INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS COMMITTEE
In the United States we have a tendency to think that Masonic bodies in other countries operate similar to or in the same fashion as we do. Nothing can be further from reality. For example, the Sovereign Grand Master of many other Grand Jurisdictions serve in that capacity for numerous years and when a change occurs the Deputy Grand Master seldom advances to the chair of Grand Master.
For the past Ten years numerous AMD Grand Officers to include sitting Sovereign Grand Masters have visited other Grand Councils of AMD in an attempt to strengthen relations between the various Grand Councils and gain complete recognition of the AMD system practiced in the United States. These efforts have produced very limited results due to the fact that our Grand Council had different leadership leading the negotiations each year. Also, negotiations on a given topic could not be completed in one year. As a result negotiations have to start from the beginning each year.
In 2007 negotiations with England on the Order of Secret Monitor were completed after five years and passed unanimously at our 2008 Grand Session. The Concordat then had to lay over until November 2008 when the Grand Conclave of the Order of Secret Monitor met in Birmingham, England. Our newly installed Sovereign Grand Master Kenneth B. Fischer chose to use the team that negotiated the Concordat to complete the process in 2008. This resulted in the Concordat being passed unanimously by the Grand Conclave of the Order of the Secret Monitor of England.
Noting the success of the strategy employed by his predecessor, this past February, our Most Venerable Sovereign Grand Master William R. Logan appointed an International Relations Committee consisting of several of the individuals who successfully negotiated the Concordat with England. The committee members have been instructed to pursue complete and full recognition with the Red Branch of Eri of England, which is set up as a separate independent body in England. In May of this year the committee negotiated an oral agreement with the Red Branch of Eri of England to allow limited visitation between
the two bodies. In September of 2009 David L. Hargett, Jr. will be in England and has been extended an invitation to attend England's Red Branch of Eri meeting. This will constitute the first time an American has been allowed to visit.
In addition to the efforts in England, the committee is pursuing full recognition with the Grand Conclave of the Order of the Secret Monitor of Canada. It is noted that England is the mother Grand Council to many of the Grand Councils of AMD in the world. Once complete recognition has been granted by England other Grand Councils will find recognition of the United States system the proper Masonic action.
Consistently having one team consisting of the same people representing our Grand Council year after year has not only produced the desired results in a short period of time, but has opened many doors that were previously thought to be reserved for future generations.
