Mission & Vision of the Grand Lodge
Mission:
The Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Hawaii’s mission is to build a culture of support, unity and diversity. To inspire opportunities to grow our membership through support to our communities.
Vision:
My vision for our Grand Lodge starts with confidence and competent Brothers and Sisters. First through training, discussions and feedback. Every member of this jurisdiction will understand the micro and macro policies and procedures of our great fraternity. This will arm them with the tools to better live and teach the principles of our timed honored institution. It is my intent to establish a detailed list of duties for our Grand Lodge Officers, ending the confusion on responsibilities and provide a clear direction for success in each office.
Membership must remain on the top of list of priorities. Programs like retain, reclaim and recruit membership must continue. We have to do more to retain our current members. The need to reclaim those that have been dropped from our rolls needs to be a priority. Lastly, our demographics here in Hawai’i forces us to constantly recruit new members. As a Master of the Lodge, you must first make Masons or your lodge will dwindle away. We must put our minds together to improve our concepts on recruiting. I will introduce an additional program to reclaim those that have been lost due to non-payment of dues. It is my intent to establish a holding lodge for the jurisdiction, with the sole purpose of reclaiming membership.
I will also work to improve our footprint within the mainland to build better fraternal relationships and networking with all Prince Hall Grand Lodges in the contiguous states. It is my intent to establish a DDGM at Large, with the sole purpose of visiting other Grand Communications abroad and providing feedback to our jurisdiction, by way of a written report annually. This will not only build a partnership with those Grand Lodges, but also provide a point of contact for members of those jurisdictions when traveling to the Hawai’i.
I believe that we have not fully taken advantage of today’s technology within our Grand Lodge. I propose that we begin to consider ways and techniques to improve all areas of administration within the jurisdiction. This will include, but is not limited to electronic forms and reports, electronic election procedures, banking and leveraging video communications for committee meetings, lodge meetings and annual the communication. The intend is to include our off-island members in the participation of the works of our jurisdiction. I believe that these avenues of communication and technology will also help us with retaining our membership after they depart the jurisdiction. Some of these changes will require us to update our Constitution and By-Laws, where some changes may alter procedures that we have come to know and enjoy. Nevertheless, change doesn’t always come with a smooth transition, success takes hard work and dedication.
The days of an open election process have caused more problems for our jurisdiction than one should have endured in our short 19 years of existence. It is time to relook our election process; everything from qualification and prerequisites for office to the amount of time one should serve in an office. I challenge the members of our jurisdiction to put your thoughts on this subject in the form of a “Resolution.” Provide that resolution to your lodge for discussion and maybe even acceptance. If you found your resolution to be a good and sound idea, and if approved by your lodge, the Master of the Lodge will endorse the resolution and forward it to the Grand Lodge within 45 days of our next annual communication for consideration in our Constitution and By-Laws.
On the subject of Ways and Means, I propose that we look into additional avenues for funds within the Grand Lodge, as well as programs to increase our Building Fund’s income on a permanent basis. Many have said that an Edifice is a priority, yet we have never placed the importance on saving for this structure.
Again, it is my esteem honor and pleasure to “Serve” as your 8th Most Worshipful Grand Master and I would like to thank you for the trust that you’ve placed in my abilities to lead this great jurisdiction.
