Freemason |
York Rite
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Scottish Rite
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As
with Life, this page is a Work in Progress
Begun on Sat., April 14, 2001. Last updated Saturday, January 19, 2008. |
I am a Mason, having been raised to the Sublime Degree of Master Mason on November 18, 2000, at Summer Avenue Lodge # 729, Free and Accepted Masons, of the Grand Lodge of Tennessee. In 2005, I transferred from Summer Avenue Lodge to White Station O.K. Houck Lodge # 95, which meets in the Lodge hall on Park at Colonial. (White Station O.K. Houck Lodge is now known as Unity Lodge #95. Summer Avenue Lodge merged with another, and the resulting Lodge is called University Lodge.)
As a result of being a Master Mason, I have also been permitted the privilege of joining several other organizations.
Specifically, my other (beyond the Lodge) Masonic involvements include:
- Prophet (member) of Zaman Grotto # 173, of the Mystic Order of Veiled Prophets of the Enchanted Realm (MOVPER, or Grotto);
- Sir Knight (male member) of Faith Court # 15 of the Order of the Amaranth;
- Brother of Raleigh Summer Chapter # 313, Order of the Eastern Star;
- Companion (member) of Penn Chapter #22, Chapter of Royal Arch Masons;
- Companion (member) of Eureka Council # 6, Council of Cryptic Masons;
- Sir Knight (member) of Saint Elmo Commandery #4, Knights Templar;
- Brother (Member) of the Tennessee Lodge of Research; and
- 32nd Degree Mason (Member) of the Memphis Consistory, Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry for the Southern Jurisdiction, USA.
The Order
of the Amaranth and the Order of the Eastern Star are coed, consisting
of Master Masons and women who are closely related to them by blood or
marriage. All of the other groups are male-only.
The Lodge, Chapter, Council and Commandery are all part of Ancient Craft Freemasonry (York Rite).
The Scottish Rite is a separate path within Freemasonry.
The Grotto has been described as the Master Mason's playground, but the overall atmosphere is one of a family club.
I was also (briefly) a Noble (member) of Al Chymia Shrine Temple, Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, in other words, a Shriner, but I found that to be too expensive and dropped it. The Shrine is a brotherhood devoted to having fun and helping children. (Great group with a fantastic cause -- who does not want to help kids? -- I just could not afford it.)
In fact, all of the Masonic and related groups have a sizable involvement with charities, especially those that help children. The Shrine Hospitals spend millions of $$ each year providing free care to crippled and burned children at no cost to the parents or any third party. The Grotto has a long-standing program to provide dental care to handicapped children. The Amaranth supports diabetes research (something near and dear to my heart, as both my wife and I are diabetic). The York Rite has the Knight Templar Eye Foundation and other charities; and the Scottish Rite has Rite Care or the Childhood Language Disorders Clinics, dedicated to helping kids with language disorders learn to speak well so they can have brighter futures. The Order of the Eastern Star and the Grand Lodge of Tennessee also have several charity programs, assisting non-Masons, as well as Masons and their families. (The Grand Lodge of Tenn is big into Habitat for Humanity and maintains a very strong Widows and Orphans Fund.)
In my former Lodge, I served in several capacities, including Lecturer. Currently, the focus of my Masonic activities is on the Rites -- the Scottish Rite and the York Rite -- so, I am not serving as an officer in the Lodge.
At Zaman Grotto, I am the webmaster (see it at http://zamangrotto.org); served a year in charge of Gifts, Wills & Bequests (although the current Monarch seems to think I am still in this position as he keeps calling on me for reports - grin) ; and served two years as Secretary-Treasurer in the Volunteer Unit.
In the Scottish Rite, I am a Ritualist and spent 2 years organizing the Knights of Saint Andrew, Memphis Chapter (a service organization for 32nd Degree Masons), where I served 2 terms as Chief Knight (presiding officer) and was recently elected to my thirdd term as Knight Recorder (Secretary). I am also the webmaster for the Memphis Scottish Rite (see it at http://memscottishrite.tripod.com/ .)
In the York Rite, I was recently elected High Priest (presiding officer) of my Chapter of Royal Arch Masons; Deputy Master (2nd officer) of my Council of Cryptic Masons; and just completed a one-year term as Commander (presiding officer) of my Commandery of Knights Templar - and I accepted an appointed position within the Commandery (Standard Bearer) -- all of these offices (except Past Commander) are for 2008. In years past, I organized and served as Chairman of the Future Life Committee (a joint Chapter-Council-Commandery group).
I am also active in the Order of the Eastern Star (currently Sentinel - served 3 terms as Chaplain) and somewhat less active in the Order of the Amaranth (formerly Chaplain and formerly Sentinel). I enjoy the publications of the Tennessee Lodge of Research, and hope to join the Scottish Rite Research Society one of these days (hence their logo below).
During the high
point (shortly after WW II), Freemasonry in the US and the UK stood at
over Six Million men. Who were these men? Here is a link to a partial listing
of some famous American Masons,
as provided by David at HiramHunter.com.
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The following is just part of my current bookmarks file that pertains to Masonry. If you know of other links that you think should be here, email me (Tim@timgatewood.net) and I will check them out for possible inclusion. As with the rest of the TAGAT'S LINK SITE pages, this is primarily for my own use when away from the home computer, but feel free to use it if you want. Let me know if you link to any of my pages or if you would like me to add a link to your site to any of them.
POPE PARDONS THE KNIGHTS TEMPLAR -- Read all about it !
Masons & Freemasonry -- General
Here are a few links from Charles in California
(as seen on the Freemason@yahoogroups.com email list) :
Several reading lists (and a link tothe Dead Masonic Poets Society) can be found at: http://www.craftlodge.org/Canadian Masonic Reading List!
http://www.grandlodge.on.ca/books.htmUnited Kingdom Reading List!
http://www.cix.co.uk/~craftings/allbooks.htm
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