Freemasonry is a post-collegiate mostly-all male fraternity dedicated to the social development of the member to form a broader sense of the self and their community.
If you are reading this you are going to think that this is a little far removed from Freemasonry. You may even think that it violates the principle of discussing religion inside Freemasonry. But you would be wrong.
The prohibition in most jurisdictions is against allowing sectarian religion and partisan politics into the Lodge room.
So if I am proselytizing for a religion or denomination within a religion and/or a political party then I am in violation. But if I want to talk about honesty in government or the power of prayer, well I think that is a different story.
Early American Freemasonry was the nation’s biggest booster of the public school system. Are you prepared to tell me that advocating government schools is a violation of the Masonic prohibition about political discussion?
I think that this point is so very, very important because I think that Freemasonry has missed two giant opportunities to teach and help the world, especially America. First Freemasonry could have been the leader in promoting race relations. In 1898 MW William Upton, Grand Master of Mainstream Masonry in the state of Washington recognized Prince Hall. What if that recognition had spread then and there throughout Freemasonry? What if the Craft was able to influence secular government to harmonize the races? Would Martin Luther King’s protest movement have been necessary?
Instead Freemasonry ran from its responsibility for a variety of reasons among them being its timidness towards mixing the secular world and its doings with the fraternity of Freemasonry and its world. So in reality what it ended up doing as a compromise was similar to what the states did before the Civil War – free states and slave states.
Secondly Freemasonry missed its opportunity at promoting World Peace. Our beloved fraternity is one that considers all its members on the level, that is equal regardless of race, religion, political persuasion, creed, culture or economic circumstances. Now what is wrong with promoting that to humankind?
Ultimately Freemasonry must decide whether it is a cloistered society or a community involved society, whether it is a secret or private society or one that is willing to share its philosophy with the public.
While you are thinking about that enjoy the video about science and spirituality. Just don’t tell me it’s a prohibitive sectarian religious discussion.
Brother Wayne Anderson of Canada publishes a Masonic newsletter that he sends out to subscribers every Sunday. The newsletter consists of a paper or lecture often times delivered or published many years ago. But as we all know there is a lot about Freemasonry that is timeless. If you would like to receive this newsletter just get in contact with Brother Anderson at wda_572@sympatico.ca and he will make you a subscriber. Today’s paper is “He Was A Mason.”
He Was a Mason
by Roger M. Firestone, 32 KCCH
This article appeared in the June 1996 issue of The Scottish Rite Journal, published by The Supreme Council, 33°, Southern Jurisdiction, of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite.
It happens nearly every day in the major newspapers of our cities. A prominent citizen’s obituary appears with a substantial headline. The writer begins with the most recent details age, cause of death, current residence. There follow several paragraphs recounting the eminent man’s life. He was president of his country club, he headed this or that charity drive, he was an executive of these corporations, he attended such and such a college and high school, he was on the board of trustees of his religious congregation, and so on, often for a substantial number of column inches. Finally, towards the end of the obituary, just before the funeral arrangements are specified and the survivors listed, we find the brief sentence, “He was a Mason.”
Curious, isn’t it? Although the remaining details of his career were copiously enumerated, his Masonic activities are summarized in one sentence. Perhaps he was Master of his Lodge, serving “in line” for as long as eight years to reach that station. It could be that he gave his time instead as presiding officer in one of the several York or Scottish Rite bodies. Maybe he took a number of parts in the many degrees of the two Rites. Or perhaps he was one of those who had less skill in memorization but took other responsibilities: for costumes or dining services or Masonic blood programs, even receiving an honorary distinction from the Scottish Rite for many years of such faithful “behind-the-scenes” service. Possibly he was active with one or more youth groups under Masonic sponsorship, giving up his football game-watching on weekends with the other guys to raise funds at car washes or driving cars full of teenagers to annual meetings in distant parts of the state. He might have been a superior fund-raiser for the Shriners’ children’s hospitals, or even represented the Lodge in local civic activities, such as parades for patriotic holidays. Yet none of these is mentioned by the newspaper writer, who was given as much space as seemed necessary to outline other aspects of the career of a distinguished man.
Of course, we might suppose that it is the editor’s decision that Masonic activities are not of interest to the general public, being that they are the doings of a secretive and selective body. It is not obvious how that position might be reconciled with mention of the man’s country-club presidency, which is probably pleased to have an exclusive membership, or his church activities, relevant only to members of the same denomination, or even his rise to prominence in a business corporation, whose internal doings are often cloaked in secrecy as deep as that of any Masonic body. When Masons constitute more than one percent of the adult male population, and almost certainly a larger percentage of those who actually read something besides the sports pages in the newspaper, the reasoning behind such an editor’s position may be strained.
