‘The 2019 Prestonian Lecturer will be…’

     
Congratulations to Bro. Michael Karn upon being tapped to serve as the United Grand Lodge of England’s Prestonian Lecturer for 2019! His paper is titled “English Freemasonry During the Great War.” I hope his travels take him to New York City.

Michael Karn
Wearing Royal Arch regalia.

Bro. Karn has been a Freemason 31 years, during which time he has excelled in the field of Masonic education, having written and presented numerous works of research, and has held all kinds of stations and places and ranks. He is very keen on music as well, being an organist and a vocalist—and is a member of a lodge of musicians too.

(You may recall I reported his paper was honored with the Norman Spencer Prize four years ago.)

Having enjoyed Trevor Stewart and other Prestonians discuss the First World War in Masonic contexts, I very much look forward to Bro. Karn’s lecture.
     

‘Prestonian Lecture 2015’

     
The United Grand Lodge of England has announced the Prestonian Lecture for 2015, titled “Wherever Dispersed: The Traveling Mason,” to be presented by Bro. Roger Burt of Quatuor Coronati Lodge No. 2076, among other Masonic affiliations.

Read and download the paper here.

Roger Burt, Ph.D. enjoyed a lengthy academic career at the University of Exeter, where he is an Emeritus Professor, studying and teaching the effects of the Industrial Revolution on society. He is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, a Fellow of the Geological Society, and a Fellow of the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining. In Freemasonry, Burt is a Past Master of Vectis Lodge No. 3075 in West Kent; a Past Master of Quatuor Coronati; a Royal Arch Mason; and an Honorary Professor in what was the Center for Research into Freemasonry at the University of Sheffield.

Magpie file photo

Front: Trevor Stewart and Roger Burt. Rear: John Acaster and Peter Currie
at Alpha Lodge No. 116, December 12, 2007.

A Prestonian Lecturer is appointed annually by UGLE to promote education among the brethren in the jurisdiction. By tradition, the lecturer travels about England presenting his work, and raising funds for a charity of his choice. In more recent years, it has become common for Prestonian Lecturers to travel abroad, with a number of them accepting speaking engagements in New Jersey and elsewhere in America. I shot this photo of Bro. Trevor Stewart (Prestonian Lecturer 2004) and Bro. Burt December 12, 2007 at Alpha Lodge No. 116 in East Orange.

Additionally, the Norman Spencer Prize for 2014 has been awarded to Bro Michael Karn of Temple of Athene Lodge No. 9541 in Middlesex, England for his paper “English Freemasonry During the Great War,” which presented the effects of the First World War on English Masonic lodges. The Spencer Prize is QC2076’s only honor named for a person; Norman Spencer served as Master of the lodge in 1959-60. In 1970, two years after Spencer’s death, the lodge instituted this tradition of honoring scholarly achievement in this way. He was a veteran of the First World War, having served in Egypt and France, making this year’s prize-winning paper an apt choice.

My thanks to The Canberra Curmudgeon, Bro. Neil Wynes Morse, for this news from England.

In closing, let us pray and send healing energies to Bro. Trevor Stewart, who is facing a daunting health challenge at this time. My brother, you are in my thoughts often, and I wish there were something I could do to spare you this trial. I hope to sit in lodge with you again soon.