The Silver Pin of Excellence was introduced in 2001 to encourage a higher standard of ritual in Lodges throughout the Province. It was originally referred as the 'Perfect Ceremony' but it was soon thought that minor tolerance levels should be permitted so that its award would be more of an achievable target.
Some examples of these minor errors would be exchanging “if” for “but” and “the” for “this” provided that the import of phrase was not materially altered.
If a word of a similar meaning was used i.e. “select” instead of “choose” this may not in itself cause a failure but, of course, this could not be allowed to keep recurring. Obviously if a line or sentence of the ritual was omitted or a prompt given this would cause the attempt to fail.
Each attempt needs an Adjudicator, appointed by the Province, to be present to assess the work. In the time that the award has been running eight Brethren have been successful in the Mark degree and six in the Royal Ark Mariner. Three of these Brethren have achieved the “Double”.
Successful Brethren are presented with a Silver Pin, usually by the PGM on a suitable occasion to be worn on the lapel of the jacket. An endorsement is placed in the Ritual Book used for the attempt and is signed by the PGM. A Certificate of Achievement is also presented.
If you are a good ritualist and think you could attain the required standard why not make an attempt? You would need to have a Candidate being brought in to the Degree for the first time. If you are feeling confident enough to try you need to speak to your Lodge Secretary or Scribe in the first instance so the necessary arrangements can be made.
The four Brethren (pictured below) who have so far been successful in both the Mark and RAM Ceremonies are: W. Bros. Kevin Taylor (Temple Lodge No. 322), Danny Firth (Lord Harris Lodge No. 1494), Ian Gallehawk (also Lord Harris Lodge No. 1494) and Kevin Johnson (Westwood Lodge No. 1354).