It is more likely that lack of knowledge about the role that Masonry plays in our society contributes to the brief treatment Masonic activities received in the obituary. Other than the Shriners’ Hospitals, few Masonic charities receive any kind of regular mention in the press. And even those Hospitals are still thought of by much of the public as being for crippled children, often overlooking their more recent important role in the treatment of and research into serious burn injuries. Scottish Rite aphasia work, Royal Arch Research Assistance, Masonic cancer hospitals–all find the most infrequent acknowledgement of their contributions to society. The same is true of Masonic service projects, even on a local scale. Did Masons help organize the local Independence Day celebration or aid in cleaning up some poorly-maintained parkland in your town? How would anyone know, if you don’t tell them? When writing a monthly Lodge bulletin is a burden, there is even less likelihood that a newspaper press release is going to be prepared by the secretary, junior warden, or whomever. Perhaps the obituary writer never even had the information about the man’s Masonic career because his family didn’t know it was important, or his Lodge failed to provide the details.
We should not be surprised that a man’s Masonic career is little noted in the memorial of his passing. This is nothing new in Masonic history, after all. According to our traditions, it was at the very founding of our order that a great Masonic architect was rudely interred without proper recognition of his contributions to the Fraternity. In later history, it was often to be that Masons would suffer punishment or even martyrdom for their membership in and contributions to the Craft and to the principles of freedom. Against such a background, mere indifference could even be considered to be an improvement. Yet how much better off might our world be if the contributions of Masons and Masonry were more widely recognized and encouraged? How many more young men might be set on the course of self-improvement through Masonic membership if the examples of great men as Masons were better known? For the past two centuries of American history, a nearly-constant one-third of the leaders of our country, beginning with the signers of the Declaration of Independence and including all three branches of the government, have been Masons. This is a far higher proportion than in the population as a whole. Did Masonry provide these men with the inspiration and training to achieve leadership roles in the country? Did Masonic principles guide their thinking when tough decisions had to be made? For presidents such as George Washington and Harry Truman, the answers can only be “yes.” Of others–those in Congress and the judiciary–we know much less. These are stories that must be told to the rest of the world, not just among ourselves. “He was a Mason” appearing in an obituary is too little evidence to inspire the uninitiated to seek Masonic light.
However, there is one sense in which we may take pride in the way such an obituary is written. When “He was a Mason” appears at the end of the article, it serves as what the accountants call “the bottom line,” a phrase that refers to the number indicating whether an enterprise has showed a profit or a loss. To those who measure things by numbers, everything above the bottom line is simply a detail, one element of many that go to make up the big picture as represented by the final total. Seen in this light, the many contributions the deceased man made to society are parts of a totality. They do not stand alone, independent and unrelated to one another. Each gift this man made to his family, his fellows, and his country were components of that whole summarized in the final words, “He was a Mason.”
Masonic honors and titles are of limited value anyway. They mean much among brothers and companions, somewhat less among family and friends, and little indeed to the non-Masonic world. But if each of us resolves to live according to the principles we embraced when we became members of this ancient and honorable institution, we should be pleased to reflect that there is no higher honor to come to us when our lives are complete than that they should be summed up by that simple but profound phrase, “He was a Mason.”
The Grand Lodge of New Jersey is at it again. This time it has suspended well respected PDDGM Dennis R. Winter for correcting and disagreeing with Grand Lodge – essentially nothing. And at the same time it has refused to grant him a Masonic trial.
This has become a common tactic of Napoleonic Grand Masters as they use a loophole of suspending indefinitely, perhaps forever, without expelling thereby not being able to be accused of arbitrarily ruining a Mason’s Masonic life.
You might remember that we have been this road before with Mike McCabe who was railroaded out of the Craft in New Jersey for essentially the unMasonic conduct of opening his mouth.
New Jersey has a long history of tight fisted out of control Masonic government.
The bone of contention is once again as it was with McCabe, Landmark #3 which states:
“The Grand Master…may suspend, at his pleasure, the operation of any rule or regulation of Masonry not a ‘landmark’…suspend the installed officers of any Lodge, and reinstate them at his pleasure, and is not answerable for his acts as Grand Master.”
In other words the Grand Master can do as he dam well pleases. There is no limit to his power for this Landmark can overrule every other Landmark in the New Jersey Constitution. It’s a SUPER Landmark. In fact all that is really necessary for New Jersey Mainstream Freemasonry is to just have this one Landmark as it voids all the others anyway.
Furthermore as we exposed 3 years ago in the Mike McCabe story, the New Jersey Landmarks were never voted on by the body of the Craft in Grand Session as required by the New Jersey Constitution. They were never officially approved but merely inserted into the Constitution by taking an end run around the proper procedures of the Grand Lodge as so stipulated in its Constitution. And the powers to be today will never submit the Landmarks to the New Jersey Craft as a whole for approval because they know they would not pass with Landmark #3 in them. So these Landmarks are illegal, the Grand Master’s rulings are illegal and the suspension of Winter is illegal.
Yet the question that needs to be asked is a statement of all power to the Grand Master without limitations really a Landmark? This is what we will explore further but first let’s hear Winter’s story in his own words.
I was summoned to the Grand Lodge Fellowship Center on August 28, 2013 to meet with the Grand Master for allegedly “Having issues with the Grand Lodge on the way the Grand Lodge was being run.”
