‘The conference has a contest’

     

Courtesy COGMNA

The Conference of Grand Masters of North America was held a few weeks ago, and evidently one of the ideas that sprung forth was of an essay contest on the subject of Masonic Renewal. The details are popping up on social media. After reading Rule No. 2, the inventive sentence structure, punctuation, syntax, grammar, and other oddities in the message are even harder to gloss over—actually, just look at No. 3. I won’t edit any of this to make it professional, but I’m willing to share it here in case someone wants to explain to the grand masters that the answers to Masonic Renewal are found in the rituals, lectures, charges, etc. of the Craft degrees, and have been promulgated excitedly by the Knights of the North, Masonic Society, Masonic Restoration Foundation, and others for years. I better not say more.


Competition Rules

1) There will be one category open to all Masons of North America regardless of age, race, religion, ethnicity with this year’s competition.

2) Entries in this essay competition must be titled, “Concept of Masonic Renewal – What does it mean to you now and in the future?” While the content of the essay is of primary concern, proper grammar and spelling will also be factors in the judging.

3) Each entrant must be an active Mason in good standing of the competition and the deadline for submission, with his Masonic lodge.

4) The essay must be an original work by the entrant and must be 1000 to 1500 words. The absolute minimum or maximum number of words must be observed.

5) Prizes will be awarded for first place, second and third places, respectively, solely at the discretion of the judging panel.

6) All entries must be typed, double-spaced and must be submitted electronically using the word.doc format. The author’s name, address, phone number, e-mail address, lodge name and jurisdiction (Grand Lodge) must be the only items on the cover page.

7) Only one essay will be accepted from each author.

8) All essays must be received by the Secretary William H. Berman, PGM of New Jersey, of the Masonic Renewal Committee at mrcessaysubmission@gmail.com no later than November 30, 2017. A national judging panel will be established through the offices of the Masonic Renewal Committee of North America and the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry, Southern Masonic Jurisdiction. At all levels of judging, the panelists will not know the name of the author or home jurisdiction.

9) Prize winners will be informed by mail and appropriate presentations of prize checks made. The announcement of prize winners will be made at the 2018 Conference of Grand Masters in Indianapolis, IN. The Masonic Renewal Committee of North America reserves the right to publish winning essays in appropriate publications. All essays become the property of the Masonic Renewal Committee of North America.

10) Previous winners of the essay competition will not be considered for another prize.

THE MASONIC RENEWAL COMMITTEE OF THE CONFERENCE OF GRAND MASTERS OF NORTH AMERICA

2017 David R. Bedwell Memorial Masonic Renewal Essay Competition

Sponsored by The Masonic Renewal Committee of North America in collaboration with the Conference of Grand Masters of North America

Interested in Winning some cash? The Essay Competition awards to the three top levels:
Champion- $1500
2nd Place- $1000
3rd Place- $500

Turn that spare time into cash…express your feelings on a thought provoking issue…use your computer skills…and walk away a winner!

2017 ESSAY THEME

“Concept of Masonic Renewal – What does it mean to you now and in the future?”

Yours thoughts in conveying about the concept of Masonic Renewal are needed by the Masonic Renewal Committee to reunite and re-generate our efforts to revitalize Freemasonry. The MRC Committee has in the past published the following resources to assist Lodges in their efforts to revitalize Masonry in their Lodges: 101+ Ways to Improve Interest and Attendance in Your Masonic Lodge; 150+ Ways to Involve Your Lodge with the Family and in the Community; Leadership Development Program and recently a Leaders Resource Handbook. These publications are available and in use by Lodges today. Also, in the 1990’s, the Committee was instrumental in the collection of data about Masonry and the profane. This survey was very useful by Grand Lodges and Lodges to pinpoint and concentrate efforts to expand the knowledge of the profane about Freemasonry.

Enter the 2017 Masonic Renewal Essay Competition and share your thoughts and ideas on the theme: “Concept of Masonic Renewal – What does it mean to you now and in the future?”

WHAT IS Masonic Renewal?

The Masonic Renewal Committee (MRC) of Canada, the United States and Mexico is charted by the Conference of Grand Masters of Masons in North America, Inc. Its purpose is to facilitate the innovative endeavors of Masonic Jurisdictions as they strive to move the Craft forward. To do this, the MRC draws on the expertise of a number of Past Grand Masters as well as representatives from the Northern and Southern Jurisdictions of the Scottish Rite and Shriners International. In addition, the MRC gathers information provided by a growing number of contacts from within various Masonic Jurisdictions. This way, the MRC is able to collect information from both the top down and grassroots sources of Masonic development. The reason why the MRC collects and organizes this information is so the innovative efforts of lodges, Grand Lodges, committees and so forth are able to be researched and viewed so other Masons do not waste time, energy and resources reinventing the wheel. In addition, it will serve as a means to give credit to those efforts and help inspire others to follow.