The Unspoken Degree Team was formed with the intent of providing opportunities for lesser experienced masons who show capability with masonic ritual. Ordinarily, newer mason officers would have the chance to perform a degree only once or twice in any officer position before being promoted to the next position within the ascending line. For those officers who work very hard to perfect their memorization and presentation of ritual for a particular position, this can sometimes feel like a waste of effort. The Unspoken Degree Team offers an outlet for those talented officers who wish to demonstrate their skill in the company of similarly capable, talented and committed masons. Additionally, newer masons who have become Past Masters early in their Masonic careers are most welcome to qualify in the positions they like the most, ensuring that the effort to memorize, maintain, and present ritual is a joy, and not a burden.
This team was formed also to provide an excellent demonstration of ritual and floor work to any Massachusetts jurisdiction lodge that may wish to utilize them. This is not just for lodges that lack an experienced or full officer line. On the contrary, the Unspoken Degree team would be pleased to assist lodges that have 'the best problem' of having many candidates to advance within the degrees at the same time. Additionally, any Worshipful Master looking for 'something new and fresh' within their already excellent degree nights would be well served by engaging this team. Your officers will get a most deserved 'evening off' on the sidelines, while sacrificing none of the quality of work your lodge has come to expect.
What's in a Name?
"So why are you called the Unspoken Degree Team? Don't you speak to do ritual?" The name of the team comes from the requirement that all members take upon themselves the 'Unspoken Obligation'. The exact nature of this obligation is known only to the members of the team, but it emphasizes the importance of excellent and passionate ritual in the process of making new Masons. The officers in any regular lodge who participate in degree work are subject to this Unspoken Obligation, but members of the team have made it a point to speak that Obligation aloud, and thereby explicitly commit themselves to the effort demanded.