Rather than sitting down as men and as Masons to discuss the issues, the meeting was more of a Police interrogation. (Note: the Grand Master is a retired Police Sergeant from the now disbanded Camden Police Department).
The entire Elected Line was there and I was informed that my conversation was being recorded and I informed the Grand Master that his conversation was being recorded as well. He did not like that.
My issues with the Grand Lodge were 1) I found out that the ads in the Freemason Magazine were Not being paid for; 2) I called the Editor of our privately paid magazine which had an ad in (by Reverend Frank) advertizing Marriages, Civil Unions, and renewal of vows. I took issue with the fact that it looked like we, as Masons were promoting Civil Unions and I do not believe that as Masons, who are taught that the “Holy Bible the Inestimable gift of God to man is given to us as the Rule and Guide for our faith and Practice, and in that Book it states that marriage is between a man and a woman, that we should not have such an ad in our magazine; 3) I found out that a District Deputy Grand Master in one of our Districts tried to qualify a Senior Warden, who had not been elected Master. I called the Grand Instructor and told him what this District Deputy tried to do and he told me that he would talk to the Grand Master about this problem; and 4) I called the Grand Lodge to inform the Grand Secretary that a piece of Legislation that was passed at Grand Lodge was listed incorrectly in the Freemason and since I knew that the Grand Lodge was updating the Constitution, I wanted to make sure that the wording would be correct.
The Grand Master told me that I “berated” the Editor of the Freemason for a half an hour. That never did happen. We talked about the issues that concerned me. The Grand Master told me that I should know, as a Past District Deputy Grand Master that any Volume of Sacred Law can be on the Alter. I do know that. And I also know that No recognized volume of Sacred Law condones civil unions or gay marriage. He told me that I should know the chain of command, that the Freemason Magazine is the Grand Master’s magazine and if I had an issue 1 should have called him. (I thought, #1 that the Freemason was “OUR” magazine and if someone has a problem with what is published, that they should talk to the Editor of that paper or magazine.) Note: I did apologize to Grand Master if he thought I did not go through the correct chain of command … He then told me that I should not interfere with another District or District Deputy Grand Master. I told him that my concern was with the entire fraternity and what was being done in this fraternity is being done properly.
After the interrogation was over, the Grand Master told me that “You can go home now”.
On September 20, after just getting home from giving the Funeral oration for a departed brother of my Lodge(Note: 1 also did a Funeral Oration for another Lodge on the morning of the day that one was to appear for the summons), 1 received a phone call from a brother Mason asking what was going on .. I asked him what he was talking about and he told me that he was just informed that the Grand Master had suspended me. 1 was not officially informed until I received the letter from the Grand Master on September 23,2013. (Emails went out to the Elected Line, Past Grand Masters, all Lodge Secretaries, District Deputy Grand Masters and appendant and coordinate bodies before I was informed of my suspension).
He did this by suspending any By-Law, rule or regulation relating to Title Four, Article XI, and Trial of Charges by (Printed Landmark #3) In addition the wording in this so-called “Landmark” cannot be justified from Mackey’s list of 25 Landmarks or any other adopted Landmarks recognized in this country or by the Grand Lodge of England. To this date I have been suspended even though the preferment and determination of charges has not been made and the Grand Master has not allowed me to have a Trial, even though I have asked for one …
Also take notice that the Grand Lodge of New Jersey has not adopted any Landmarks … Some Grand Masters in New Jersey have used this (Landmark) even though it has not been adopted by our Grand Lodge.
This is evident by the 1903 Grand Lodge proceedings and the Wallis Report of Masonic Jurisprudence and also the Past Grand Secretary’s remarks in The Masonic Service Association’s pamphlet on “Landmarks” which states “Our records from 1903 show that the report of the Committee was received and adopted, but nothing in the report recommends the adoption of the ten “Landmarks”. We have adhered to them even though there was no official acceptance by the Grand Lodge”.
The Grand Lodge Constitution of New Jersey clearly states in Title Four, Part 5. Legal Rulings “Opinions of the Grand Master, in the interpretation of Masonic Law or Landmarks, become established decrees and permanent rules of action only when adopted by the Grand Lodge”.
This Grand Master has violated the Constitution of the Grand Lodge of New Jersey and denied me my Civil Rights as an American, as guaranteed by the United States Constitution and the New Jersey Grand Lodge Constitution. Title Four, Section 3, Part 3 Protection of Civil Rights: A Lodge cannot derive a brother of his civil rights, such as a resort to courts of justice for the redress of injuries, nor compel him to first submit his complaint to the lodge for its action.
Also, since all of the issues that I had are now being addressed by the Grand Master, it sure proves that they were legitimate concerns.
Please remember, this action by the Grand Master is a vendetta against me. I do not hold the Fraternity in New Jersey responsible for the unmasonic and improper acts of this Grand Master.
As I have told many concerned brethren, there is nothing wrong at all with the Institution of Freemasonry. The problem is that we sometimes elect a brother who really does not understand the fraternity and will abuse the authority of the Office of Grand Master to satisfy a personal vendetta …
Dennis R. Winter, P.D.D.G.M. 21st Masonic District November 8, 2013
There are three main points to consider in analyzing this abuse of power by the Grand Master of New Jersey.
