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Warrington Group of Masonic Lodges and Chapters Masonic Hall, Winmarleigh Street, Warrington. WA1 1NB Tel: 01925 651468 Fax: 01925 629902 IN THE PROVINCE OF WEST LANCASHIRE
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WHAT IS FREEMASONRY? It is a most happy association of friends which provides interest, a discipline of life, many social activities for men and their families and has a long history of Charitable support for the less fortunate members of our society. All this is combined with a fascinating history going back almost three hundred years. To be more specific:
Freemasonry is open to men of good reputation, irrespective of race or creed, provided they believe in a Supreme Being. This belief is an essential qualification for admission and continued membership.
Freemasonry teaches moral lessons and self-knowledge through participation in a progression of allegorical two-part plays, which are learnt by heart and performed within each Lodge.
Freemasonry offers its members an approach to life which seeks to reinforce thoughtfulness for others, kindness in the community honesty in business, courtesy in society and fairness in all things. Members are urged to regard the interests of the family as paramount but importantly Freemasonry also teaches and practices concern for people, care for the less fortunate and help for those in need.
SECRECY Freemasonry is not a secret society Members are perfectly free to acknowledge their membership and will do so in answer to any reasonable enquiry There is no secret about the aims and principles of the Order. The Constitutions and rules are freely available. The local Public Library holds many fully descriptive Masonic books, available on inquiry The Internet has hundreds of web pages of information from all over the world. Lodge meetings, like meetings of many other social and professional associations, are private occasions open only to members. Freemasons are encouraged to speak openly about their membership while remembering that they undertake not to use their membership for their own or anyone else's advancement.
RELIGION Freemasonry is emphatically not a religion. Freemasonry requires a belief in God and its principles are common to many of the world's great religions. Freemasonry does not try to replace religion or substitute for it. Every candidate is exhorted to practise his religion and to regard its holy book as the unerring standard of truth. Freemasonry does not instruct its members in what their religious beliefs should be, nor does it offer sacraments.
Thus, Freemasonry brings men of different faiths together in a unique way to share a happy and rewarding fellowship with one another.
CONDUCT On his entry into Freemasonry each candidate states unequivocally that he expects no material gain from his membership. At various stages during the three ceremonies of his admission he is forcefully reminded that attempts to gain preferment or material gain for himself or others is a misuse of membership which will not be tolerated. Abuse of membership can result in penalties varying from temporary suspension to expulsion. Nor may Freemasonry ever be used to protect a fellow Freemason, or anyone else, who has behaved dishonestly or unlawfully.
POLITICS Freemasonry is wholly unconcerned with political matters. Discussion of politics or religion is expressly forbidden at Lodge meetings. The organising body of Freemasonry refuses to express any opinion, one way or the other, about domestic or foreign State Policy.
CHARITY From its earliest days, Freemasonry has been involved in charitable activities, and since its inception it has provided support for many widows and orphans of Freemasons as well as others within the community.
All monies raised for charity are drawn from amongst Freemasons, their families and friends, while grants and donations are made to Masonic and non-Masonic charities alike. Over the past five years alone Freemasonry has raised more than £75m for a wide range of charitable purposes including those involved in medical research, community care, education and work with young people.
