After the Master, the two senior Officers in any Lodge are the Wardens.  Their job is to assist the Master in the running of the meetings and both have major parts to play during ceremonies.

If the Master, for whatever reason, is unable to carry out his duties, the Senior Warden carries the responsibility of Summoning the Lodge, but the work of the Master within the Lodge during meetings is carried out by a Past Master, usually the IPM.

The Wardens are also part of the management committee, and help shape the future of the Lodge.

The Senior Warden is ‘Deputy’ to the Master of the Lodge and is responsible for closing the Lodge at the end of the meeting.

As the next role after Senior Warden is Master of the Lodge, the Senior Warden will aim to prepare as much as possible for his forthcoming role.

The role of Junior Warden within the Lodge is an important one, and demands that he protects his fellow Masons from compromising themselves inadvertently. He therefore has to ensure that only Freemasons are within the Lodge before a meeting commences and that only Freemasons who are qualified to view a particular ceremony are present.

In Freemasonry, as with most organisations, the Ceremony which introduces a new member is the one we prize above all others.  As the final act of the Initiation ceremony, it is the Junior Warden’s role to recite a charge to the Initiate which highlights the true values of Freemasonry and exhorts him to become a better person in all aspects of life.