Archives for May 2010

Masonic Organ Donor

May 31, 2010 by Fred Milliken

Are you signed up to be an organ donor when you die? Maybe your eyes or your heart or your liver or your spleen can help save and/or prolong the life of another in need.

Have you ever watched a Masonic Lodge slowly die? It does most things right, has good programs, no dissension yet it ceases to grow. One by one its members die off, or move away or just stop coming. Meetings that were once 30 members dwindle to 20 and then to 10, and then to 5. Still the Lodge holds on refusing to succumb to its own funeral. Finally the meetings are attended by 1, one solitary Mason comes to Lodge. And then there were none.

Paul Dean Lodge in Easton, MA had a similar journey. But instead of just closing the doors and relinquishing the charter this Lodge merged with Paul Revere Lodge in Brockton, MA and became a Masonic organ donor.

The donation was made to the Bangor Maine Masonic Temple which was gutted in a horrible fire. All the Masonic furniture in Paul Dean’s Lodge room was shipped down East. And then the grandeur that once adorned the halls of Easton, MA now put new life into the Body at Bangor, ME. And so the cycle of life in the Craft continues.

Before that happy ending could become a reality much struggle and many obstacles would be placed before the Brothers of Bangor. The fire swept the Bangor Masonic Temple in January of 2004. For five years Bangor Masons made attempts to purchase property and rebuild. But deals fell through and situations changed and in 2009 they were still homeless. Just when they thought that a new home was beyond their reach, the Bangor Theological Seminary came up for sale.

RW Guy Chapman tells the story in an article he wrote for The Maine Mason titled “The Bangor Maine Masons Before and After.”

“……….on April 17, 2009, the former Bangor Theological Seminary came onto the market. Richard Trott negotiated a price of $550,000 subject to the approval of the board of directors of the Bangor Masonic Foundation. The sale was completed on June 29, 2009.”

“The actual origin of the Bangor Theological Seminary is somewhat obscure. Its birth involves the efforts of the Reverend John Sawyer, who was one of Maine’s first journeying evangelists.² Rev. Sawyer lived to be 103 years old and his grave is located in a cemetery west of the town of Garland, ME. The Seminary was chartered on February 25, 1814.”

“The present Chapel was completed in 1859, with the cornerstone being laid on June 10, 1858 and the building dedicated on July 27, 1859. The present Gym was built in 1895. The two buildings were connected in 1986 by the Ruth Rice Hutchins Center.”

The purchase consisted of three good sized buildings clustered together.

The Chapel
The Gymnasium
The Hutchins Center – the connecter

Chapman explains how they will be used:

“The chapel will become the lodge hall. The dining room and kitchen will continue to function in the same fashion and be available for the use of non-profit groups as well as the Masonic Fraternity. The large classroom over the kitchen and the adjacent office will become a second lodge hall and DeMolay room. The basement classroom where the childcare is located will continue in its same capacity. The classrooms above the church that are no longer rented by the Penobscot Theater Group will become the Learning Center. One of the two rooms off the lodge hall will be a Masonic library and museum. The other one will be a preparation room and storage for the two Blue Lodges. The rest of the building will be used as storage for the equipment and regalia of the other Masonic bodies.”

“There is some cosmetic work to be done as well as a few repairs to the exterior of the building to make it perfect. The biggest job will be the renovation of the chapel to a lodge hall and the installation of the 32 Learning Center. We also have to install a new electrical entrance. While it was in the possession of the Seminary the buildings received excellent care, which will make our endeavors a lot easier.”

“The land area consists of 3 acres and has 94 existing parking spaces, with a possibility of increasing it to 144 spaces. We hope to see them used frequently by various Masonic and related bodies.”

Brother Fred Kenyon of Paul Dean Lodge, now Paul Revere Lodge, Brother and dear friend watched his Lodge die. But even in that time of sorrow and mourning he joined in the effort to see that other Lodges lived and prospered. From that time when all hope seemed lost there came a rebirth and a Grand reopening which of course had a Grand ceremony to go with it.

So Fred and four other Brothers from Massachusetts took the trek “down east” as they say in New England to witness a new beginning on a new day.

