Prometheus Lodge No. 851 Chartered in San Francisco

Congratulations to the brethren of Prometheus Lodge No. 851, the newest lodge to be chartered in California. Prometheus is a Traditional Observance Lodge, and its charter Master is Dennis Chornenky, known to many Masons from his work with the Masonic Restoration Foundation.

The lodge meets once a month at the University Club on Nob Hill in San Francisco, across from the Fairmont Hotel, and marks the return of a regularly meeting lodge to the area.

The new lodge's formation made the San Francisco Business Times:

Dennis Chornenky, who is Master of the new lodge, said the downtown area hasn’t had a lodge for about 50 years. The nearest lodges in the city are in the Mission and in the Outer Sunset area.

Half a century ago, San Francisco had 45 lodges, Chornenky said. Today, there are eight lodges listed in the city on the web site of the Grand Lodge of California, with three in Oakland, one in Alameda, and others in Mill Valley, Larkspur, South San Francisco, Daly City, Pacifica, Richmond and Orinda.

Many of the new lodge’s members, including Chornenky himself, are in their 20s, and he said this reflects a resurgent interest in Freemasonry among young men.

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It took two years of work to get the lodge officially chartered, Chornenky said, starting with the formation of the “Prometheus Club” in the summer of 2007, followed by a probationary period called “dispensation.” Monday night’s ceremony, led by Ken Nagel, Grand Master of Masons in California, gives the new lodge its official charter and allows it to send members as delegates to vote on state issues.