1) The New Jersey Landmarks were never voted on and approved by the Grand Lodge as a whole. They were never legally passed but merely inserted into the constitution thereby bypassing proper procedure.
2) An unlimited power clause is not a Landmark. Landmarks are the basic principles or cornerstones that define the fraternity. Putting into the Landmarks a tactic is an illegal grab for power.
No other Grand Lodge gives the Grand Master absolute power as contained in the Wallis Committee’s Report of 1903, which attempted to identify 10 specific Landmarks. Specifically parts of Landmark 3, which state:
“He may create lodges by his warrant and arrest the warrant of any lodge.
He may suspend, at his pleasure, the operation of any rule or regulation of Masonry, not a “Landmark.” He may suspend the installed officers of Any lodge and reinstate them at pleasure, and is not answerable for his acts as Grand Master”
The language contained in this part of the new “Landmark”, nor the concept of a Grand Master being able to disregard whole sections of a written constitution is not found in Mackey’s list of Landmarks. No Masonic Jurisdiction in the United States has ever granted their Grand Masters such broad expansive authority based on their Landmarks as New Jersey’s Landmark No.3 suggested.
3) Grand Lodges were never set up to be a tyranny. Grand Lodges were not designed to operate in this manner. This is not the tradition of Freemasonry. Grand Lodges were created to be the administrative arm of a group of constituent, local Lodges.
M.W. Brother Dorworth’s 2013 Masonic Leadership Conference in Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania for the Officers of Lodges in New Jersey had a book that was required reading for the participants.
1. “Can we expect Freemasonry to retain its past glory and prestige unless the level of leadership is raised above its present position?”
James I of England once purported, it is … “sedition in subjects, to dispute what a king may do in the height of his power.” We give to our Grand Masters the Devine Right of Kings and pray that use such powers wisely. Sadly, our law does NOT take into account the man who believes in his own divinity. Nor does it take into account for the simple man who gets his feelings hurt and retaliates against those who disagree with his actions. Specifically, the power of a Grand Master to suspend a Mason until the next meeting of Grand Lodge must be eliminated. There must be checks and balances in the form of a required seating of a Trial Committee, made up of Past Masters, NOT Past Grand Masters or Grand Lodge officers to rule on the suspension.
[5] Even the Grand Lodge of England in 1723 and until today, who’s country was and is ruled by a Monarch, state in their Book of Constitutions: General Laws and Regulations for the Government of The Craft:,”#15., Abuse of Power by Grand Master: If the Grand Master should abuse his power and render himself unworthy of the obedience of the Lodges, he shall be subject to some new regulation, to be dictated by the occasion; because, hitherto, the Antient Fraternity have had no reason to provide for an event which they have presumed would never happen.
Like the Pope who is absolutely the last word in spiritual matters but not infallible in civil matters, the Grand Master was never intended to have life and death powers over individual Masons or even local Lodges but rather possess the power to organize and manage his jurisdiction while at the same time holding the post of ceremonial leader.
The government of Freemasonry was modeled on the monarchial system that was in vogue in the 18th century, but the Grand Master was a King with a Parliament which means he governed with limitations. Those limitations were the by-laws and the Constitution of his jurisdiction along with voting rights where applicable. It was never intended to be a Fraternity where the average Mason had no civil rights at all and was in a position to be at the whim and mercy of its leader. Those Grand Lodges that are now operating in the United States as tyrannical dictatorships trampling the civil rights of the Brethren at large are illegal, immoral, unconstitutional and totally outside the bounds of Masonic tradition.
The Grand Master of New Jersey has taken this abuse one step further by becoming a bully. There is nothing like sticking the blade in and then twisting it around to cause maximum pain. His latest edict is to prohibit any suspended or expelled Mason from attending an open installation, open to the general public. It seems as if the motto of the Grand Lodge of New Jersey is – when we screw you over we do it doubly well.
MW DAVID A. DORWORTH
GRAND MASTER
EDICT
WHEREAS, The ceremony of Installation of the Officers of a Masonic Lodge is Masonic ritual; and subject to Title Four: By Laws Part 8 paragraph d & Title Seven: Appendix 7.5.8d; and,
WHEREAS, pursuant to Masonic Regulations,(above) an “Open Installation” of Lodge Officers is permissible if the members of the lodge shall have voted therefore, and the District Deputy Grand Master of the District shall have approved of the same; and,
WHEREAS, the authorization of an Open Installation by the District Deputy Grand Master is conditioned upon him being satisfied that the ceremony shall be conducted in a dignified and commendable manner; and,
WHEREAS, the persons who may attend an open installation are Master Masons in good standing, and their invited family and friends, who are members of the community and who may not necessarily be Masons; and,
WHEREAS, since the ceremony will be open to members of the community, and may be their only exposure to Masonic ceremonies, and hence is even more important that the ceremony be conducted with dignity and peace and harmony; and,
WHEREAS, suspended or expelled Master Masons may be tempted to attend such an open installation, and whose presence could disturb the peace and harmony of the Lodge, and also be interpreted as violating the Obligation of all Master Masons to refrain from holding Masonic conversation with suspended or expelled Masons; and,
WHEREAS, the preservation of peace and harmony within this Grand Lodge is of great importance to this fraternity, for the good of the craft and for the preservation of such peace and harmony, it is this Day of November 12,2013.