All that hurt and despair that had been lumped around Kenyon’s heart now burst forth into enthusiasm and joy! When I received his story in E-Mail the emotional feeling of what this meant to one who has seen a Lodge die jumped out of the pages at me. I knew right then and there that I would not paraphrase or rewrite or embellish what was before my eyes for I could never generate the true meaning of what Masonry has meant to this person in my words. So I will just pass on Fred Kenyon’s story and his daughter Lynne’s remarks to you in their words. And what you will witness this day is a daughter’s love for her father and a father’s love for the Craft.

Fred’s words are in black type and Lynne’s words are in red.

The Bangor ME. Masonic building sustained a tragic Fire on Jan 24 2004.

Everything was lost except for the Guest book which a Brother happen to have at home. Paul Dean lodge A.F.A.M. of North Easton, MA at about that same time was in the process of merging with Paul Revere lodge in Brockton, MA and Paul Deans members rather than put all their furniture and other regalia in Storage voted unanimously to donate it to Bangor, ME. The lodges in Bangor are: Virtue #10 and Andrew #83

~Friday April 30, 2010~ arrived in Bangor at 2:45P at the riverside Inn and got settled. A suggestion was made that we find the new Lodge quarters just to be sure of its whereabouts and headed off! Found it No Problem, there were a couple of cars in the lot and a back door was open. Once inside we (the 5 men from MA. John F Kenyon, Fred Gladstone, Marty Messenger, Allen Gilman, and Jerry Nourdling) found a young woman Vacuuming the rugs etc. She called Brother Eric Yachanin Past Master for us. He welcomed us and lead us to the new lodge room where the donated furniture from Paul Dean Lodge(North Easton,MA)was.

I asked Eric at that time if knew R.W. Guy Chapman… I was asked by our mutual Friend Rufus Cox to give him a Hat and Coin from Paul Revere Lodge( I had brought up a bunch to pass out) He answered stating that he not only knew him but that he was on the premises. He took out his cell phone and called him, explained who was there… and upon hanging up told us that he would be right over. After introductions were made, R.W. Chapman offered to bring us on a tour of the new facility. The place is so big without a tour guide you can get lost! During the tour he asked us what our plans were for Supper(in Maine they have Supper not Dinner), We of course had none having just arrived but we had planned to find a place. R.W. Chapman picked up his cell phone and made a quick call… “Hello Bob? yes the guys from MA are here…” after a momentary conversation on the phone he told us that the Grand Master Robert Landry had already arrived in the city for the ceremonies to happen the next day, he left a message for him and continued with the tour. After about 15 min. R.W. Guys cell rang it was the Grand Master saying he would like to take us all to Supper! We met back at the Lodge Facilities at 7P The Grand Master Robert Landry and his entourage arrived just after us… included with him was his Wife and R.W. Guy Chapman plus the WGM of the Eastern star Susan Hawes and her Husband and an old friend of ours George Copeland sr. as well. We were taken to the Muddy Rudder in Brewer ME. in total there were 14 of us. I sat across from the Grand Master we all had a great time. * My dad says every time he tells it that he had a wonderful time at dinner with Bob Landry and that he is more down to earth than even my Dad is, very likeable guy and wonderful host! as they sat there at dinner Dad asked GM.Bob “wow been in Bangor only about 4 hours and already had the grand tour of the new facilities now dinner with THE Grand Master too how are you ever gonna top this? and Bob said “TOMORROW!” ;^)~

~Saturday.~

Everyone in our group was up early had some Breakfast and planned to leave somewhat early to hopefully get a good parking space. We arrived at the new lodge quarters at almost 10am they saw this Brother standing kind of directing traffic into the lot and stopped in front of him about to ask where is a good place to park… his only question was “are you the guys from MA? With a nod the Brother pointed to a piece of prime real-estate for parking reserved just for them right near the door… what service!

