Master’s Letter | April 2010
March was a busy month and saw the conclusion - for the time being - of our E.A. degree work. While we continue to receive new petitions, our focus will now shift to advancing our 16 or so Entered Apprentices. If you are not already aware, our regular meeting nights have shifted to the 1st Wednesday of the month. Degree work will be performed on the 3rd Wednesday.
However, this month we are doing something special. There will be NO degree night on Wednesday, April 21 in Ann Arbor. Instead, we will be convening a lodge of Fellowcrafts on Saturday, April 17, at 10:30 a.m. at the Detroit Masonic Temple (Edit: Venue Change!) to confer this degree on as many candidates as we can arrange to attend. I am told by our Secretary that we will be meeting in the “Egyptian Room” and certain Detroit brothers will be honoring us with a special presentation. It will be a memorable event, with lunch following at a nearby restaurant, and I trust that we have a good sideline turn out.
The Fellowcraft degree is rich with symbolism and, in my opinion, contains some of our most important Masonic lessons and admonitions. It is definitely not a pass through degree as some have deemed it.
The earliest Masonic catechisms make clear that originally there were only two degrees in Freemasonry - Entered Apprentice and Fellowcraft. In fact, there is no record of the Master Mason degree being conferred before 1711. The Fellowcraft degree establishes us as fully instructed craftsmen, armed with the requisite moral and symbolic tools to build an honorable and meaningful life or - to quote Allen Roberts:
“You have become a Perfect Ashlar ready for the builder’s use. The Builder is the Great Architect of the Universe; the building is your Spiritual Temple.”
Notwithstanding, the Masonic knowledge communicated in this degree is not an end in itself; it is a jumping off point from which every Mason should embark on his own intellectual investigations. The cultivation and application of this knowledge is the Fellowcraft’s true work and, though he ultimately advances to the sublime degree of Master Mason, remains the duty and challenge of a lifetime.
One of the nice things about our lodge is the many fellowship opportunities we share. Without exaggerating, there is always something for everybody. Last month we caravanned down to the Detroit Masonic Temple to watch the Pistolwhippers and the Devil’s Night Dames duke it out in a roller derby match (Thanks Bro. Bob for setting us up with another great Detroit Derby Girls outing!). This month, on April 23, will be holding our annual Ladies Night at the Hunt Club in Plymouth. The Hunt Club is a private dining club with an outstanding menu and drinks. Should you wish to attend, you must RSVP with W.Bro. Seymour no later than Friday, April 16, so that he can make the necessary arrangements. His contact information is listed at the bottom of this website.
It is hard to believe that after April a third of my year in the East will have passed. We are doing great things. Below are some of our upcoming events. As always brothers, I hope to see you in lodge.
S & F
Robert Blackburn, WM
UPCOMING EVENTS
- April 7, 2010
Regular Communication
Hathaways Hideaway - April 16, 2010
RSVPs due for Ladies Night Dinner
Contact W. Bro Seymour Greenstone
734.455.6121 | secretary@aaf262.org - April 17, 2010
Special FC Degree
Valley of Detroit | Scottish Rite Center - April 23, 2010
Ladies Night Dinner
Huron River Hunting & Fishing Club - April 28, 2010
Masters Table Dinner
Location to be determined | Trestleboard - May 18, 2010
MM Degree | Conducted by Chris Fultz, PM
Hathaway’s Hideaway - May 18 & 19, 2010
Annual Grand Lodge Communication
Soaring Eagle Casino | Mount Pleasant, MI - May 21, 2010
Official Lodge Visitation & Master Mason Degree Presentation
Windsor Lodge No. 403, G.L. of Canada in the Province of Ontario