EDICTED AND ORDERED, that no suspended or expelled Masons, who remain within the penal jurisdiction of this Grand Lodge, may attend any open installation of any Lodge within this Grand Jurisdiction. The District Deputy Grand Masters and Worshipful Masters are directed that in the event that a suspended or expelled Mason endeavors to attend any open installation, they shall prevent the ceremony from proceeding until such time as they are satisfied that the suspended or expelled Mason has departed the premises, or that the installation is to proceed as a closed installation. The identity of the suspended or expelled Mason shall be communicated to the Grand Lodge at the earliest practical opportunity following any such incident.
So Ordered,
M.W. David A. Dorworth,
Grand Master
Dated: November 12,2013
William L. Morris,
Grand Secretary
None of the actions of PDDGM Dennis R. Winter consisted of Masonic misconduct. This is simply a case of a thin skinned Grand Master who cannot countenance anybody having a different opinion than his and who will not allow, correction, suggestions or input from others in his jurisdiction. And to squash all other Masonic thought and intimidate those who might be considering speaking up he resorts to suspension and expulsion without cause and without due process. This is exactly why Mainstream Freemasonry is in trouble. Grand Lodges and Grand Masters have become control freaks.
Until Mainstream Freemasonry in the United States decides to discipline itself, these abuses will be repeated over and over again. While each jurisdiction has its own sovereignty it does not have the right to change Freemasonry or to make up bogus Landmarks. And when it does those compliant Grand Lodges must threaten those who disrespect Freemasonry with non recognition.
R to L: GM Wilbert M. Curtis, DGM Michael T. Anderson, GSW “Big” Bryce Hardin, GL Ivory Johnson
The Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Texas recently held the Grand Master’s Table Lodge on an open air rooftop overlooking a view of downtown Dallas, Texas. The event was hosted by Metropolitan Lodge No. 146, Wor. Jerome D. Lacy presiding.
The Table Lodge is a tyled Entered Apprentice Masons Lodge. It harkens back to the Mother Grand Lodge of 1717 where one of the reasons for its formation was to hold the Annual Feast. Soon the Grand Master of that time directed there be installed into the ceremony the old, regular and peculiar toasts and health’s of Freemasons. Over time a Table Lodge became a prescribed ceremony with a ritual all its own.
Table Lodges in Colonial America were quite common as many Lodges actually met in taverns and a full course meal became part of “going to Lodge.” As the decades passed and a new century began, Table Lodges were continued as a way to promote fellowship, kinship and pride in Masonry.
“The Table Lodge had a most unusual pattern. Its entire meeting was conducted around the table, and the helpings of food and beverage were served in such a way they did not interfere with the other concerns of the Lodge. The arrangement of tables resembled a giant horse-shoe, with the worshipful Master in the East, at the center, and both Wardens in the West, at the opposite ends. The Lodge was opened with an invocation and closed with a song.”
“At first, there was an address, followed by many toasts and songs, but as time went by the lecture was omitted and the number of toasts and songs decreased. The final figure that was set for the toasts was seven, and in some Jurisdictions that number is still retained today.”
Under its skillful formula, the names of objects in the room were changed. The table was the Trestle Board, the cloth – the standard, the food – the materials, the glasses became cannons, the beverage – powder, the bottles – casks, the napkin a flag, forks were pickaxes, knives were swords, and spoons were trowels. To fill the glass was to “charge” it, and to drink it was to ‘fire’”.(1)
Today a Table Lodge has its own set of rituals, with its own particular opening and closing ritual as well as a seven course meal with seven toasts, one after each course.
The ritual of The Ceremony of the Seven Toasts is as follows:
Right hand to arms. (The right hand touches the glass).
Ready. (The glass is raised breast high, aim extended forward).
Aim. (The glass is brought to the lips).
Fire, Good Fire, Fire All. (All drink).
Present Arms. (The glass is brought to the second position in unison with the Worshipful Master, then the glass is brought to the left breast, then to the right breast, then again to the second position so that the movement makes a triangle. This triangle is made three times: then the glass is brought to the table in three moves – it is first carried a little to the left, then to the right and finally forcibly in unison to the table).
The Battery, three times three ( clapping 3X right over left, left over right, right over left). (Done)
ALL Vivat, Vivat, Vivat. (Right arm thrust upward with each Vivat).
Advance swords. (Knife is raised breast high, arms extended forward).
Poise swords. (Knife blade is elevated slightly, about 45°)
Salute with swords. (Knife handle is brought to within a few inches of the chin with the blade elevated about 45°)
Swords at rest. (Knife handles are carried in unison forcibly to the table – preferably in a flat position to prevent table damage).