SOCIALLY Freemasonry is fun as well as having its more serious side. It provides a wonderfully happy social life for its members and their families with a wide variety of events run by local Lodges as well as larger events bringing many people together. Very many enduring friendships are made. Thus, being a Freemason becomes a very comfortable, happy and satisfying experience with great opportunities to become involved, while catering for a wide variety of talents and interests. Lodges meet monthly, usually for eight or nine months of the year; meetings are followed by a supper and by a banquet once a year following the annual meeting. Membership allows a Mason to visit Lodges in all parts of the country and abroad, provided the Lodge is recognized by our own Grand Lodge, thus providing great opportunities for social contact. If you have a friend who is a Freemason, ask him to tell you more about it. Alternatively, you can obtain more information from your local Masonic Hall, from our Provincial website at: www.westlancashirefreemasons.org.uk or from The Provincial Grand Secretary The Masonic Hall, 22 Hope Street, Liverpool L1 9BY Tel: 0151 709 2458 Fax: 01 51 709 6864 E-mail: admin@westlancsfreemason.org.uk
YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED Q. What is Freemasonry? A. Freemasonry is the U.K's. largest secular, fraternal and charitable organization. it teaches moral lessons and self knowledge through participation in a progression of allegorical two part plays. Q. Why are you a secret society? A. We are not, but lodge meetings, like those of many other groups, are private and open only to members. The rules and aims of freemasonry are available to the public. Meeting places are known and in many areas are used by the local community for activities other than Freemasonry. Members are encouraged to speak openly about Freemasonry. Q. What are the secrets of Freemasonry? A. The secrets in Freemasonry are the traditional modes of recognition which are not used indiscriminately, but solely as a test of membership, e.g. when visiting a Lodge where you are not known. Q. What happens at a lodge meeting? A. The meeting is in two parts. As in any association there is a certain amount of administrative procedure - minutes of last meeting, proposing and balloting for new members, discussing and voting on financial matters, election of officers, news and correspondence. Then there are the ceremonies for admitting new Masons and the annual installation of the Master and appointments of officers. The three ceremonies for admitting a new mason are in two parts - a slight dramatic instruction in the principles and lessons taught in the Craft followed by a lecture in which the candidate's various duties are spelled out. Q. Isn't ritual out of place in a modern society? A. No. The ritual is a shared experience which binds the members together. Its use of drama, allegory and symbolism impresses the principles and teachings more firmly in the mind of each candidate than if they were simply passed on to him in matter- of- fact modern language. Q. Why do grown men run around with their trousers rolled up? A. It is true that candidates have to roll up their trouser legs during the three ceremonies when they are being admitted to membership. Taken out of context, this can seem amusing, but like many other aspects of Freemasonry, it has a symbolic meaning. Q. Why do Freemasons take oaths? A. New members make solemn promises concerning their conduct in Lodge and in society. Each also promises to keep confidential the traditional methods of proving that he is a Freemason which he would use when visiting a lodge where he is not known. Freemasons do not swear allegiances to each other or to Freemasonry. Freemasons promise to support others in times of need, but only if that support does not conflict with their duties to God, the law, their family or with their responsibilities as a Citizen. Q. Why do your 'obligations' contain hideous penalties? A. They no longer do. When Masonic ritual was developing in the late 1600s and 1700s it was quite common for legal and civil oaths to include physical penalties and Freemasonry simply followed the practice of the times. In Freemasonry, however, the physical penalties were always symbolic and were never carried out. After long discussion, they were removed from the promises in 1986. Q. Are Freemasons expected to prefer fellow Masons at the expense of others in giving jobs, promotions, contracts and the like? A. Absolutely not. That would be misuse of membership and subject to Masonic discipline. On his entry into Freemasonry each candidate states unequivocally that he expects no material gain from his membership. At various times during the three ceremonies of his admission and when he is presented with a certificate from Grand Lodge that the admission ceremonies have been completed, he is forcefully reminded that attempts to gain preferment or material gain for himself or others is a misuse of membership which will not be tolerated. The Book of Constitutions, which every candidate receives, contains strict rules governing abuse of membership which can result in penalties varying from temporary suspension to expulsion. Q. Isn't it true that