They signed in and received aprons and were seated

Dad told me that one guy in their party had forgotten his apron and sat down without it by mistake but that this was semi public ceremony and casual so casual and laid back that he had no problem getting up and walking out to get one and coming back…

The Grand master opened the Lodge at 10am and performed the Dedication ceremony where 2 proclamations were read 1 from the Mayor of Bangor Frank Farrington stating that today is Maine Masonic day in Bangor and 1 from the Governor of Maine John Baldacci that stated today is Maine Masonic day in the entire state. He then told the 200+ people in attendance that there was some unfinished Business to take care of before they called recess to go outside and have the laying of the cornerstone ceremony. The Grand Master instructed the Grand secretary to call “the roll of the workmen” he began:

John F. Kenyon

Alan Gilman

Jerry Nourdling

Fred Gladstone

Bob Smith

Charles Woodman

Marty Messenger

George W. Copeland

George is the oldest living past Grand patron of the Eastern Star

He instructed the Grand Marshall to “escort these Brothers to the East facing the West” The Grand Master then told the 200+ people in attendance that these Gentlemen donated all of the furniture we see here in the lodge room. We received a standing Ovation.

Let me tell you Fred… every time every single time I have heard My Dad tell this and he gets to this part? From about the roll of the workmen part, he literally cries… it was just so overwhelming to him to have such a wonderful thing happen he cries, in fact he cried reading his notes back to me today when he got to this part that should say it all on impressions…

Brother George Copeland sr. then made a presentation of a ballot box that had come from St. Andrew lodge in New York when Paul Dean Lodge first received the furnishings, and had been overlooked when the furnishings and other regalia was donated to Bangor ME. This is the same furniture that I believe was given to a Masonic Lodge possibly the one in NY by the brother of John Wilkes Booth… yes THAT John Wilkes Booth!

After the presentation was done the Grand Master gave us “Grand Honors.” As My Dad says NO ONE gets that NO ONE and instructed the Grand Marshall to seat our Brothers “Anywhere in the Lodge we wished to be seated” of course we all went back to our own seats. When he got to me( I was first going up so last to be seated) after a hand shake he put his arm around my shoulder and told the members(200+) present that this Brother(my Dad)is a 50 year member of a lodge right here in Maine! In which I said Mt. Bigelow lodge #202 in Stratton, ME. and I received a standing Ovation for that. Wow huh?

The Grand Master then called a recess and all went outside for the ceremony of laying the cornerstone after which everyone was invited to the brand new banquet hall for a scrumptious luncheon…

From birth to life to death to rebirth the cycle of Masonic life goes on with the help of those who are Masonic Organ Donors.

The Bangor Maine Masons – Before & After, by RW Guy Chapman, The Maine Mason.

Two Great Moments, Two Great Weeks

May 27, 2010 by Fred Milliken

First I had the opportunity last week to speak at Lyles Middle School in Lexington, Massachusetts to the classes of a Lodge Brother who teaches history at the school. I managed to talk to four periods of combined classes, my subject being the first battle of the American Revolutionary War in Lexington, Massachusetts . I traced the development of the Minute Men from 1643 to 1775 and showed what a pivotal part they had to play in the early days of the Revolution before a standing army was conscripted.

A good resource on the subject is the book,

“THE MINUTEMEN, The First Fight: Myths And Realities Of The American Revolution,” by former General John R. Galvin who went on to become an ambassador with the U.S. State Department and then dean of the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University.

Interwoven with the story was my own personal journey.

I spoke to the students about being born and brought up in Lexington, about being a member of DeMolay in Lexington and marching in the Patriot’s Day Parade, about joining Freemasonry and the Paul Revere Colonial Degree Team where I took the name of William Munroe, a Freemason who was a Sergeant in the Lexington Minutemen and who was stationed on an all night watch through the night of April 18, 1775 on the Lexington Green.

Six days later I attended one of the most intense Lodge meetings that the Pride of Mt. Pisgah #135, Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Texas has held in its existence. Pride of Mt. Pisgah is building a brand new Masonic building of its own, moving out of rented quarters when it is completed.

The land was purchased about six months ago but the red tape took a little while to make the transfer a reality. Now that hurdle has been accomplished we were able in this meeting to get down to concrete assignments and to plan a time frame for the raising of the building.

The Master had been busy between Communications handling permits and city of Dallas paperwork which is monumental. He also had been busy completing 501(c)3 paperwork and I drew the assignment to help finish completes this application as well as proof read it and making any last revisions.

We will be building a steel building and we voted at our meeting to accept the architectural plans and materials purchase to frame the building. Assignments were handed out to get bids on a general contractor, electrician, plumber etc. Much of the building will be sweat equity. We are going to be doing a lot of the inside work ourselves. So I can see many days of hard labor ahead of us. We have set a September ground breaking date and a January completion date.