The Battery, three times three. (Done)
ALL Vivat, Vivat, Vivat. (Right arm thrust upward with each Vivat).(2)
Wor. Jerome D. Lacy led us in all the toasts except the one to himself and other Worshipful Masters. The toasts were as follows: To the –
President of the United States of America
Most Worshipful Grand Master and the Most Worshipful Grand Lodge
The Worshipful Master and all sitting Masters
The Wardens and all sitting Wardens
Past Masters
Other Officers and visiting Brethren
To all Masons where-so-ever spread over the face of the globe
A great meal was had by all. The Table Lodge closed with all Brethren forming the Mystic Chain (arms crossed in front and clasped to the Brother to your right and left) and singing the ancient song written by Scottish Poet Laureate Brother Robert Burns in 1788– Auld Lang Syne.
Should old acquaintance be forgot
And never brought to mind
Should all acquaintance be forgot
And auld lang syne
For auld lang syne, my dear,
For auld lang syne,
We’ll take a cup o’ kindness yet,
For auld lang syne
The Wall Street Journal had an interesting article recently on Masonic Temples being turned into luxury Condos. This process, is sadly occurring because Freemasonry in the United States is dying a slow death. Lodges who have only 25% of the members they had 50 years ago find it increasingly difficult to afford the beautiful, magnificent and sometimes classical monstrosities they housed themselves in way back then.
Some of the blame for loss of membership must be placed squarely on the hands of Freemasons themselves who either refuse to treat race, religion and individuals with respect and tolerance or who refuse to police their ranks of those who exhibit such prejudicial behavior. The younger generations will not join organizations unless they are color blind, tolerant of all religions and respect the worth of the individual including basic civil rights and being treated with due process.
Of the many sales and near sales of great Masonic structures I can think of two recently in the news. First the Masonic Temple in Quincy, Massachusetts just last week gutted by fire was sold to a Realty Company with rental rights to the Masonic organizations that met there. It was the Realty Company doing much needed upgrading in the building who set off the blaze. Then there is the magnificent Detroit Temple which was saved from oblivion by a wealthy donor.
Today, with membership down to about a million from four million in the 1950s, the Masons can’t afford the upkeep of all these antiquated buildings, which are typically in downtown areas with limited parking. The absence of working elevators also makes the buildings difficult for aging members to use.
As a result, more Masons have sold their temples and relocated to smaller, more modern structures in the suburbs. Developers and individuals have snapped up the buildings, encouraged by the rebounding real-estate market and demand for luxury condos.
Last year, Craig Boardman says he was just accompanying a friend to a showing in a former Masonic temple in Columbus, Ohio. The condo had 40-foot-high ceilings, three enormous stained-glass windows, a spiral staircase and the original fireplace. “It was pretty awesome,” says Mr. Boardman, a professor of public policy who bought a two-bedroom, two-bathroom for $300,000. (When he had the unit painted he found a lunchbox-size hiding spot behind the wall molding. Alas, it was empty.)
Called the York Temple, the red brick building was built in 1914 when the group, having grown to more than 1,000 members in 20 years, needed a bigger space. “It was busy most nights of the week,” says Bill Hochstettler, who is on the board of trustees. At its peak in 1928, the lodge had more than 2,200 members. But by 2003, the number had fallen to less than 800 members—while the building’s maintenance costs were averaging $30,000 a year. The group sold the building for $250,000 to Joe Armeni, owner of Re/Max City Center, who put about $4.5 million into a top-to-bottom renovation. Today it has 25 units, ranging from 700 square feet to 1,800 square feet, that have sold from $149,000 to $399,900.
In downtown Champaign, Ill., developer Robert Grossman bought a 33,000-square-foot, 1914 Masonic temple with terrazzo floors and intricate carvings in the staircases for $800,000 in 2008. “It was in terrible shape. But I looked at it and fell in love with it,” he says. He spent $2.5 million converting it into 19 apartments, which rent for $900 to $2,000 a month each. He then re-christened it as the Lodge on Hill. The two- and three-bedroom apartments were all leased before the two-year construction project was finished. Even though he owns a 5,500-square-foot home nearby, Mr. Grossman kept the temple’s best apartment for himself: a two-level, 3,600-square-foot unit with a roof patio.
In January, Thomas Thramann won zoning approval to convert a 13,000-square-foot, four-story Masonic lodge in Newport, R.I., into eight luxury condos—a process he estimates will take about two years—that would list for about $500 a square foot. Mr. Thramann bought the building 15 years ago for $156,000 and used it as a vacation home for several summers, sleeping on a bed in the middle of its roughly 5,000-square-foot meeting hall. “It was like camping,” he says.
Still, selling the building to Mr. Thramann was difficult for the members. “It broke my heart,” says Dan Titus, who was the lodge’s worshipful master, the senior officer, at the time. The group couldn’t afford to do the work required to meet safety codes and there was no parking. Mr. Titus sent out a ballot to all 500 members of the lodge and only two voted against selling. (One, a close family friend, never spoke to him again, he says.) “My father and grandfather were in that lodge. But when you have so many aging members, what can you do? If I won the lottery tomorrow, I’d buy the building back.”
