Masonic Bylaws Committee
Like every society, the masons have some strict laws that everyone must abide by. Each lodge has some rules that are in accordance with the Grand Lodge. If any amendment in the bylaws of the lodge is to be made, then the amendments must be presented to the Grand Lodge for approval. It is up to the Worshipful masters at the Grand Lodge to approve the requested amendment for the lodge.
The masonic lodge consists of three members. These are appointed by the Worshipful master of the Masonic Lodge. The members are the supervisors of the bylaws and are mostly the most knowledgeable people at the Masonic Lodge. It is the duty of these masons to make sure that all the amendments are conveyed in a proper manner to the secretary of the Lodge.
In the smaller sense, Masonic law rest upon the Old Constitutions, the Old Charges and the Landmarks; the superstructure is comprised of the Constitutions and By-Laws of Grand Lodges; the choices of Grand Lodges on claims; the declarations of Grand Masters; the choices of Grand Masters, at times remaining without audit, all the more regularly assessed and affirmed by Grand Lodges.
In the more extensive sense, Masonic law depends on English law - which returns to Roman law - so it is inside the realities to state that Masonic law is an improvement of the thoughts of value, and the organization of equity, of the times of antiquated Rome.
Masonic Secretary:
The masonic secretary is like a keeper of the knowledge for all the masons of the lodge. The secretary has a lot of knowledge and usually, he must read all the books in the library of the Grand Lodge. These books are usually on the bylaws and the history of the freemasons. All the volumes of the bylaws of Masons must be read by them. The main reason the Masonic Secretary must have a lot of knowledge is that he must look after the requests for amendments that are presented by the Masonic Bylaws Committee. If the amendment contradicts the laws of the Grand Lodge, then the secretary is required to ignore the request.
A lot of requests for amendments of the bylaws of the lodge are presented to the Grand Lodge and some of them are rejected. These are rejected because the secretary has forgotten to check a clause in the books of the Masonic Bylaws.
It is the duty of the Worshipful Mason to select the most knowledgeable mason as the Masonic Secretary.
Worshipful Lodge Master:
Not everyone can make it here. Only the worthiest and the most knowledgeable masons with a knack for leadership can sit on this chair. It is a dream for all the masons to reach the stature of the Worshipful Master. A Worshipful Master makes sure that all the operations that are required of his lodge are running in a proper manner. He ensures that the junior masons can learn a lot from him. It is up to the Worshipful Lodge Master to make the rest of the masons obey the bylaws of the lodge. The mason sitting on this chair is selected based purely on his own talents. If he has been following the masonic bylaws in all his ranks and exhibited all the qualities of a good masonic leader, he can then be deemed worthy of being the leader of the masons.
It is a common misconception for the people to assume that the rest of the masons serve the worshipful master, but they can’t be more wrong. The mason sitting in this masonic throne is a leader and a teacher who teaches all the bylaws and the values of being a mason to the rest of the lodge. He usually controls the lodge and can dismiss the Masonic Bylaws Committee if he wants. That is why it Masons have a very strict rule based on merit regarding the selection of the Worshipful Master.
Duties of the Masonic Bylaws Committee:
- They survey the present standing rules of the Lodge and think of vital corrections.
- They read proposed alterations during gatherings.
- They give these alterations to the Masonic Secretary recorded in text.
The above duties can be explained like this:
The Masonic Bylaws Committee presents all the rules to the members of the lodge. The member proposes some amendments according to their own society. The committee writes these down and gives a preliminary check to these amendment requests. If they think that these are in the accordance to the rules of the masonic Grand Lodge, they hand over this written text to the Masonic Secretary. The Masonic Secretary can check these himself and give it to the Worshipful Master, who can then approve them.
Proposed alterations to the Lodge bylaws are typically perused on the second and third closed communications. The bylaws are changeable because of the different cultural values of each society. The world is full of diversified cultural values and that is why the Grand Lodge is usually open to the amendments because of these differences. It is often that a civilian law in a area is changed which changes the way masons have been working. This is where the Masonic Bylaws Committee comes into play. Following are the things that occur after the 2nd and 3rd communications.
- Lodge Ballot : After the third correspondence, the individuals vote on the corrections that are to be made. On the off chance that the Lodge individuals endorse these alterations, the revisions ought to be composed again with date appended on them and printed. The adjusted bylaws ought to be made accessible to every mason
- Lodge Annual Review : Bylaws are normally audited once every year. Most lodges hold their yearly bylaws audit at the principal yearly gathering which is after officials have been introduced and before correspondence with the Grand Lodge.
- Proposed changes are sent to individuals : The proposed revisions to the bylaws are then sent to all individuals alongside the due takes note. This is better as it spares the cost and exertion of mailing the bylaws independently.
Masonic Bylaws Committees are organized to the optimum. The masons always abide by their law and here is very little concept of ‘rogue masons’ because of these strict rules.