But there is one thing I am sure of. All the wages will be paid and none will go away dissatisfied. This story is far from over and you will be reading many serial follow ups to our progress. As this small Lodge takes upon itself a task that is all consuming and far reaching I ask for your prayers that this project will have a fruitful ending.

Masonic Scholarship – ICHF 2011

May 20, 2010 by Greg Stewart

I picked this up from a Yahoo Message Board post. I think this is a terricif opportunity to see the academic study taking place aroudn the world. It definitely relates more to the ideas of Freemasonry than the present practice, so not a lot of in lodge How To here, but a large amount of the impact Masonry has had on the world.

INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON THE HISTORY OF FREEMASONRY – 2011

To be held at George Washington Memorial, Arlington Va 27-29 May 2011

Held under the Patronage of:

Roger A. Simmons,Most Worshipful Past Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Alabama, President of the George Washington Masonic National Memorial

Thomas W. Jackson,Right Worshipful Past Grand Secretary of the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania, Executive Secretary World Conference of Masonic Grand Lodges.

With the special Patronage of: 11th Earl of Elgin and 15th Earl of Kincardine, KT

And with the support of:

The Academic Society for Research into Freemasonry and Fraternalism.

Centre interdisciplinaire bordelais d’etude des lumieres-Lumieres Nature Societe, Universite de Bordeaux III Centre d’etude de la Litterature Francaises des XVIIe et XVIIIe Siecles (CELLF),

Sorbonne IV. Paris Chair of Freemassonary, Faculty of Religious Studies,

University of Leiden Centre de la Mediterrannee Moderne et Contemporaine, Universite de Nice Sophia-Antipolis The Interdisciplinary Research Group Freemasonary,

Free University of Brussels

Conference web site: www.ichfonline.org

Conference venue web site: www.gwmemorial.org

FIRST ANNOUNCEMENT AND CALL FOR PAPERS ICHF 2011

Since the inception of ICHF more than six years ago it has established itself as the primary conference for academics and others interested in Freemasonry to present papers on all aspects of the subject. I

From the beginning the ICHF was always a truly open ‘International’ conference, due to the diversity of countries represented at each of the conferences in 2007 and 2009. The 2011 conference to be held in Alexandria, Virginia, USA, marks a milestone in the growth of the International Conference by not only attracting participants from across the world but also, for the first time, the conference will be held outside Europe.

The 2011 conference will be held at the George Washington Masonic National Memorial, Alexandria, Virginia USA, over the weekend of 27 – 29 May 2011 with optional social activities on 26th and 30th May.

Alexandria and its environs is a place where Scots played an important part in the early development of the region, as indeed they did in many other areas of America. It has been suggested therefore that one theme of the 2011 conference might be ‘Early Scottish Freemasons in North America’ and proposals for papers on that topic will be especially welcome

Following the huge success of the first two conferences, this, the third International Conference, will see the conference achieve a level of maturity that was hoped for by the organisers and is indicative of the tremendous amount of interest in the subject of Freemasonry, in all its aspects. This is the only International Conference at which academics, members of the public and of course Freemasons, gather together to discuss this much under-estimated social phenomenon.
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE

By holding a biennial conference open to the public, the main purpose of the ICHF is:

To promote Freemasonry as a subject for academic study.
To present and debate relevant contributions in this area of research.
To create a forum for interactions between researchers, experts and a wider audience.
To encourage individuals to take an interest and participate in an active exchange of knowledge in the area.

The ICHF is a non-profit making, privately owned event and brand, sponsored by Supersonic Events Ltd. with no formal affiliation to any masonic or academic body. On each occasion a leading academic is appointed to convene a specialist committee responsible for the selection of suitable presentations. Any surplus generated by the ICHF will go to support young researchers and academics pursuing research in the topic and other relevent masonic projects.

The George Washington Masonic National Memorial situated in Alexandria, Virginia, USA, is a superb and ideal venue for the third International Conference with splendid conference facilities, local accommodation of all types, and is within a short Metro ride to Washington DC, the capital of the USA.

