
                     OPERATION TURN AROUND  

                The Conference of Grand Masters 
                of Masons in North America, 1992 

                   Dr. John W. Boettjer, 33 
           Managing Editor, The Scottish Rite Journal 
      1733 Sixteenth Street, NW, Washington, DC 20009-3199 


   "Operation Turn Around" was the motto and the reality of the 
Conference of Grand Masters of Masons in North America, 1992, 
held at the Hyatt Regency Hotel at Crystal City in Arlington, 
Virginia, February 16-18, 1992. At meeting after meeting, more 
than 250 Grand Masters, Deputy Grand Masters, other Masons and 
guests focused on the hard problems facing Freemasonry today 
and, more importantly, on how to overcome them. 

   Four events, in particular, ranked prominently among the 
many highlights of the conference. On February 16, several 
members of the Masonic Renewal Committee of North America 
presented the results of two strategic planning meetings at 
which more than 30 Grand Lodges participated over the past 
year. Designed to develop a "Strategic Blueprint for 
Freemasonry in the Year 2000," the planning conferences focused 
on what it will take to realize a turn around in the Fraternity 
over the next decade. Central to the committee's report was the 
presentation of the group's first "product for renewal," a 
multi-media Membership Development and Management Guide for 
Symbolic Lodges. 

   The kit consists of two videotapes, 100 copies each of three 
print pieces, and a 250-page, 12-module "how-to" manual. The 
first tape, now available, is "I've Heard the Name, What Does 
It Mean?" and features Thomas Hall, a Past Master and veteran 
actor. In just 17 minutes, the videotape introduces the 
interested person and his family to Freemasonry. Acclaimed as 
"one of the finest products of its kind," the videotape 
provides an informal, yet informative and colorful, survey of 
Freemasonry, past and present. A second video entitled 
"Understanding What It Means To Be a Mason" will be available 
by the end of May, and a third "Getting the Most from Your 
Fraternity" will be available in the fall. 

   The focus of the first product is on both prospective and 
new members. Other products of the Masonic Renewal effort will 
be in four areas: Lodge Leadership and Management Development, 
Community and Family Services, Public Awareness, and Masonic 
Education. The complete membership kit includes the first two 
videotapes (one available now, one available at the end of May) 
and can be ordered through the Masonic Service Association 
(8120 Fenton Street, Silver Spring, MD 20910-4785) at $149 plus 
$5 shipping and handling. By fall, a third videotape will be 
available for $49 plus shipping and handling. 

   Although all modules and their support materials are aimed 
at the more than 15,000 Symbolic Lodges in North America, each 
kit is also readily applicable to Scottish Rite, Shrine, and 
nearly all of Freemasonry's Appendant Bodies. The Scottish 
Rite, S.J., now, as in the past, is in full support of the 
Masonic Renewal Committee, and during the Grand Masters 
Conference, Sov Gr Cmdr C. Fred Kleinknecht, 33, was 
pleased to announce the Scottish Rite's commitment of an 
additional financial contribution to this worthy effort. In 
making this announcement, Gr Cmdr Kleinknecht said, "The 
Masonic Renewal Committee will soon have available to us the 
tools to bring Freemasonry into the 21st century as the vital 
and dynamic force for good we all know in our hearts it should 
be. Now let us become the workmen to bring about this renewal 
of our Fraternity!" 

   Later in the day, after the Committee's report, a second 
significant conference took place. Since so many Sovereign 
Grand Inspectors General, Deputies of The Supreme Council, and 
other Scottish Rite leaders were present, Grand Commander 
Kleinknecht took advantage of the opportunity to hold a late 
afternoon conference. Over twenty Actives and Deputies were 
able to hear the Grand Commander's report on matters of current 
interest and to share their views with him and  Ill W. Gene 
Sizemore, 33, GC, Grand Executive Director, on several 
topics. 

   A third significant event came on the following day, 
February 17, when the attending Grand Masters of North America 
unanimously passed a Resolution supporting the emerging Grand 
Lodges of Eastern Europe. See page 34 of this issue, "Grand 
Lodges Support East European Brethren," for additional details. 
The Scottish Rite, S.J., has been early and unwavering in its 
support of Grand Lodge and Scottish Rite Freemasonry among the 
Brethren of these emerging nations and welcomes this Grand 
Lodge Resolution as part of a global and cooperative effort to 
restore Freemasonry in these newly liberated countries. 

   Among the many other significant conference events, a fourth 
highlight of special interest was a presentation on February 17 
by Imperial Sir John W. Dean, 33, Imperial Potentate of the 
Shrine. His address focused on personal egotism, especially how 
it can benefit Freemasonry while, at the same time, being our 
Fraternity's greatest danger. The complete text of Imperial Sir 
Dean's stirring address "Masonic Ego: A Positive Or Negative 
Force?" is presented in this issue starting on page 6. 

   Overall, the 1992 Conference of Grand Masters of Masons 
presented a compelling vision of the needs and goals of our 
Fraternity on the threshold of the 21st century. Freemasonry in 
America will truly experience, as the theme of the conference 
suggests, an "operation turn around" if we respond in our 
hearts and with our hands to this call. 