Historic Quincy Temple in the heart of downtown Quincy, Massachusetts was gutted by fire yesterday. Apparently the fire was started by workmen who were grinding stone in the building.
(Quincy, MA – 9/30/13) Quincy and Boston firefighters battle a blaze at the Masonic Temple on Hancock Street, Monday, September 30, 2013. Staff photo by Angela Rowlings.
Smoke and flames filled the Quincy sky for more than four hours yesterday as firefighters fought a raging four-alarm blaze at the historic Masonic temple that gutted the building.
“I grew up in this building, 65 years,” said a distraught Dave Smith, a mason who is treasurer of the Masonic Building Association of Quincy. “My father was a mason that went to a lodge here and it’s just unbelievable to see what’s happened to it.”
Smith said the 1170 Hancock St. building was home to the Rural Lodge of Masons and was recently sold to Martin Realty in an agreement that would have let the masons keep meeting there. They had just started construction, Smith said.
Quincy Fire Chief Joseph Barron said it appeared that workers grinding stone material accidentally sparked a fire. They initially tried to put it out but failed.
Quincy police received the first call of the blaze at 12:08 p.m. from construction workers who said they saw smoke coming through air ducts.
Quincy Police Chief Paul Keenan told the Herald the fire started in the basement of the temple and firefighters had to be pulled out of the building just as the ceiling fell in.
The building, erected in 1929, was listed on the National Register of Historical Places in 1989, said Edward Fitzgerald of the Quincy Historical Society, who called it an example of classic Greek revival architecture.
Smith said the inside had a lit vaulted ceiling and the main room could fit up to 600 people.
“It was just gorgeous on the inside, absolutely gorgeous,” Smith. “People who looked at it just walked in and went, ‘Wow.’”
I have personally been in Lodge at this building and it was a marvelous structure. It was a very large building capable of hosting many Lodges. This is a devastating blow to Massachusetts Masonry and one that will leave a gaping hole until a replacement structure is rebuilt.
French Roman Catholic priest Father Pascal Vesin had served his parish in Sainte-Anne d’Arly Montjoie in the Alpine resort of Megéve since 2004, almost 10 years. That is until this spring when the Church discovered that he is a Freemason. Father Vesin is a member of the Grand Orient de France’ That watchdog of the church, The Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith asked for his resignation in March. Three members of the diocese of Annecy then met with him but Father Vesin said he would not leave the Lodge.
Father Pascal Vesin is seen outside his church in Megeve
So in May Vesin was removed of all Priestly duties by his Bishop. He appealed for a hearing with the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, but was turned down. He wrote to the Pope saying that he was “wounded by the injustice’ and requested a reversal of the decision. To no avail. Not willing to give up Vesin set out on foot leaving the town in the Haute Savoie region of France on July 14th for a hike through the Alps – final destination, The Vatican in Rome, Italy. Before leaving he blogged to his congregation, “This adventure is a step towards openness, dialogue and debate.” Bringing nothing but a knapsack, his journey took 39 days before arriving in St. Peter’s Square where he hoped for an audience with the Pope.
“I hope I am received by Pope Francis or one of his secretaries” a very tired Vesin said when he got there.
“I feel my initiative is in synch with what this new pope is preaching and seems to be starting.”
Conservative Sectarian Christianity’s main criticism of Freemasonry is that it’s a false religion. But Vesin belongs to The Grand Orient of France where there is no test for a belief in Deity. Funny looking religion that doesn’t require a belief in God. But there always seems to be another charge that authorities can levy.
“Exciting news today from Washington D.C.! The Supreme Council, 33º, of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite for the Southern Jurisdiction of the United States, and Mother Supreme Council of the World, in session this week, announced that it is formally recognizing the Prince Hall Scottish Rite Supreme Council. Further, the Sovereign Grand Commander for the Northern Jurisdiction said that if the Southern Jurisdiction recognizes the Prince Hall Supreme Council, they would do it also.”
Those who watched the streaming session of the Supreme Council Southern Jurisdiction saw this announcement live. You can re-watch that HERE: http://www.realworldstreaming.com/scottishrite/ This announcement was made Monday, August 26, 2013 by SGC Southern Jurisdiction Ill. Ronald A. Seale, 33º and seconded by SGC Northern Jurisdiction Ill. John William McNaughton, 33° and presented to Prince Hall SGC Ill Deary Vaughn, 33°.
Scottish Rite Sovereign Grand Commander of the Southern Jurisdiction, Ill Ronald A Seale
Finally the leadership at the top has responded. This has breakthrough ramifications for those Confederate states that still refuse to recognize Prince Hall. If the Scottish Rite Bodies in these states recognize each other how can the Blue Lodges not do the same? This breaks the back of objections to mutual recognition throughout the United States between Prince Hall Freemasonry and Mainstream Freemasonry. It clears the way for all Mainstream Grand Lodges in the United States to recognize all Prince Hall Grand Lodges with mutual visitation included.