It is anticipated that the registration fee for the full conference will be in the region of $375

LOCAL ORGANIZING COMMITTEE
Dr. Andreas Onnerfors, University of Sheffield
Mark A. Tabbert, Director of Collections GWMM
Robert L. D. Cooper, Curator, Grand Lodge of Scotland
Thomas M. Savini, Director Chancellor, Robert R. Livingston Masonic Library of the Grand Lodge of New York
Dr. des. Jim Daniel, History Department, University of Sheffield

ACADEMIC COMMITTEE

Committee Chair:
Dr. Andreas Onnerfors, University of Sheffield, England

Committee Members:
Professor Cecile Revauger, University of Bordeaux III, France
Professor Tatiana Artyemeva, St. Petersburg branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Russia
Professor Margaret Jacob, UCLA, USA
Professor Susan Mitchell Sommers, St. Vincent College, USA
Professor Jessica Harland-Jacobs, University of Florida, USA
Dr. Maria Eugenia Vazquez, UCLA, USA
Dr. Kristiane Hasselmann, Free University of Berlin, Germany
Dr. Natalie Bayer, UCLA, USA
Dr. Aimee Newell, Scottish Rite, Northern Jurisdiction, Masonic Museum & Library, Lexington, USA ;
Professor Andrew Prescott, University of Glasgow, Scotland
Professor Martin Papenbeim, University of Bielefeld, Germany
Professor William D. Moore, University of North Carolina Wilmington, USA
Professor Pierre-Yves Beaurepaire, University of Nice Sophia-Antipolis, France
Professor Miguel Guzman-Stein, University of Costa Rica, Costa Rica
Professor Jeffrey Tyssens, Free University of Brussels, Belgium
Professor David Schimmelpenninck van der Oye, Brock University, Canada
Professor StepKen C. Bullock, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, USA
Professor Jan Snoek, University of Heidelberg, Germany
Professor Stephen Kantrowitz, University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA
Professor Baudouin Decharneux, Universite Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium
Dr. Henrik Bogdan, Gothenburg University, Sweden .*
Professor Kenneth Loiselle, Trinity University, USA |
Dr. Robert Collis, University of Sheffield, England
Dr. Robert Peter, University of Szeged, Hungary
Dr. Brent Morris, Scottish Rite, Southern Jurisdiction, USA

YOUNG RESEARCHERS PANEL:
Claus Oberhauser (PhD-candidate), University of Innsbruck, Austria Claus
Damien Amblard (PhD-candidate), City University of New York, USA
Ricardo Martinez Esquivel (PhD-candidate), University of Costa Rica, Costa Rica
Carlos Francisco Martinez Moreno (PhD-candidate), University of Mexico, Mexico

PROPOSALS FOR PAPERS AND PANELS SHOULD BE SUBMITTED TO:

http://www.northernnetworking.co.uk/ichf2011.php

before 30th June 2010. Late proposals will not be accepted. All proposals will be subject to anonymous peer review. The outcome of the review of all the proposals will be announced by I7th September 2010.

CHECKLIST FOR THE SUBMISSION OF PAPERS OR PANELS

Submissions must contain:

Author’s name, institution, postal and email addresses, telephone number.

Co-author’s names if applicable Title of paper or panel session Name of chair for a panel session.

Three to five suggested key words for indexing papers 300 word abstract of each paper(with an additional 200 word justification for a panel session)

Please state the category to which you are submitting:

Paper or Panel Session

Please submit your proposal to the Conference Organisers to:
http://www.northernnetworking.co.uk/ichf2011.php no later than 30th June 2010.

Receipt of your proposal will be acknowledged within 5 working days. Outcome advised by 17th September 2010.

Conference Organizer:

Northern Networking Events Ltd. Glenfinnan Suite,
Braeview House
9/II Braeview Place
East Kilbride, Glasgow, G74 3XH
Scotland, UK

Tel: +44 (o) 1355 244966 Fax: +44 (o) 1355 249959 Email: ICHF@northernnetworking.co.uk

Conference website: www.ichfonline.org
Conference organiser’s web: www. northernnetworking. co.uk
Conference promoted by Supersonic Events Ltd.

Read more on the ICHF blog as updates are posted.

Building Athens

May 20, 2010 by Masonic Traveler

Building Hiram and Building Boaz now have a new sibling, Building Athens.

