generate excitement, pride and awareness. Let us all be good ambassadors for our organisation. Let us remember that our reputation as masons is built not only by our rituals and ceremonies but by the way we live and practice Freemasonry outside the lodge – in our families, workplaces, communities and, in particular, online.

We will increase the visibility and engagement of our Grand Charity in the community. Masonicare will create more opportunities for brethren to help others in need while raising the awareness for both brethren and the public of its various operations such as bequests, subscriptions and donations. This way we may all share the grace and blessings that charitable work creates.

To aid effective two-way communication, I intend to continue with the informative Grand Master’s Newsletter. The impact and importance of regular communication throughout our jurisdiction cannot be underestimated. I also request support for our Freemason magazine. Our magazine’s editor and his team will feature articles, stories and photographs of your milestones and great charity work, so that we can all learn, relate and celebrate how lodges practice Freemasonry.

Good corporate governance and tight fiscal management are extremely important. I congratulate our Grand Treasurer, the Finance and Audit Committee and our Grand Secretariat for the work they have done and continue to do. With the introduction of our Content Management System and review of contractual commitments, we have been able to make significant savings in the way that we operate. As we move forward, we will continue to challenge the status quo, monitor expenses, find efficiencies, leverage opportunities and use technology to our advantage to give our members the best service and support.

I acknowledge brethren, all volunteers, who are either continuing to serve the Craft in their current capacity or commencing their term of office along with me – the Grand Registrar’s Committee, the Grand Charity Board, the Board of Management, the Grand Secretariat, the Regional Grand Counsellors and District Grand Inspectors and others who may be appointed from time to time.

I thank my loving wife, Caroline, for the encouragement, support and stability she has shown me over the years. Her devotion to me is extraordinary and her understanding of what I do, exceptional. I seek her continued indulgence as I begin my term of office.

I especially welcome our Deputy Grand Master RW Bro Paul Schultz and Ellie, and our Assistant Grand Master RW Bro John Jacobson and Janelle. As the jurisdiction’s leadership team we are looking forward to extending ourselves in the jurisdiction and supporting your lodges.

In sending his greetings for our program, MW Bro Steven Rubin, Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of New York, shared a quote from Henry David Thoreau who eloquently wrote: ‘If you advance confidently in the direction of your own dreams, and endeavour to live the life which you have imagined, you will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.’

Our jurisdiction is blessed with leaders who are true to their word, to their work and to our teachings, principles and virtues. We can confidently advance in the direction of our aspirations and expect to meet success as we have brethren who lead us, who are men of integrity.

Brethren, may we ever meet, act, and part with Integrity.

Finally, I wish to speak about harmony. One of the principles on which Freemasonry is erected and our strongest attribute as an organisation is brotherly love. By the exercise of brotherly love, we are taught to regard the whole human species as one family – the high and the low, the rich and the poor who, as created by one Almighty Parent and inhabitants of the same planet, are to aid, support and protect each other. On this theme, Masonry unites men of every country, sect and opinion and causes true friendship to exist among those who might otherwise have remained at perpetual distance.

As brethren, let us also be our brother’s keeper and let us resolve our issues within the family. How good and how pleasant it is if we are quick to praise, but slow to criticise brethren’s mistakes, shortcomings or oversights – especially in public and online. Any offensive, critical sentiment, once stated, cannot be undone – even if retracted. ‘Freemasonry must never be a battle ground, at the minimum it must be a safe haven, ideally – a shield and buckler to us.’

There is strength in harmony. Harmony allows for our differences. ‘Harmony is not in always being in agreement but being respectful when disagreeing.’ As RW Bro Bob Moran, known for ‘Bringing Brother Masons Together’ once said: ‘The aim of discussion is not victory, the aim of discussion is progress. Let us not listen to be ready to reply, rather let us listen ready to understand.’

The most influential Zen Buddhist monk of the last century, Thích Nhâ’t Hᾳnh, wrote of the ways of peace, happiness and enlightenment. I endorse one concept that I believe, once we understand and accept and apply, it will position us not only to becoming a great jurisdiction, effective lodges and better masons but ultimately, happy human beings: The concept is that ‘There is no way to harmony. Harmony is the way’.

Brethren, may we ever meet, act, and part in Harmony.

Let me conclude by congratulating everyone for being part of our milestone today. Our journey together has just begun. Join me on the journey, brethren, not as witnesses but as co-creators of a good and pleasant Freemasonry – to behold in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory.

Let’s navigate with a map of Humility, Integrity and Harmony. These are masonic values in our contemporary times. May we always Meet on the Level of Humility, Act by the Plumb of Integrity, and Part on the Square in Harmony. That’s our map.

So may we ever meet, act and part, my brethren.

MW Bro B. Khristian Albano, Grand Master, United Grand Lodge of NSW & ACT.