Meet another great Masonic artisan Jim McBeth, owner of McBeth Knives where you can buy a unique, one-of-a-kind, custom-made, fixed-blade knife with the Square & Compasses Masonic Emblem actually embedded in the handle. McBeth, a Past Master of Plano Lodge #768, Grand Lodge of Texas, moved from the greater Dallas area in 2008 to the Hill Country, near San Antonio, and then decided in 2012 to formally retire a second time from Real Estate (the first time was after 30 years with Texas Instruments in Dallas). His son-in-law and granddaughter are frequenters of gun and knife shows and on one occasion McBeth went along. After looking over all the knife exhibits his son-in-law asked him if he thought he could make knives as good as those he had seen at the show and he became convinced that he could.
McBeth did not want to build his own forge and stand over a hot furnace all day, so he scoured the nation for a supplier of knife blanks – essentially the naked blade. He insisted on top quality high grade steel. If he was going to produce a knife to sell, the first thing to avoid was those people that used junk steel. Obtaining top quality knife blanks is McBeth’s first step in the knife making process.
Most of the custom knives McBeth produces are fixed blade hunting and sportsman knives with full tang handles as opposed to hidden tangs. As a layman in this business of knife making I would describe the tang as the steel extension at the beginning of the blade to which the handle is attached. A handle for a knife with a hidden tang would be made from a block of wood (or stag horn or other piece of bone) of which the middle has been hollowed out and into when the tang slides. A full tang is one where two separate pieces of wood (known as ‘scales’) are attached to each side of the tang. They are attached by metal pins and McBeth makes his own mosaic pins. He describes the process thusly:
“Handles are secured to the knife with “pins”, so to further accentuate the knife I decided to create my own “pins” with “Mosaic” patterns to use when possible in my knives. The material I use for these pins include rods of Brass, Copper, Stainless Steel and Aluminum. I arrange the various sizes of these rods in patterns to create a ‘mosaic’ for each particular knife.”
McBeth also uses two different kinds of knife blanks – stainless steel and Damascus steel. I think we all know what stainless steel is all about but Damascus steel is another story.
Damascus steel is layered steel forming a pattern. Again McBeth fills us in:
“Damascus patterns include Ladder, Raindrop, Twist, Herringbone just to name a few. The “blanks” that I use are made from multiple bars of 1095 Carbon steel and multiple bars of high Nickel 15N20 steel creating between 175 and 250 layers in whatever pattern the “maker” decided.”
The next step in the knife making process is the handle which starts with the scales. The handle is the finished product. The scales are small pieces of wood from which the handle is fashioned. McBeth chooses to make his handles from scales of exotic woods because of the beauty and patterning in their grain. Some of these “Exotics” imported from various countries around the world, include Cocobolo Rosewood, Zebrawood, Canarywood, Red Heart, Bocote, Leopardwood, Bubinga, Wenge, Amboyna, Rosewood Burl, just to name a few. Two examples are pictured below.
Once the scales have been fitted to the handle with the chosen knife pins, McBeth must then fashion and shape them to the knife’s handle design. Then he must go through the long sanding process starting with 80 grit sandpaper and going up to 400 grit; and then finishing off with micro-mesh sanding using 1500 grit through 12,000 grit. Finally, the knife handle is ready for staining followed by sealing, polishing and waxing.
The Masonic emblem of choice is then embedded in the handle and the blade is oiled and in the case of Damascus steel, waxed.
This was the end of the process of making a custom knife until a few months ago. McBeth
started getting a demand for a sheath for his knives. After much searching and some trial and error he found a husband-wife team in Mississippi that hand make sheaths for knives. So most of his knives today are shipped with a companion sheath.
Recently McBeth has added a Masonic concho to his sheaths consisting of the Square & Compasses Masonic symbol. A concho is an ornamental metal (or other compound) disk often of Spanish or Native American Indian origin. McBeth found a supplier with a great looking “Texas” Masonic concho that adds to the Masonic flavor of the now fully dressed Masonic custom McBeth knife.
And that describes a premium product with a process that is truly outstanding. Everything
about a McBeth knife exudes high end quality. McBeth never settles for second best in all the processes that go into the finished product. He is not trying to make a $79.95 knife for Wal-Mart. When you buy a McBeth knife you may be equally happy in just displaying it as well as actually using it. McBeth believes that at the moment, no other knife-maker is providing Masons with a custom fixed-blade knife emblazoned with the Masonic symbol of the Square & Compasses.
It is easy to see why McBeth is so successful at whatever he turns his mind to. He has an inquisitive mind, a charming personality, a dogged determination and great pride and enthusiasm in what he sets out to accomplish. If McBeth doesn’t make millions, it won’t bother him. What he will take the most satisfaction from is on never cutting corners and always acting upon the level and parting upon the square.
Early American Freemasonry was the nation’s biggest booster of the public school system. Are you prepared to tell me that advocating government schools is a violation of the Masonic prohibition about political discussion?
