Evensong, Sunday 16th May, 2010

In the geographical area covered by the Province of East Kent we are fortunate, indeed we are blessed, to have not one, but two wonderful Cathedrals. We have been further privileged for many years to have had the opportunity to hold our biennial Masonic Evensong at one or other of them.

In recent years the service has been held at the majestic Rochester Cathedral but this year the magnificent surrounds of Canterbury Cathedral provided the venue after an absence of many years.

To a rousing organ anthem the service began when the gentlemen and boys of the Cathedral Choir entered and took their places. The Lord Mayor of Canterbury, Councillor Pat Todd, who is a Past Master of Graystone Lodge No 1915, the Lady Mayoress, Mrs Barbara Todd and the Provincial Grand Master of East Kent, Right Worshipful Brother Michael Bailey with his wife, Mrs Sandra Bailey were then escorted to their seats by the Dean of Canterbury, The Very Reverend Dr Robert Willis.

The Dean welcomed the congregation. He then led the service which was taken from the Book of Common Prayer 1662. The congregation sang the first Hymn, ‘Crown Him with Many Crowns’ and later ‘Be Still My Soul,’ well known to all Masons who attend our Annual Investiture Meetings and specially selected for the occasion by the Provincial Grand Master, and the last hymn ‘At the Name of Jesus’. The Choir sang the Preces and Psalm 68, and later the Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis and the Versicles and Responses, including the Lord’s Prayer, with the Precentor, the Reverend David Mackenzie Mills.

The Provincial Grand Master read an Old Testament Lesson taken from Isaiah 44.

The Precentor offered prayers for various areas of turmoil throughout the world, for the Archbishop of Canterbury and for the people of the diocese of Canterbury, a tradition of daily prayer dating back to the arrival in Kent of St Augustine in AD597.

The Alms collection was shared between the Cathedral and the 2014 East Kent Festival in support of the Freemasons Grand Charity.

The Dean delivered an excellent Sermon, full of interest and covering a wide range of topics, and he did not appear to refer to any notes! He welcomed the community of Freemasons of East Kent in joining with the Cathedral community and what he described as the community of pilgrims, those members of the public and visitors to the Cathedral who had joined us for the service. He spoke of the great support the Cathedral had received from Masonry over many years and the close connection we have enjoyed. He referred to the pilgrimage to Canterbury by Geoffrey Chaucer and the depiction of Chaucer on our Provincial Masonic Crest. He mentioned the stained glass window in the North West Transept which was presented by the Freemasons of Kent in 1954 depicting various scenes including King George VI and Queen Elizabeth with the young princesses Elizabeth and Margaret and in a separate section the Queen and Prince Philip with the young Prince Charles and Princess Anne. He mentioned his time as Dean of Hereford when a large area of wall at one end of the Cathedral there collapsed and was rebuilt at the expense of the Freemasons of Herefordshire. He also spoke of a visit he made to Jerusalem when he stood on the site of the ancient Temple and described the wonderful spiritual experience it engendered in him. (Click here to read the Sermon.)

Brethren of the Province may recall that at our Annual Festival Meeting in April 2009 Right Worshipful Brother Michael Bailey made a donation of £10,000 from the Provincial Grand Master’s Charity towards the cost of training the Cathedral’s apprentice stonemasons. Two recently qualified stonemasons, Emlyn Harris and Ben Swinfield, were present, as was Heather Newton, the Head of Stonemasonry and Conservation, when the cheque was handed to the Receiver General of the Cathedral, Brigadier John Meardon. A further £100,000 was donated to the Cathedral by the Freemasons’ Grand Charity in June 2009 in celebration of the Grand Master’s 40th Anniversary. Stonemasons hold a special place in the hearts of Freemasons, as it is almost certain that without their ancient forebears we would not be in existence as a Fraternity.

It was estimated that over eight hundred people attended the service. In addition to the Provincial Grand Master and his wife, the Deputy Provincial Grand Master Worshipful Brother Roger Odd was present with his wife Marion together with the Deputy Grand Superintendent E Comp Trevor Climpson and his wife Vivienne. Worshipful Brother Roger Odd has spent more than two years organising the event. Also present were the four Assistant Provincial Grand Masters with their wives, the Second and Third Provincial Grand Principals and the Third Provincial Grand Principal designate, the Past Provincial Grand Master Right Worshipful Brother John Bonomy and Mrs Marion Bonomy, many members of the Provincial Executive and staff from the Provincial Office. We were also honoured by the presence of the Metropolitan Grand Master, Right Worshipful Brother Russell Race and the Provincial Grand Master of West Kent, Right Worshipful Brother Jonathan Winpenny with his wife Mrs Gillian Winpenny.

The Cathedral is, of course, the Mother Church of the Anglican Communion and the Seat of the Archbishop of Canterbury, a position that has existed since the 6th Century. The Most Reverend and Right Honourable Rowan Douglas Williams is the 104th incumbent and was enthroned in 2003. All in all the Masonic Cathedral Service was a most enjoyable and uplifting experience spiritually enhanced by the lovely music, a tribute to the Choir ably led by the Cathedral’s Deputy Director of Music.

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