Our good friend and Brother John Nagy has been diligently at the trestleboard and is ready to unveil is third installment in the Building Hiram series with his new book Building Athens.

The book, Building Athens, focuses on Wisdom, Insight and the Work of the Second Degree, specifically:

The Ancient Source of the Masonic EA and FC training
The Significance of “The Pass” in all Masonic Work
The Seven Liberal Arts and Sciences and how they relate to “The Pass”
What Raises a Mason’s Abilities to do further Work.

In the new book he explores why the study of the Seven Liberal Arts and Sciences are so critical for Masons to study.

From the books website:

In “Building Athens,” volume three of the “Uncommon Catechism for Uncommon Masonic Education” series, Dr. Nagy shares 12 intriguing and enlightening Masonic Catechisms that outline in depth the very purpose of the Fellow Craft education. Well established nearly 2500 years ago, the training serving this purpose Raises Masons with a specific end in mind.

Building Athens reveals:

The author of and inspiration for Fellow Craft Training.
The purpose Fellow Craft training was intended to accomplish.
The single most important word that denotes the difference between Fellow Crafts and Master Masons.
A widow’s son whose life and death redefined what it means to be heroic.
What should be known about the Seven Liberal Arts and Sciences by every Mason.
What truly Raises a Fellow Craft toward Mastery.

Dr. Nagy provides you with yet one more interesting and thought-provoking guide to improve and strengthen your Masonic awareness and clarity. He shares key information and insights that will help you better understand how facets of the second Degree fit together to help you in your Building efforts.

Something that immediately caught my eye was the title and how it correlates to the work. Building Athens shares 12 intriguing and enlightening Masonic Catechisms which seems to coincide with the founding of the city of Athens and the uniting of the 12 cities under the name Athenae (Athens), where the rich, the farmer, and the artisan all shared equal rights.

You can pre-order the book now, or pick it up when it hits June 1st from the Building Athens site!

Did the Mormon Church come out of Freemasonry?

May 19, 2010 by Masonic Traveler

Not according to the Mormon church.

An interesting article out this morning in the Mormon Times on the myths surrounding the founding of the Mormon church and its ties tot he ancient and honorable fraternity of Freemasonry.

The piece is in reference to a new book by LDS author Matthew B. Brown titled Exploring the Connection Between Mormons and Masons.

His argument for the two NOT being intrinsically connected (despite many similarities between them) is that the rituals of the fraternity emulate earlier Christian rituals of monarchy and church which was picked up on by Joseph Smith in his early writings.

Not being a Mormon, its a challenge to see or dismiss the parallels, but from past passing conversations, the parallels between the two were striking.

Brown says in the article:

By examining history, “it becomes obvious that the Nauvoo-era temple ordinances and doctrines did not suspiciously materialize after Joseph Smith became a Freemason,”.

Before joining the fraternity, Joseph Smith had associates who were Freemasons, including brother Hyrum Smith and apostle Heber C. Kimball. Brown, however, says there is no evidence suggesting the Prophet knew about Masonic secrets before becoming a Freemason himself. In fact, revealing such secrets would be grounds for punishment, and “there is no evidence of any such action being taken against a Mormon Mason for making improper disclosures to Joseph Smith.”

You can read the whole article Mormons, Masons and myths at the Mormon Times or, pick up the book Exploring the Connection Between Mormons and Masons

The Masonic Restoration Foundation August Symposium

May 18, 2010 by Masonic Traveler

Coming this August, the Masonic Restoration Foundation is holding its first National Symposium on Traditional Observance Lodges, and much much more.

The focus of this two day event will be Masonic Restoration with a primary focus on identifying a set of best practices that can be regionalized and implemented in those lodges seeking to increase the fulfillment of its members.

This is a “must attend” event if you have ever considered starting a Traditional Observance Lodge in your local area.

The 2 full day schedule includes:

Working Talk Points Breakfast on leadership and assessing strengths and weaknesses.
Lodge Formation – How to in YOUR region.
How to best work with your Grand Lodge
Regalia Presentation from the leading regalia manufacturers.
Live vendor trade show with music, art, books, and software.
A Tyled Meeting followed by a Festive Board Agape.

