This from "Freemasonry for Dummies" Blog
GL of North Carolina AF&AM Recognizes Prince Hall Counterpart
The 221st meeting of the Grand Lodge of North Carolina AF&AM convened yesterday in Winston-Salem.
The Resolution for Mutual Recognition of the Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of North Carolina and Its Jurisdictions, Inc., and the Grand Lodge of Ancient Free and Accepted Masons of North Carolina officially passed on September 19, 2008. The vote was 642 Yeas and 328 Nays.
Bravo, brethren. Bravo.
The following US mainstream Grand Lodges remain that do not recognize Prince Hall Freemasonry:
Alabama*
Arkansas*
Florida*
Georgia*
Kentucky
Louisiana*
Mississippi*
South Carolina*
Tennessee*
West Virginia
(* Former Confederate states)
This from the "Widows Son" Blog
Yesterday the Grand Lodge of North Carolina officially passed by a vote of 642 yeas to 328 nays the Resolution for Mutual Recognition of the Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of North Carolina and Its Jurisdictions, Inc., according to an article posted on Bro. Chris Hodapp's blog on Friday.
"Bravo, brethren. Bravo," he wrote.
Brother blogger Palmetto Bug, a Mason working under the jurisdiction of the Grand Lodge of South Carolina, writing in the comments section to the announcement, responded to the news by saying, "The train wreck continues," evidently refering to the past decade's trend towards recognition between maintream Masonry and Prince Hall Masonry.
The Grand Lodge of South Carolina, along with those of nine other states — all in the South — still remains steadfastly against mutual recognition between mainstream and Prince Hall Masonry, much to my continued embarrassment. I am a member of a Georgia lodge working under the jurisdiction of the Grand Lodge of Georgia.
Besides South Carolina and Georgia, the mainstream grand lodges of Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee and West Virginia do not recognize Prince Hall Masons as "true and lawful brothers" or as even being Masons.
Within moments of my being raised a Master Mason in a Georgia lodge several years ago, I was official told, while the ceremony was still being conducted, that I was not to hold "Masonic discussion with clandestine Masons, and the only clandestine Masons that we know of are the black Masons."
I join with Bro. Chris and open-minded Masons throughout the world in saying "Bravo!"to the North Carolina Masons who have joined the 21st century by finally accepting brother as brother, based not on the color of his skin but the content of his heart.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
How grateful I am that I chose to be a North Carolina Mason, rather than a Georgia Mason. This was a huge step in the right direction. I hope and pray that our wayward brethren will find their way soon... "well done" to those who voted "yeah" on Friday. I was very proud to be there for that historic event.
I am pleased that we (the Masons of North Carolina)have finally started to recognize the fact that the Great Architect of the Universe, who created us all, recognizes and and regards all his children by their soul, which He knew, even before we were conceived. As God the Father and Jesus, His son and my Lord and Savior do not withhold the Love and Grace from any and all who know them, thus it seems that all good Freemasons should follow suit with faith and brotherly love..for Masonry teaches us to regard no man for his external wealth or possession (ie. clothing, monetary worth) but rather for the content of his character (his spiritual and moral edifice), so thus should we not look deep below the skin of each man to know him as a true brother. I believe that there are some very distinct differences in the "work" in PHM and our Masonic lodge. I do not believe our two distinct Grand Lodges should in any way be merged, just as I do not expect to have to combine our work with that of the Grand Lodges of New York, Florida, Oregon or any of the other 46 states and the American Territories either, yet we have long recognized those Grand Lodges as regular and welcomed those brothers and so many others from all around the world to join as in brotherly love and friendship. My thoughts from the heart...God bless each and every one of you who reads this and please pray hard for God's wisdom for each of us to go into the future for the good of Masonry and the glory of God. Fraternally yours, Brian Rau
S.W. Montgomery Lodge #426
Post a Comment