District Deputy Grand Master

Today in Masonic History we discuss District Deputy Grand Masters.

District No. 5 of the Grand Lodge of Vermont is in and around Chittenden County in the state of Vermont.

Today is the annual district meeting of Masonic District No. 5 of the Grand Lodge of Vermont. As the District Deputy Grand Master (DDGM) for that district it seems like a good time to explain the hierarchy of many Grand Jurisdictions. It should be noted that in some Jurisdictions instead of having Districts they have Provinces and the title becomes Provincial Grand Master.

A Jurisdiction is governed by a Most Worshipful Grand Master, since there are far too many lodges for a Grand Master to be able to visit and review each lodge individually, the Jurisdiction is divided into Districts and a District Deputy Grand Master is appointed to over see the lodges in their district. Within these districts are specific number of lodges, in District No. 5 for example there are currently eight lodges. The size of the District or Province geographically will vary from Jurisdiction to Jurisdiction.

What needs to be done to review the lodges will differ from Jurisdiction to Jurisdiction. For example in my home jurisdiction a DDGM is reponsible for ensuring that the ritual work is done properly in the lodges he is reponsible for and for ensuring that the lodges are being properly run according to the rules that govern that Jurisdiction. In other jursidictions parts of the reponsibilities are split out to other individuals. For example there may be an officer in the district whose job is to ensure that the ritual work is done properly while the DDGM makes sure the lodge is following the rules.

Essentially you can think of a Jurisdiction as a franchise, the DDGM goes and makes sure the franchisee, in this case lodges, are doing the things that they are required to by the franchise. This is to ensure that the franchise is protected within the Jurisdiction.

As part of the responsibilities of the DDGM in most Jurisdictions, an annual meeting is held with their District. This gives an opportunity for the members to come and meet the Grand Officers, including the Most Worshipful Grand Master.

The District Meeting for District No. 5 of the Grand Lodge of Vermont is being held at the Green Mountain Masonic Center in Williston, Vermont starting at Noon.