Day Two:

Leadership Psychology from a top national speaker
Break-outs to discuss best practices, obstacles, and implementation
A special presentation on Alchemy by Br. Timothy Hogan
And an afternoon discussion on the practical guide to implementing the full TO system.
Followed, of course, by an event ending networking and cigar Lounge with a on site whiskey master.

The event has tremendous promise and a terrific energy about it and from the descriptions on the events site, its sure to motivate and educate even the passive participant into a passionate Traditional Observation Lodge champion.

Space is limited to 120 participants. If the TO lodge process has been on your radar, this event is not to be missed.

You can register for the event on their website: MRF Symposium.

Curious about Masonic Restoration? Listen to the Masonic Central Podcast on the topic.
[podcast]http://www.blogtalkradio.com/masonic-central/2010/03/08/traditional-observance-what-is-it-and-is-it-the-fu.mp3[/podcast]

The Complete Lodge Secretary

May 17, 2010 by Greg Stewart

Lewis Masonic is one of those publishing houses that seem to pull from a limitless well of ideas to produce work that is both timely and informative and their latest book, The Complete Lodge Secretary, is exactly that: timely and informative.

To say its a must have is a difficult for anyone not sitting to the Worshipful Masters left hand side, but this jewel of a resource, written by Gordon G. Hunt, goes miles to explain the minutia of the day to day work on the secretaries desk.

The Complete Lodge Secretary is written principally from a UK perspective, but the lessons and organization it suggests is a valuable resource for anyone who has ever thought about how to organize a lodges, the records management behind it, and the etiquette to be held while in the lodge (Ch 10.7 Misbehaviour in Lodge). Something I liked is that it went into detail on the unexpected surprises to beware of with helpful suggestions on what to do in their event – the lesson: BE PREPARED!

A strength of the book is that it puts a terrific emphasis on the fact that the Lodge Secretary is manager of the lodge. By saying that, what The Complete Lodge Secretary says is that no matter what the circumstance or issue, the Lodge Secretary is both knowledgeable and well prepared to resolve it, at the will and pleasure of the Worshipful Master of course.

You can find The Complete Lodge Secretary on Amazon, or from Lewis Masonic directly.

Secret Order of the Cephalopod Lodge

May 13, 2010 by Masonic Traveler

Some how, I don’t think Sponge Bob is the first thing you think about when you think Secret Society.

But Squidward, well, he’s just the type of cephalopod I’d expect to be into that kind of thing…

The Auto play was a bit annoying, You can watch the clip here:
http://spongebob.nick.com/videos/play/cephalopod-lodge-clip/

You can find an interesting analysis on why this episode is related to Freemasonry here. Not very revealing, but a fun exercise in chasing your conspiracy tail.

And now, for something completely different…

May 10, 2010 by Masonic Traveler

A brother (and author) of this book sent me a note some time back about his new book, and I’ve been sorely remiss in mentioning it, so I wanted to take a minute and share The Festive Freemason.

Written and illustarted by Br. Steve Chadburn, he is a long established professional cartoonist, author and illustrator. This book is a humorous book of cartoons about being a freemason in the modern world. Much of its work is based on English Freemasonry, masons everywhere will still be able to relate to the situations and enjoy the book.

About the book: The Festive Freemason is the creation of a Past Master in the Craft,who happens to be a professional author, illustrator and cartoonist. The book will hopefully amuse, entertain, and offer a unique insight into how freemasons balance their commitment to families and work. With the duties, obligations and fellowship to be found in Freemasonry.

What better way to see the fraternity than with humor and with mirth.

Br. Steve’s book is available on Amazon – 978-1449981006

Authority

May 6, 2010 by Greg Stewart

Authority – who has it, how do they have it and what happens with it?

The line of development in Arkansas has risen to an overly heated debate outside of those involved. Like a gladiator battle, its true, the dirty under workings of both sides are showing as the gears turn violently towards their ultimate seizure.

We want blood, from someone.

In this, no one will be the winner. Only losers, on both immediate sides in the loss of a passionate member and the loss of credibility to a former “customer”. Both Derek and the Grand Lodge of Arkansas will be losers in this.

But then, so will the rest of us.

Not because of any public wronging or injustice, or in any flaming arrow of outside criticism. All you need to is read the breadcrumbs of comments littered on both sides of the fence. Its painfully obvious, nobody is happy.