Freemasons only look after each other? A. No. From its earliest days, Freemasonry has been involved in charitable activities. Since its inception, Freemasonry has provided support not only for widows and orphans of Freemasons but also for many others within the community. Whilst some Masonic charities cater specifically but not exclusively for Masons or their dependants, others make significant grants to non-Masonic organizations. On a local level, lodges give substantial support to local causes. Q. Aren't you a religion or rival to religion? A. Emphatically not. Freemasonry requires a belief in God and its principles are common to many of the world's great religions. Freemasonry does not try to replace religion or substitute for it. Every candidate is exhorted to practice his religion and to regard its holy book as the unerring standard of truth. Freemasonry does not instruct its members in what their religious beliefs should be, nor does it offer sacraments. Freemasonry deals in relations between men; religion deals in a man's relationship with his God. Q. Why do call it the VSL and not the Bible? A. To the majority of Freemasons the Volume of the Sacred Law is the Bible. There are many in Freemasonry, however, who are not Christian and to them the Bible is not their sacred book and they will make their promises on the book which is regarded as sacred to their religion. The Bible will always in an English lodge but as the organization welcomes men of many different faiths, it is the Volume of the Sacred Law. Thus, when the Volume of the Sacred Law is referred to in ceremonies, to a non-Christian it will be the holy book of his religion and to a Christian it will be the Bible. Q. Why do you call God the Great Architect? A. Freemasonry embraces all men who believe in God. Its membership includes Christian, Jews, Hindus, Sikhs, Muslims, Parsee and others. The use of descriptions such as the Great Architect prevents disharmony. The Great Architect is not a specific Masonic god or an attempt to combine all gods into one. Thus, men of differing religions pray together without offense being given to any of them. Q. Why don't some churches like Freemasonry? A. There are elements within certain churches who misunderstand Freemasonry and confuse secular rituals with religious liturgy. Although the Methodist Conference and the General Synod of the Anglican Church have occasionally criticized Freemasonry, in both Churches there are many Masons and indeed others who are dismayed that the Churches should attack Freemasonry, an organization which has always encouraged its members to be active in their own religion. Q. Why will Freemasonry not accept Roman Catholics as members? A. It does. The prime qualification for admission into Freemasonry has always been a belief in God. How that belief is expressed is entirely up to the individual. Four Grand Masters of English Freemasonry have been Roman Catholics. There are many Roman Catholic Freemasons. Q. Isn't Freemasonry just another political pressure group? A. Emphatically not. Whilst individual Freemasons will have their own views on politics and state policy, Freemasonry as a body will never express a view on either. The discussion of politics at Masonic meetings has always been prohibited. Q. Are there not Masonic groups who are involved in politics? A. There are groups in other countries who call themselves Freemasons and who involve themselves in political matters. They are not recognized or countenanced by the United Grand Lodge of England and other regular Grand Lodges who follow the basic principles of Freemasonry and ban the discussion of politics and religion at their meetings. Q. Is Freemasonry an international Order? A. Only in the sense that Freemasonry exists throughout the free world. Each Grand Lodge is sovereign and independent, and whilst following the same basic principles, may have differing ways of passing them on. There is no international governing body for Freemasonry. Q. What is the relationship between Freemasonry and groups like the Orange Order, Odd Fellows and the Buffaloes? A. None. There are numerous fraternal orders and Friendly Societies whose rituals, regalia and organization are similar in some respects to Freemasonry's. They have no formal or informal connections with Freemasonry. Q. Why don't you have women members? A. Traditionally, Freemasonry under the United Grand Lodge of England has been restricted to men. The early stonemasons were all male, when Freemasonry was organizing, the position of women in society was different from today. If women wish to join Freemasonry, there are two separate Grand Lodges in England restricted to women only. Q. Why do you wear regalia? A. Wearing regalia is historical and symbolic and, like a uniform, serves to indicate to members where they rank in the organization. Q. How many Freemasons are there? A. Under the Grand Lodge of England, there are 330,000 Freemasons, meeting in 8,644 lodges. There are separate Grand Lodges for Ireland (which cover north and south) and Scotland, with a combined membership of 150,000. Worldwide there are probably 5 million members. Q. How and where did Freemasonry start? A. It is not known. The earliest recorded 'making' of a Freemason in