I received a message today from the Grand Master of Georgia, J. Edward Jennings, Jr., in response to my request for more information directly from him. (He sent me a correction afterwards, and I have revised his response to make that correction):"The situation with the Grand Lodge of Georgia and Gate City Lodge No. 2 will be addressed in a statement I will make public in about 10 days.
"The statement you sent me from the brother in Atlanta concerning John Holt is incorrect. As Grand Master of Masons in Georgia, it is my duty to appoint Brothers to positions in Grand Lodge, such as District Deputies, who keep me informed of all things in their sub-districts, that I may be better informed of all situations that may need my input. I felt that I had not been kept informed, not only of the incident with Gate City Lodge No. 2, but with other situations also. This particular District Deputy had made comments in a tyled Lodge meeting stating things that I supposedly had said, comments that simply were not true. As Grand Master, I have to have Brothers on all appointed committees of Grand Lodge to do the best job possible. I felt that this was not happening from this particular District Deputy and I asked him to resign. There is no hard feeling on my part toward John; I am only doing the job I was elected to do. At the same meeting where he resigned, John he told me that he was proud that I presented him his 50-year certificate and that if he lived long enough that he wanted me to present him his 60-year award, which I told him I would be honored to do. It is true that John is a White Cap Scottish Rite Mason and has done a great job in the past, both in the Scottish Rite and the York Rite, and that he has spent eleven years as a District Deputy, but there comes a time when things must change and that time had come. John is still a friend of mine and I look forward to spending time with him in both Scottish and York Rite meetings.
"Do not believe all the information you receive on the internet, for much of it is biased and untrue. The best source of information is from "the horses mouth", and I trust that what I have related to you will satisfy your curiosity in these matters."
J. Edward Jennings, Jr.
Grand Master
Many thanks to Grand Master Jennings for taking the time to respond. I encourage everyone to wait patiently for his public statement on Gate City Lodge, and not to speculate.
This is what I supposed was going on all along. Thank you Brother Chris for the confirmation.
ReplyDeleteI don't see where this response from the GM of GA is all that different from the report you posted. In fact, it sounds like the account of the firing you posted is pretty darn accurate.
ReplyDeleteSomething tells me enlightened Masons everywhere are not going to be too happy with the GM's statement he releases in ten days. I hope I'm wrong--sincerely, I do.
...I'll keep waiting...
ReplyDeleteI would look for another news story to come out, from the perspective of the Grand Lodge that includes the Grand Master's statement. I think everyone will be pleased.
ReplyDeleteI see where this statement is greatly different than the suppositions made about the report posted earlier (I.e. that it showed the GM's being against a African American Brother from being raised.) This gives no evidence of the GM being angry about the raising based on race and disapproval.
ReplyDeleteIt is quite in keeping with the report itself. We'll wait and see and hope that the GM's report is in keeping with his first statement that the brother is a Mason and to be treated as such. There is nothing shown thus far that he is not of that opinion. If he is of said opinion, there is not long to wait one way or the other.
I think I hear Jeopardy thinking music playing in the background.
ReplyDeleteHas the GMs public announcement come out, or did I miss it?
ReplyDeleteA good question, Bryan. I was starting to wonder if I had missed it myself. I agreed with Brother Hodapp's call to refrain from speculation until the statement came out. But now, after two more weeks, the question begs, "Is it ever going to happen?"
ReplyDeleteI echo the above comments. It has now been almost a month. Where is the statement?
ReplyDeleteNo response, no surprise.
ReplyDeleteHum, did we miss something here, or was there just never any announcement?
ReplyDeleteNope, it's gotten very quiet.
ReplyDeleteHere's what irks me about this message... The GM refers to the initiation, passing and raising of someone worthy as an "incident" part of all "things" or "situations." According to the DD, he didn't even realize that the GM would need to have input. Bravo to him! I wish more of the brothers in GA were so blind to race/color. Or did I miss something? Is he referring to something else?
ReplyDelete