This has a parallel with something else on my mind recently, and that has to do with Authority.

Is there an Authority to Masonry, and ultimately if so who has it?

In the realm of membership organizations (where you pay to be a member) is Freemasonry (the lodge, the Grand Lodge, the apendant bodies) truly a democracy, a co-operative (see co-op) which exists for the mutual benefit of its members like a bank credit union, a Non or For-Profit Corporation, or is it something else? Is it a corporation, designed only to facilitate an experience to its paying members like a Club Med, but with a leadership structure in place to manage and govern said experience (essentially a for profit managed corporation whose motive is to raise money to expand and grow financially with stake holders and beneficiaries). We know for a fact that it is NOT a Mutual Benefit Society, as that is something early on impressed upon us.

A Cooperative is defined as autonomous associations of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social, and cultural needs and aspirations through jointly-owned and democratically-controlled enterprises. Further, its definition on Wikipedia says of it: A cooperative may also be defined as a business owned and controlled equally by the people who use its services or who work at it.

I would interject here that the nature of the organization seems to most reflect the definition of a mutual benefit society, in that the tenets of Masonry mirror the attributes of such a society.

Which raises a big question as to who then owns Freemasonry. Even more so, who speaks for it?

But lets stick to Authority for the moment. Wikipedia says of the word: authority derives from the Latin word auctoritas meaning invention, advice, opinion, influence, or command. Essentially authority is imposed by superior hierarchy superior upon inferior either by force of arms structural authority or by force of argument or sapiential authority. Usually authority has components of both compulsion and persuasion.

One could suggest that authority is compelled by the idea of Leadership, which is defined as:

Leadership is stated as the “process of social influence in which one person can enlist the aid and support of others in the accomplishment of a common task.

Wikipedia: Leadership

The difference being a Leader is able to compel people to action vs. an Authority forcing them. Taken a step further, does a Co-Op have an Authority or does it have Leadership? Is it compelled into action, or is it forced?

On Hodapp’s Freemasons for Dummies blog, he recently quoted from L’Express, a French publication, about a meeting of French Masons where in their displeasure more than a 1000 Masons showed up to show their discontent. Did they show up because they were compelled, or because they had an active part in the overall process?

The problem with all of this is who are beneficiaries and who are the victims.

Those who see themselves as part of a Co-Op prefer the transparency – they see an open society as a win win for all involved and want to know what is going on to be a part of the conversation. And those who see themselves as under an authority feel that there is a violation of the institutions sanctity, that open dialog violates its privacy, secrecy, and so on, such that to even bring the conversation up is revealing its secrets. (First rule of fight club…)

I won’t mince words, I’m in the Co-Op camp. I want my Secret Society to be open to me, not governed by another internal secret society with its own motives which leans back to the corporate vs. cooperative issue.

So my big unanswered question is this: is Freemasonry a Co-Op or an Corporation? Do we, as members have a universal say in it? Or is it because so few come to lodge to vote, the say has been usurped by our own internal Patriot Act (I’ve linked an explanation of the Patriot Act for those not in the US).

So then, using the fuller definition of Authority from Wikipedia: In government, authority is often used interchangeably with the term “power”. However, their meanings differ: while “power” is defined as “the ability to influence somebody to do something that he/she would not have done”, “authority” refers to a claim of legitimacy, the justification and right to exercise that power. For example, whilst a mob has the power to punish a criminal, for example by lynching, people who believe in the rule of law consider that only a court of law has the authority to order punishment.

Authority then comes from a belief in law. Our belief in the law. We give an institution authority because we choose to exist and live by its laws.

Thankfully in the U.S. the first amendment protects our right to speak freely in the public space, to question authority (when necessary) and be publicially vocal because no other means exist to communicate cooperatively.

Because every action has a reaction, and in a Co-Op organization a disgruntled customer speaks poorly of the whole organization, and non disgruntled members should cooperatively have a right to know what Authority(Leadership) is being exercised.

Maybe I’m wrong. Is the corpus of Freemasonry not a Co-Op by definition? Is it a Non Profit? Is it a for profit? Does it in practice operate like a Benefit Society? Is it something else entirely, indefinable by civil law? Does it matter?

If no man speaks for Masonry, is there such thing as an authority that can through it?