I, like all, exited Christmas 2019 blissfully unaware of what was coming around the corner and started 2020 with the usual enthusiasm becoming of a New Year and what it held in store which included the usual round of Masonic events which were already mapped out.
During January through March however we were all being advised via the National News outlets of trouble brewing in China and the possibility of a ‘Flu-Like’ virus escaping from China affecting the rest of the world.
By March this threat had become a reality and a serious Pandemic was now at large causing Governments to impose major restrictions on movements and the way in which we were all forced to carry out our normal daily lives in an attempt to supress what was fast becoming a Killer virus right across the world.
At this same time arrangements were nearing completion for holding our Lodge March Masonic Installation Meeting and some forty plus were due to attend a combined Installation and Initiation Meeting, something that to my knowledge our Lodge at Heritage had not attempted before.
On the 17 th March 2020 however, these arrangements were instantly cut short when His Royal Highness, The Duke of Kent announced that Freemasonry was to be put in to ‘Suspension’ for a period of four Months with immediate effect.
I personally had also started a new job on 16 th March 2020 and again due to the restrictions and rules laid down by our Government found myself working from home and then ‘Furloughed’ for a short time returning to my normal workplace luckily by the beginning of June as certain restrictions were lifted allowing the Building Industry to slowly return to work first.
Masonically however we were ‘Dead in The Water’ and awaiting the end of the four Month ‘Suspension’ period before any meetings could even begin to take place.
During this period, we bided our time as a Lodge by holding several ‘Virtual’ or on-line informal meetings using ‘Zoom’ as our chosen method of media. These Virtual type meetings had limited ability to practice Freemasonry but at least kept everybody in touch whilst we were unable to meet on the ground.
In my role as Lodge Secretary the task in hand over this period was to receive information from both UGLE and Province and pass it on to the Brethren at the same time as ensuring that everyone was safe and in contact where possible. To this end I signed off each email and communication with the slogan, ‘Stay Safe and Stay in Touch’ as a reminder to everyone for the need to keep a dialogue going during these strange and difficult times.
I am sure however by the time we reached ‘Zoom’ meeting no. 8 in August 2020 the Brethren were all once again tired of my voice although they did express their thanks for my efforts in keeping them all up to date as best I could through the various media channels available to me during this period.
In general, all the Secretaries at this time were commended for the good work being undertaken across the whole Masonic spectrum as well as lots of individual Lodges who were contributing time and money to the Covid-19 relief efforts. Even the National Press praised our combined efforts as an organisation, an acknowledgement not normally freely forthcoming during normal times.
In August some four weeks after the initial ‘suspension’ was lifted on 17 th July 2020 it appeared that slowly we could return to Masonic activities albeit heavily caveated to ensure that we all proceeded with caution and in line with the Government’s ‘Social Distancing’ rules that were still in place.
This short-lived anticipation was once again brutally cut short when on 16 th September 2020 further Government restrictions limited meetings indoors to no more than six people in an attempt to slow down a new and second peak in Covid-19 cases being reported both Nationally and Globally.
The initial easing of certain social meeting rules and some localised disregard of any ‘Social Distancing’ advice had now resulted in further action needed to stem the tide of a new outbreak. This time however it was largely amongst the younger generation who somehow still did not seem to understand the seriousness of the need to comply with what they were being told!
Universities for example were allowed to return under the same ‘Social Distancing’ rules in place but students still felt the need to carry on in ‘Fresher Week’ as if there was nothing different from normal years. The result was a widescale increase in Covid-19 cases amongst students at certain University campuses in turn endangering the wider community who had been and still were, complying with the rules.
It was therefore with a heavy heart that in September I had to pass on the advice from UGLE to the Lodge members that we now needed to comply with the new ‘Rule of Six’ which we all agreed once again put us in to a form of ‘unofficial’ type suspension which in turn limited our ability to hold a normal regular meeting in October and most likely November on this basis. This combined with the fact that our normal meeting place at Oakley House, Bromley was un-able to re-open due to Covid- 19 restrictions, we were back to square one!
At the time of drafting (26 th September 2020) we are now more uncertain of the future than we were when the initial ‘Suspension’ was put in place back in March and I will pen a further update to this recorded article at some future date when I can hopefully advise of better times which I have no doubt will come but as the ritual book neatly states in one of its well know passages …’ and none of us know but when!’.
To be continued!..
Tony Saunders