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News and Notes from around |
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| the World of Job's Daughters |
2006-2007 SG REPORT |
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News and Notes from around |
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| the World of Job's Daughters |
2006-2007 SG REPORT |
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Report of the Supreme Guardian on the Condition of the Order Just four years ago, Tom and I were elected to our respective positions in a little town just over the state line called Rosemont, but most of you are probably more familiar with it largest suburb-Chicago. Becoming the Supreme Guardian was neither a dream nor an aspiration for me. To satisfy my jurisdiction, I told them I would place my name in consideration one time. When reality hit and after asking myself over and over, “What have I done?”, I vowed to approach my duties with the same attitude and convictions I had employed as a Bethel Guardian and Grand Guardian—to adhere to the law, serve the Order to the best of my ability, and to be myself. In my very brief address at Installation, I emphasized four “c” words. It is doubtful that any one in this room can recall those words, but they were COMMUNICATION, COMMITMENT, CHANGE, and CONTINUITY. My report will be given in terms of these words. In retrospect, I should have included challenges, for there were many this year, including hospitalizations of my husband and the loss of my father-in-law while I was traveling. I will not report the number of miles I traveled, the number of hours I spent flying, or the number of hours I spent away from home, but will inform you that I visited six states in Brazil, the Philippines Grand Guardian Council Session, and Queensland Australia. Our visit to Paraná was their first time to welcome a Supreme Guardian and we thoroughly enjoyed sharing in their excitement. It is important for the Supreme Guardian to commit to visiting these jurisdictions. Her presence ensures the importance of each to our Order and maintains open lines of communication. I encourage those who follow me to schedule Supreme visits to the Philippines. Prior to Louise Windbiel’s trip, the jurisdiction’s last Supreme Visit was by Marilee Smiley. I was not concerned for my safety while attending the Grand Guardian Session held at the Grand Lodge in Manila. The love and respect shown by the Daughters and Adults reminded me of the manner in which we were received in Brazil. The grand Guardian, Nina Aragon, had worked very hard on promotion, instituting one new Bethel and reinstituting two Bethels. Membership has increased from 177 to 223. She is to be commended for her commitment to increasing membership. It was also brought to my attention that many Bethels are desperately in need of capes and crowns, but lack the necessary funds to purchase them. Sadly, a post office fire consumed new Rituals that had been ordered. While this order was insured, it will take approximately 6 months for the insurance paper work to be completed and the Rituals replaced. I will not cite any specific statistical data, as our Executive Manager will do so in her report. However, I must report that the following Bethels closed this year: Bethel 3 London, Ontario, Bethel 5 Davenport, Iowa, Bethel 2 Houston, Texas, Bethel 1 Missoula and Bethel 6 Belgrade in Montana. Additionally, Montana voted to dissolve their Jurisdictional Guardian Council. Declining membership, lack of Adult commitment and the support by our Masonic Family were the primary reasons for the closures. As everyone knows, the edict set forth by the Grand Lodge of Texas not only resulted in the Board of Trustees acknowledging the need for Youth Protection, which will be presented this session, but has now precluded even Fathers and Grandfathers from attending and supporting their Daughters and Granddaughters at Bethel meetings. However, the Adults and Daughters are not giving up hope for a resolution to this issue. Three Bethels continue to meet under reorganization, conduct activities, and participate in DeMolay functions. They are committed to keeping Job’s Daughters alive in Texas and to be commended for their resilience to the obstacles that have been set in place. Inquiries about the existence of Job’s Daughters in Louisiana and South Carolina were properly addressed. A Master Mason from California emailed that he had encouraged his grand daughter to join Job’s Daughters. She was upset by the need to know where she attended Church. He was concerned that our organization was not non-denominational as he had been lead to believe and stated that this question had not been asked of him when he joined the Lodge. He was assured that we were a non-denominational organization as our Bethels have members of the Jewish and Muslim religions. The time has come to review our forms and revise the questions we pose to our prospective members and make the necessary Ritual revisions to accommodate our non Christian members. Following my visits to Bethels under Supreme, I regret to report that commitment to following the Ritual, Laws of our Order, Handbook guideline and correctly fulfilling the duties of their respective Bethel Guardian Council positions was evident in only three Bethels. My official visits and inspection Bethel Books revealed the following:
Attending Bethel meetings sadly revealed lack of commitment to correct ritual work. This was not limited to the Daughters, but the Bethel Council as well. Bethel Guardians and Associate Bethel Guardians failed to enter the Bethel room per the Ritual, and a few Bethel Guardians had not memorized their Ritual part. Officers were permitted to have open Rituals with no emphasis on memorizing their parts or performing correct floor work. A lack of pride in Bethel work will carry over in other aspects of a Daughter’s life. As mentors, we have an obligation to instill pride in individual Ritual work by setting the example. By failing to do, we fail our Daughters, not only at the Bethel level, but in life as well. On more than one occasion, I had to ask that children be taken from the Bethel room. The Bethel Guardian invites those entitled to remain, this does not include children. This is not only an issue with Bethels under Supreme but Grand Guardian Councils as well. There is no age provision that would permit children to be in attendance at a Bethel meeting. In order to communicate these findings, copies of my follow-up letters to the Bethels were shared with the Vice Supreme Guardian and Supreme Marshal. Hopefully, this will aid them in preparation for their visits, training and leadership development. But more importantly, I hope it will reflect the need to provide time in their schedules so that a return visit could be made to those Bethels