Talk:Past Master (Masonic)

clarify this
Perhaps someone can clarify this -

"In addition, Lodges commonly appoint Past Masters to certain offices or functions: for example, it is practically essential for a Director of Ceremonies to be qualified as a Past Master, or he could not attend all the ceremonies; and a Lodge's by-laws often require a proportion of the committee members to be Past Masters."

Is a Director of Ceremonies the same as a Master of Ceremonies? As it stands in New Jersey, there is no Director of Ceremonies in the lodge. And many times a new member is installed as Master of Ceremonies so as to get him invovled with the workings of the lodge. As for attending, the only thing a master mason who is a non-past master cannot see is the qualification of a new master. Hugo Zorilla 09:38, 28 September 2006 (UTC)


 * Not it's not the same, the DC has to know the ritual and rubric and mantains standards of ritual work. He'll generally conduct rehearsals and identify substitutes is office bearers aren't available.
 * In general, under UGLE at least, newer members will be invested as Stewards and will be alloted part of the ritual work such as the tools to get them on the floor. In Scotland there are a whole host of junior offices which allow opportunities for chunks of floor work; jeweller, director of music, bible bearer etc.
 * The DC is heavily involved in the installation ceremony, and is still responsible for the standard of the inner workings and then management of the EA, FC and MM returning to the temple after the inner workings. That means he has to be a PM, since otherwise he won't be in possession of the WMs signs, token and word.ALR 09:47, 28 September 2006 (UTC)


 * Ahh, ok, thanks for clearing that up for me. As you know, different juristictions have different officers and even different officers. Masonry is a learning experience. Hugo Zorilla 23:10, 28 September 2006 (UTC)
 * I think this corresponds to a Ritualist in some respects, and a Marshal in others. I will discuss this with ALR to try ot work out the jurisdictional differences. MSJapan 00:57, 15 November 2006 (UTC)