1.
The Executive Committée and The Board of Grand Sires met in Copenhagen November 14th-15th. Short reports from the Jurisdictions were presented. Denmark had their Grand Lodge meeting in October where Erling Stenholdt Poulsen was reelected as Grand Sire for another 4 years.
The Finnish Rebekah Assembly had their meeting in November and Monika Aspelin was elected as the new President. European Grand Secretary Anne Hannus is now Past Rebekah Assembly President. In Netherlands / Belgium Grand Sire Arja van der Tuijn and Dep. Grand Sire Daan van Dijk have been reelected for two more years. Member figures were discussed and in most jurisdictions a small recovery is seen. In Norway the Odd Fellow House in Oslo is under total renovation and the inauguration will be in August 2025. For the first time a hall mainly for Encampments meeting is constructed.
2.
The International Advisory Board and the Sovereign Grand Lodge meeting took place in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania August 15th -22nd. The GLE Grand Sire Morten Buan and the Danish Grand Sire Erling Stenholdt Poulsen attended the meetings. The main focus was on expansion and development of the Odd Fellowship worldwide. Another focus was on recruitment. The total member numbers in the US and Canada togehther is estimated to 30.000.
New SGM for 2024-2025 is Gerald Workman from West Virginia. The next SGL meeting will take place in CharlestonWest Virginia August 15th-21st 2025.
3.
The European Youth Tour 2024 took place July the 19th to the 27th. The first 4 days were spent in Iceland under the host of the Icelandic Grand Lodge / Local Encampments and then they went to New York where they visited the Swiss and Norwegian Missions to UN, the Norwegian Seaman Church and the UN headquarter. There was time for a Broadway Show (Harry Potter) and visit to the 9/11 memorial and the statue of Liberty.
The number of participants were 33 students and 6 tourleaders.
4.
At the Youth Conference in the Netherlands November 15th-16th the Tour for 2025 was planned. The Tour will take place July 18th to 26th and with most of the same arrangements as in 2024.
5.
The Ukraine Helping It is as intense as before. The Grand Lodge of Poland effectively manages a special fund to help Ukraine. From this fund, three directions of assistance are financed: material assistance, financial support and care for refugees. There is a dynamic support group in Poland, which is in constant contact with our Ukrainian Brothers. This group is still dedicated to receiving real needs from the brothers and meeting them in a targeted manner.
6.
The GLE Legal Committee has got the task to look through the Constitution and the result will hopefully be a draft to dicuss during 2025. The language and the way to present the chapters and paragraphs need to be modernised and more easy to understand.
7.
Travel passwords and member statistics.
The travel password for the Odd Fellow lodges and encampments and the one for the Rebecka Lodges and Encampents will soon be distributed to the Jurisdictions from the GLE who receives them from the SGL. There will also be a password for visiting OF of UK.
Upcoming meetings
2025 January 31st- February 1st. The postponed Jubilées in Wroclaw,
February 15th-16th Grand Lodge meeting in Finland
May 9th-10th Grand Lodge meeting in Iceland
2026 June 5th-6th GLE Annual meeting in Sweden
With fraternal and sisterly greetings in
Friendship Love Truth
Morten Buan Anne Hannus
European Grand Sire European Grand Secretary