requiring it. Issues did come to the forefront that denoted the need to follow-up, but my schedule did not permit me to do so. Granted, each Bethel under Supreme has a Deputy, and you are correct to conclude they could do the follow-up visit. Unfortunately, many Deputies do not reside in close proximity to the Bethels they serve and usually plan on only one, maybe two visits per year, or no visits at all as I learned this year. You see, not all Deputies comply with the Law and even if a visit is conducted, do not submit written reports as required by B-SGC Article VII Section 2 (c). Since the Supreme Guardian is charged with officially visiting only the Bethels under Supreme, I have recommended to the Executive Supreme Guardian Council that consideration be given to alternating visits to the Grand Guardian Councils so that time is available for assisting the Bethels under Supreme. I made this recommendation not to slight the Grand Guardian Councils, or infer they are important, but few Grand Guardian Council visitations include attending Bethel meetings, leadership workshops, Grand Guardian Council meetings, or requests for assistance in promotion or roundtable discussions. In a few jurisdictions, it is expected that the Supreme Guardian will attend only a specific function or event. However, exercising her authority to inspect Grand Guardian Councils is necessary by the Supreme Guardian for those jurisdictions with membership at or below 100 before a vote is taken to revoke the Charter. The Supreme Guardian should also exercise this right with regard to all Grand Guardian Councils having membership below 200. The Executive Supreme Guardian Council is aware that such issues need to be brought to those affected jurisdictions in a timelier manner. This organization belongs to the Daughters, not the Adults, and our Daughters should be allowed to make sound decisions rather than be forced to accept decisions dictated by the Council members. By definition, council means to advise, and that should be the objective of all Adults working in our organization. To quote Vanessa Fowler, “be a guide on the side, not a sage on the stage.” All of us have to be willing to embrace change if doing so will increase membership, make our Order more appealing to prospective members, but more importantly permit the retention of our Members. Changes are difficult to accept, but the emphasis should be on how they impact on our Daughters. Early on I was approached regarding the wearing of the Supreme Bethel medallions. Some Grand Guardian Councils do not permit it, as does my own. After consulting with the Jurisprudence Committee, I advised them that their law prevailed and I would not rule against a Grand Guardian Council By-law. However, I concur with the author of a letter objecting to my decision, that prohibiting our Daughters from wearing officer badges of the Supreme Bethel or Grand Bethel within their own jurisdictions does send the message that this honor is not important. While it may not be important to the Adults, it is important to the Daughters. For this reason, consideration should be given to amending such laws so that the Daughters would be allowed to wear officer medallions with official regalia. Unfortunately, many of us fail to embrace change or accept the fact that our Daughters of today are not the same in thought or actions as those we may have had in Bethel 20 or 30 years ago. We can not impose what the Daughters of today consider as antiquated directives. Perhaps this practice has cost us the continued involvement of those members who joined during the years 1978 and 1994, as was pointed out recently by an adult. As she queried, was the experience at the Bethel level so miserable that they ceased to participate after attaining Majority? Could bickering and undercurrents, as I have witnessed this year, be the basis for these members to believe our Order is not worth supporting as an Adult? The foundation of our Order rests with the Bethel Guardian Council and the examples they set in mentoring and developing our Daughters. Sadly, I have listened as Daughters explained how they were openly treated by Adults in Bethel meetings, misinformed that they could not vote, and other unkind actions taken. Are such practices sending the message we want and encouraging the Daughters to commit to Job’s Daughters? No, they are not. But, they exist, and unless we are willing to set aside petty differences, forgive past transgressions and agree to work together, then we are the problem and not the solution. Such behavior is noted by our Daughters and the last thing I want is for them to develop these same negative traits and project them as Adults. Such behavior on the part of adults is analogous to a cancer that continues to spread and destroy. I implore the Bethel Councils as well as the Grand Guardian Councils to take notice and expunge this disease that poses to be our biggest threat and threatens the demise of our beautiful Order. “The Essence of Initiative—The future doesn’t just happen, it is created…Our destiny is not in the stars, but in ourselves. We may need to follow in the wake of those who have gone before, but what we do and where we go is ultimately up to us. The attitude of initiative is an on-going state of exploration that is never finished…A journey that never ends.” I want all of our Daughters to make the same wish as Ashley Armstrong did in her retiring speech as the Jurisdictional Bethel Honored Queen of Saskatchewan—“So my final wish for all of you is that Job’s Daughters continues…that our numbers grow and Bethels spread. I couldn’t imagine a life without this beautiful Order…I don’t want any of us to miss out on the opportunities I’ve had to experience. So for each of your sakes and the sakes of the future generations, never give up on Job’s Daughters. It has given more back to me than I could have ever asked for. I love it, I love guys, and I wish you all the best in the years to come.” The future growth and prosperity of Job’s Daughters depends on each and every one of us becoming pro-active in our mind set, setting aside our differences, respecting the opinions of others and recalling Ashley’s wish. Our Order does make a difference in the lives of our members. With an open hand, open heart and most importantly, an open mind, may we all be able to work together for them. I love this Order, deeply believe in our principles, and ask you to embrace commitment, communication, and change. My accounting of all travel expenses has been filed with the Finance Committee and Executive Manager. If any wishes to review these expenditures, I have my records and will make them available.
May the road rise to meet
you, Thank you for giving me this wonderful privilege and honor by allowing me to serve this year as Supreme Guardian.
Denise Noonan Published as received |