To serve as a Scottish Rite General Secretary
is a priceless
honor and an extraordinary ministry.
Recently,
at a Scottish Rite Club meeting held some distance from the
Valley of Austin's central office, a relatively uninvolved member
commented to his General Secretary that it would be nice "to
have your job! You can come and go as you please, sit around,
visit with the Brethren, and have coffee all day." The
Secretary smiled, then invited the good Brother to spend a day
with him-any day. While walking away from the brief encounter,
the Secretary shook his head, wondering how many of his members
have similar impressions of the duties of a Scottish Rite General
Secretary. Don't they know that the job is its own special category
of ministry?
It is true that many Brethren visit the Temple office to conduct
Masonic business and sit with the Secretary over a cup of coffee.
Just as frequently, the visiting Brother admits that "he's
just killing a little time" while his wife is attending
a meeting elsewhere or shopping. As likely as not, there will
be an overlapping of Brethren "just visiting." The
Secretary is generous with his time in most instances welcoming
each drop-in with sincere fraternal affection. Between the visits
and endless phone calls, however, he scrambles to do the work
of the Scottish Rite Bodies in an attempt to get it done before
closing the office at the end of the day and shuffling off to
a Lodge meeting (to "show the flag") somewhere that
evening. His weekends are almost always preempted Masonically.
For the record, your General Secretary is quite often the strength
of your Valley. He writes its history, tends to the Valley's
ever-present mundane administrative matters, serves as a gentle
advisor, a confidant, a diplomat, and "ministers"
to his sick and weak. All the while he acts as the Valley's
non-profit corporate Executive Director ensuring that the Fraternity
remains financially solvent and operates within the budgets
established by the governing Bodies. In so many ways, he is
the point of the Masonic Compasses, the "go-to-guy"
for information and direction. Equally important, he coordinates
Masonic charity with the Almoner, bringing hope and relief to
individuals and the community at a time when it is most needed.
He is the eyes and ears of the Order, its keeper of the official
seals, its proctor and procurer. He is a man who understands
the meaning of and practices altruism, favoring emotional rewards
over monetary. His training and preparation for the office are
varied. In a previous vocation, he could have been a banker,
sales executive, retired military man, teacher, contractor,
manufacturing executive, lawyer, oil field worker, or (as in
the case of this writer) a busted-thumb stagehand. One fact
is certain, no matter the background, he is a Master Mason dedicated
to the service of the Masonic Fraternity, the community he lives
in, and his eternal Maker. To serve as a Scottish Rite General
Secretary is a priceless honor and an extraordinary ministry,
a ministry that includes the bottomless cup of coffee. Get to
know him!
|
Gordon W.
Kelso holds a BFA from the University of Texas-Austin
and is a licensed broadcast engineer. His career began as
a television director but quickly shifted into legitimate
theatre as a production sound designer for the Los Angeles/San
Francisco Civic Light Opera Companies, Disney, New York
Shakespeare Festival, Royal Shakespeare Company, and Kennedy
Center Productions. He has worked with, among others, Joshua
Logan, Gower Champion, Bette Davis, Debbie Reynolds, and
Yul Brynner. Returning to Austin in 1977, he opened the
University of Texas Erwin Center, taking an early retirement
in 1989 to become the General Secretary, Valley of Austin
(home of Austin's oldest theatre, 1869). Ill. Kelso is Past
Master of an original (1839) Republic of Texas Lodge (Austin
No. 12) and a member of virtually everything Masonic. He
served as Grand Chaplain in 1999 and currently serves as
Senior Warden of the Texas Lodge of Research and Chairman
of the Grand Lodge's Public Relations Committee. A former
Marine Corps photo-journalist, Ill. Kelso is a patented
inventor, married to a costume designer, and father of a
struggling actress recently graduated from Saint Louis'
Webster University. |