England is that of Elias Ashmole in 1646. (in Warrington) Organized Freemasonry began with the founding of the Grand Lodge of England on 24 June 1717, the first Grand Lodge in the world. Ireland followed in 1725 and Scotland in 1736. All the regular Grand Lodges in the world trace themselves back to one or more of the Grand Lodges in the British Isles. There are two main theories of origin. According to one, the operative stonemasons who built great cathedrals and castles had lodges in which they discussed trade affairs. They had simple initiation ceremonies and, as there were no City and Guilds certificates, dues cards or trade union membership cards, they adopted secret signs and words to demonstrate that they were trained masons when they moved from site to site. In the 1600s, these operative lodges began to accept non-operatives as "gentlemen masons". Gradually these non-operatives took over lodges and turned them from operative to 'free and accepted' or 'speculative' lodges. The other theory is that in the late 1500s and early 1600s there was a group which was interested in the promotion of religious and political tolerance in an age of great intolerance when differences of opinion on matters of religion and politics were to lead to bloody civil war. In forming Freemasonry, they were trying to make better men and build a better world. As the means of teaching in those days was by allegory and symbolism, they took the idea of building as the central allegory on which to form there system. The main source of allegory was the Bible, the contents of which were known to everyone even if they could not read, and the only building described in detail in the Bible was King Solomon's Temple, which became the basis of the ritual. The old trade guilds provided them with their basis administration of a Master, Wardens, Treasurer and Secretary, and the operative mason's tools provided them with a wealth of symbols with which to illustrate the moral teachings of Freemasonry. Q. How many degrees are there in Freemasonry? A. Basic Freemasonry consists of three 'craft' degrees (Entered apprentice, Fellow Craft and Master Mason) completed by the Royal Arch degree (Chapter). There are many other degrees and Orders which are called 'additional' because they add to the basis of the Craft and Royal Arch. They are not basic to Freemasonry but add to it by further expounding and illustrating the principles stated in the Craft and Royal Arch. Some of these additional degrees are numerically superior to the third degree but this does not affect the fact that they are additional to and not in any way superior to or higher than the Craft. The ranks that these additional degrees carry have no standing with the Craft or the Royal Arch. Q. How much does it cost to be a Freemason? A. It varies from lodge to lodge but anyone wishing to join can find a lodge to suit his pocket. On entry, there is an initiation fee and an apron to buy. A member pays an annual subscription to his lodge which covers his membership and the administrative costs of running the lodge. It is usual to have a meal after the meeting; the cost of this can be included in either the annual subscription or paid for at the time. It is entirely up to the individual member what he gives to Charity, but should always be without detriment to his other responsibilities. Similarly, he may join as many lodges as his time and pocket can allow as long as it does not adversely affect his family life and responsibilities.
Who can become a Freemason? Our fraternity has a wonderful history, which dates back more than three centuries. It is one of the worlds oldest secular fraternities, a society of men concerned with the moral and spiritual values. Founded on the three great principles of Brotherly Love, Relief and Truth, it aims to bring together men of goodwill, regardless of background and differences. It is not as difficult as you might think to become a Freemason. The essential qualification is to be a mature free man, twenty one years and over and have a belief in a Supreme Being. Suggested Steps After viewing this web-site you are interested in becoming a Freemason, we advise that you first talk to a family member, friend or colleague who you know to be a member. They will be able to explain what they can about us and help you find a suitable Lodge. If you don't know anyone who is a member, then get in touch with the Warrington Group Secretary by going to the Membership Enquiry page, print the page fill it in and send it as instructed. If you don't live in the Warrington area, then get in touch with your nearest Masonic Hall. Write to them and tell them about yourself and your reasons for wishing to join. Arrangements will then be made to meet you socially to give you the chance to find out more about us, and for us to find out a little about you. You would then in due course be invited to meet representatives from a suitable Lodge, prior to being balloted for membership of that Lodge. All being well, a date would then be fixed for your admission. Enquiries about membership, contact: Group membership officer John McIntyre, Tel :01925 764741 E-mail: jtmcintyre@live.co.uk
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LAST UPDATED 20/8/07 |