Edit: Committee Chairmen May attend as well. Chairmen are asked to have their reports to the Grand Secretary by (preferably before) 15 Oct 2020.
To the Brethren of Alabama,
As we continue to live in the COVID-19 world, your Grand Lodge officers are constantly monitoring the national, state, and local events to ensure we are conforming to the guidelines established by President Trump, Governor Ivey and our local community leadership here in Alabama. There have been many questions concerning our Annual Communication in November and because we have cancelled and/or rescheduled so many Masonic events already this year, I feel that it is important for our Fraternity to have a Grand Lodge Session. However, I also feel very strongly that we cannot just engage in “business as usual” and maintain all of the necessary precautions to ensure the safety and well-being of our Brethren. As such, the general attendance at Grand Lodge this year will be restricted to one member per lodge. This will reduce the expected attendance by several hundred Brethren. Each of the attendees can proxy all four votes for your respective lodges so every lodge will have fair and equal representation at the Session and we will be in full compliance with the Constitution, Resolutions and Edicts of the Grand Lodge. Also, the schedule will be abbreviated to ensure we conduct the required business of our Fraternity and minimize the risk to all. We will not have the Committee on Work Workshop and Divine Service on Sunday afternoon. We will not have the Exemplification of the Work by the Committee on Work and District Lecturers on Monday. We will not have the traditional Hospitality Suite for the attendees. Registration with the Credentials Committee will be from 1:00 pm to 5:00 pm on Monday and 7:00 am to 12:00 noon on Tuesday. The first event will be the Grand Master’s Banquet on Monday evening. The 2020 Grand Lodge Session will begin at 0900 on Tuesday morning. We will be focused on ensuring we make the most productive use of our time together. At this time, we do not plan to have any activities on Wednesday morning. Our intent is to complete all of the business on Tuesday, conduct the elections of the Grand Lodge officers, and have the installation Tuesday evening. The ballroom is large enough to spread everyone out and by limiting the Session to one full day, this will provide the minimum amount of exposure possible.
This will be the 200th Grand Lodge Session of the Most Worshipful Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of Alabama. Brethren, this is most definitely not how I wanted this Annual Communication to occur. We had planned to make this a “Session to Remember” and although it will bear no resemblance to events we had originally prepared, I am confident that none of us will ever forget the 2020 Annual Communication. If you have any questions and/or concerns, please contact me at any time and we will work together to make the best decisions for Masonry in Alabama.
Jon Michael Taylor
Grand Master
