Is the Tiler Among The Officers Required To Open A Lodge?

Yes.

From the standpoint to the Ritual, a Tiler is required to open a Lodge. Indeed, every officer to whom a portion of the Work has been allocated is required to perform the Rituals of Opening. In the most dire of emergencies there are a few possibilities for “doubling up” roles, but the Tiler is not among them. Understandably, a Lodge that is not able to retain a professional Tiler or appoint one from whiting the membership may have difficulty finding a Brother willing to sit outside the outer door for the entirety of a meeting, thus missing all the programming. In such a circumstance some Masters instruct the Tiler to “tile through the open door”—meaning that the Junior Deacon leaves the outer door partly open during moments when no Ritual is being performed so the Tiler can view the work of the evening, and if anyone approaches, the Tiler can quickly shut the door to perform his duties. This is not an ideal solution and should by no means become a permanent one, but as Past Grand Lecturer Cal Bond was fond of saying, sometimes you have to “use common sense.”