Move Over and Make Room

It becomes the duty of every new Mason to find their place within the lodge.  If a new member likes to cook they can offer to help the kitchen crew, if they like to work with their hands they can help with maintaining the building or if they like to plan events they can help with Blood Drive or Child ID programs.

It also becomes the duty of every lodge officer, past master and member to help every new Mason find their place within the lodge.  Invite the new brother to help with the upkeep of the building, or to help plan the next lodge event - give him an oppoprtunity to learn what activities within the lodge he enjoys the most.

Why is this so important ?  If the past teaches us anything about our future, a newly made Mason who does not find his place within the lodge will be lost - they may come to an occasional meeting and they may remain on the lodge rolls as a member or they may join another local lodge that does make they feel welcome.  

There has been too many members lost to demit and nonpayment of dues because they never found their place within the lodge.  Lodge's today need to actively reach out and embrace new members - that will help us to grow and become a stronger part of our respective communities.

N.J. Grand Lodge 2009

As a voting member of my lodge, this week I attended the 222nd annual communication of the Grand Lodge of New Jersey.

There was an awful lot going on in the short two days we were there - first the fellowship shared with friends and Masons from around the jurisdiction is always something to enjoy.   The opening of Grand Lodge began with the Knights Templar presenting the colors, and the introductions of all the representives of all the visiting masonic grand jurisdictions - attendees included representatives from most local states as well as Florida and Wisconsin.

Then the required business that needs to be attended to during the meeting, including reading the names in nomination for office.  Shortly after that the polls were opened for voting and the meeting adjourned for the day.  Then the activities included a blood drive as well as visiting the vendors that were on hand selling their wares and offering information.  

There were hospitality suites a plenty and a lot of fellowship was shared into the evening.

The second day began with the Masonic Kilties presenting the colors and then more important business, which included a report on how it hoped we will save our home from it's current financial crisis, as well as voting on legistlation and awards.  I was honored to be a recipient of one of those awards being the blood drive coordinator for my lodge - we were honored for collecting the most pints of blood on any lodge in New Jersey.

The voting results were that R. W. Glenn Trautman was elected Junior Grand Warden - he is from my district so it will be an interesting time as he progresses through the Grand Lodge Offices on his way to being Grand Master, at the same time as I am progressing through the officer's line of my lodge.

Our new Grand Master is M.W. Bill Berman, while I really do not know him well I trust that he will lead our craft with wisdom this coming year.

Our outgoing Grand Master John M. Colligas was a great leader and seems to have been the right man at the right time to deal with the difficulties that presented themselves with our country's current recession, causing a funding crisis for our masonic home.  I have had a few dealings with M.W. Colligas and I found him at all times to be a gentleman, and I thank him for his leadership this past year.

Should the "G" stand for Google?

If you do a search on Google for the word "Freemason" it offers 1.44 million possible results!

Is this a good thing for our craft?  I think the answer is sometimes yes and sometimes no.  I speak for most Freemasons I know when I say that I wish our "secrets" were not available in so public a forum, and that those with an anti-masonic agenda often can promote their unsubstantiated information to an unknowing public without censure.

That said the availability of masonic information to the Freemason wanting to learn more about the craft is unprecedented.  Should you want to find Masonic clipart or simply look up information on the history of square and compass - the internet world can bring the information right into your living room.

The discussions groups open up a new world of sharing of thoughts and ideas from one state to another, and from one country to another.  If you want to know if there is a lodge in Zurich that meets in May, it can be a simple matter to inquire on one of these discussion groups to locate a local Freemason that knows the answer to your questions.  While I am a member of a number of masonic discussion groups the one I find that covers all area of masonry is the Masonic Light grooup on Yahoo Groups.

Podcasts allow for us to share short essays about the craft that can be uploaded and then listened to at a later time.  While many lodges have ventured into this forum - Bro. Scott Blaskin of King George Lodge in Calgary Alberta Canada has offered the most successful podcast I know of and it is called the Digital Freemason.

The more recent popularity of Facebook and other social networking sites offers a new dimension in getting to know fellow masons via the internet, typically you get top see a picture and and see a brief biography.

Will we someday be able to "virtually" attend lodge?  I sure hope not, but there seems to be no limits to the ways people can interact via the internet.

M.W. Carl Claudy a Masonic Author of Distiction

Carl H. Claudy (1879 - 1957) is probably one of the best know masonic authors, he is probably is best known for his series on the three degrees of freemasonry and his book "Old Tiler Talks".  His simple style of writing makes his stories as important today as when they were written.

An author of 32 books and a galaxy of essays and short stories numbering more than 1,600.  His formal education concluded after only a year of high school whereupon he found himself in the hardscrabble workaday world of the late 19th century.

At age 19 he headed to the Alaskan gold fields. Finding no gold after six months, he returned to the States and took up employment with an emery wheel manufacturer. After several years he left that job to move back to Washington, DC, where he became the editor of a popular science paper. This was his springboard.

Despite the lack of a formal education Claudy began to read and to write. In fact, the first story he ever wrote appeared in The Washington Post. He freelanced for The New York Herald, eventually joining its staff in 1908 with a special assignment covering the then infant aeronautical industry.

During this time he wrote a number of articles on the subject and published a book titled, Beginners Book of Model Airplanes. But he was also a photographer. His photos of early flights were given to Alexander Graham Bell who placed in the Smithsonian where they remain today. At the end of World War I, Claudy went overseas as a correspondent for Scientific American.

An avid athlete and outdoors man, his hobbies included camping, mountaineering, boxing, rowing crew, tennis, and football. His love of the outdoors brought him frequently to Montana and inspired many short stories written for various Boy Scout publications.

Claudy's association with Freemasonry began in 1908, when, at the age of 29, he was raised a Master Mason in Harmony 17 in Washington, DC. He served as its master and eventually served as Grand Master of Masons in the District of Columbia in 1943.

His Masonic writing career began in earnest when he became associated with the Masonic Service Association in 1923, serving as associate editor of its magazine, The Master Mason until 1931. He became executive secretary of the Masonic Service Association in 1929 — a position held until his death in 1957. Under his single handed leadership the Masonic Service Association was brought to a place of preeminence through his authorship and distribution of the "Short Talk Bulletin" which made his name familiar to virtually every lodge in the country.

Claudy can personally lay claim to authorship of approximately 350 Short Talk Bulletins. In addition to the bulletins themselves he wrote and distributed innumerable digests, special bulletins, and portfolios of historical and factual nature   all designed to promote the Craft. One of his finest works of this nature is the "Little Masonic Library," a collection of 20 pocket size volumes by noted authors. In 1930 he published serially in The Master Mason his delightful novel, The Lion's Paw, shortly followed by several others, including the timeless Master's Book, in which are set out the principles and practices of a successful lodge master. Another classic written during this time, his primer for new Masons entitled Introduction to Freemasonry, enjoyed international popularity. In 1934 he penned the first of his series of 12 Masonic plays while in his Washington office. The succeeding plays were all drafted on the road, so to speak. Nine of them were written in a log cabin in Montana in the sight of Emigrant Peak — a blue lodge in the Gallatins as Claudy called it. The plays have, in the past, had a powerful 

impact on the fraternity and formerly were performed countless times in nearly every grand lodge jurisdiction.

In consequence of his long service, Masonic recognition was mighty. He was a 33rd Degree Scottish Rite Mason, recipient of the Henry Price medal and honorary member of many Grand Lodges and lodges.

(Note: Information for this posting was taken from a story on Carl Claudy by the Masonic Service Association.)

M.W. Dr. Jepthah B. Munn, PGM

Recently I became aware of the grave site of a distinguished worthy brother that was buried in the Hillside Cemetery across from Madison Lodge.  With a little help from WB Dale Keller who used to work in the cemetery many years ago, I was able to locate the grave of M.W. Dr. Jepthah B. Munn (1780-1863).

The story of Jepthah B. Munn is the story of a distinguished physician, and statesman as well as something of a history of Freemasonry in the Morris County area.  

Jepthah B. Munn was a physician and was a founder of the Medical Society of Morris County in 1816 and was elected the organization's President in 1820.  In 1828 he was elected a Fellow in the Medical Society of New Jersey.

Munn served in the New Jersey General Assembly from 1810 to 1814 and on the Legislative Council (State Senate) from 1825 to 1836, serving as vice-president and acting Governor of New Jersey in 1836.

M.W. Munn was raised to the sublime degree of Master Mason in 1804 in Paterson-Orange Lodge No. 13, he served as Worshipful Master of Cincinnati Lodge No. 17 (Morristown, NJ) from 1809-1814 and became the charter Worshipful Master of Chatham Lodge No. 33 in 1814 and served in this capacity until 1819.  (Note: The current Borough of Madison was not founded until 1834, and previous to that was known as the "Bottle Hill" section of Chatham)

Chatham Lodge subsequently surrendered it's warrant in 1824, and M.W. Munn returned to Cincinnati Lodge, and affiliated with St. John's lodge No. 2.Elected Senior Grand Warden of the Grand Lodge of New Jersey 1818-1820, he subsequently became Grand Master of New Jersey in 1821 serving in this capacity until 1824.  His term as Grand master was best known for when 

he received Bro. Lafayette at Elizabeth, NJ in 1824.

 In 1837, Munn participated in constituting the St. John's Grand Lodge in New York in competition with the regular Grand Lodge of New York.   Munn Lodge was the first lodge to be voted on and warranted under the jurisdiction of Saint John's Grand Lodge and for some 30 years there were two distinct Grand Lodges in New York, and a number of warrants were issued - including one in Hoboken, NJ which was later absorbed into the Grand Lodge of New Jersey.

In 1842 M.W. John Darcy, PGM censured M. W. Munn for his participation in the creation of theSaint John’s Grand Lodge.  This censure was rescinded in 1845.Most governing bodies of Masons in America openly admitted that the St. John’s Grand Lodge had no Masonic Status, but they also did not regard it as a clandestine body. 

Then in 1849 a third Grand Lodge of New York a third Grand Lodge in New York was constituted and the situation was found entirely ridiculous and arbitrated by all other Grand Lodges in the country at the time.  In December of 1850 Munn Lodge was granted a warrant by the Grand Lodge of New York and Saint John’s Lodge was subsequently dissolved.

Masonic Police Patches

I recently put together a display of masonic police patches for my lodge. These patches are worn by degree teams from the respective police agencies while performing the Master Mason Degree for members of their respective departments.

These patches are a good example of the universality of masonry, these patches can be found for many states and large cities in both the United States and Canada.

Something new for all Masonic Leaders The Masonic Renewal Committee has brought together countless Masonic programs and ideas from all across North America and made them available to all at one easy-to-use electronic site www.masonicrenewal.org Subjects include Membership, Mentoring, Leadership, Community Service, Member Retention, Promotional, Training, Secretarial issues and more. There are PowerPoint presentations, a calendar of all Grand Lodge communication dates, and even a password-protected area for Grand Masters to discuss issues.