Freemasons For Dummies: From the Grand Lodge of Indiana

Thursday, May 17, 2012

From the Grand Lodge of Indiana

The 2012 meeting of the Grand Lodge F&AM of Indiana is now history. Congratulations to MW Gregory C. Wallbridge on an outstanding year as Grand Master, and to MW George A. Ingles on his election as our newest GM.

Three pieces of news for items close to my heart came at today's session. The brethren passed a resolution that now allows lodges to open and do business on the EA or FC degrees, at the Master's discretion. Not long ago ago this was a blasphemous idea and was studied for three years to make sure lodges didn't burst into flames with EAs sitting in them. It was one of our recommendations in Laudable Pursuit, long, long ago. Today, it became permanent by a very comfortable voting margin.

The second was an increase in the per capita for all members in the state from one to three dollars for the operation of Indiana Freemason's Hall in Indianapolis. This, too, passed by a comfortable margin, which tells me that the Masons of Indiana see the work the Temple Board has accomplished over the last few years and felt comfortable enough to express a substantial display of confidence in our abilities and stewardship of that fine building. It is the home of the Grand Lodge, and every Mason in the state has a stake in its ownership. I cannot adequately express my appreciation to the brethren for their trust and their generosity. All of us on the Temple Board thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

The third bit of news came in the form of a check for $12,000 from Grand Lodge to the Library and Museum Board, showing their ongoing support of the work of the last two years to create a library and museum that every Mason in the state can be proud of.

Many thanks to all of you.

Photo by Duane Vaught

2 comments:

Fuzzy CurmudgeonThu May 17, 08:48:00 AM 2012
Perhaps that photo should be featured in the magazine under "Masonic Treasures" :)
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Al M.Fri May 18, 09:59:00 PM 2012
If it makes my Brothers in Indiana feel any better about the per capita increase, we in California pay a per capita well north of $30

Our Masonic Heritage needs to be maintained. My hat is off to all of you in Indiana especially those on the Temple Board. You are obviously doing great work.
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Legendary brotherhood
With a mythic past
And a visionary future.

Freemasonry is the largest, oldest and best-known gentleman's fraternity in the world. Historically, it is based on the Medieval stonemason guilds who built the great castles and cathedrals of Europe. Mythologically it is founded upon the building of Solomon's Temple in Jerusalem, as told in the Old Testament of the Bible.

Modern Freemasons likewise use the tools, traditions and terminology of those Biblical stonemasons as allegories for building Temples in the hearts of men, using Solomon as our ideal example of wisdom, justice and faith.

At its core, Freemasonry is simply an attempt to make the world a better place, one man at a time. For each man, it can become as simple or as complicated as he himself desires.

It's said that we are a secret society. We do indeed have secrets—secrets that each individual man has to discover for and about himself.

It's not for everybody. It never has been, and was never meant to be. That's the point.

Maybe it's for you.

Christopher L. Hodapp is the author of Freemasons For Dummies, the international, best-selling introduction to the Masonic fraternity; and Solomon's Builders: Freemasons, Founding Fathers and the Secrets of Washington D.C..

Prior to joining the Masons and becoming an author, Chris spent 23 years as a commercial filmmaker with Dean Crow Productions in Indianapolis.

Since 2009 he has been on the Board of the Masonic Library & Museum of Indiana, and serves as its Associate Director and Treasurer. In 2021, Chris was named as Public Relations and Marketing Director for the Grand Lodge of Free & Accepted Masons of the State of Indiana.

As a Freemason, Chris is a Past Master of Broad Ripple Lodge No. 643 and of Lodge Vitruvian No. 767 under the Grand Lodge F&AM of Indiana; he is a member of Indiana's Schofield Lodge 1818 U.D.; and of Internet Lodge No. 9659 in the Province of East Lancashire of the United Grand Lodge of England. Most recently, he served as the Worshipful Master of the Dwight L. Smith Lodge of Research U.D. in Indiana for 2019-21.

In 2018 he was awarded the Caleb B. Smith Medal of Honor by the Grand Lodge F&AM of Indiana for his "distinguished service to Freemasonry in Indiana and worldwide."

Chris is a 33° Mason in the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite (NMJ), Indianapolis Valley. He is a Past Sovereign Master of Imhotep Council No. 434 of the Allied Masonic Degrees. He is a founding member of Levant Preceptory, a medieval Knights Templar period recreation degree team in the York Rite, and he is an officer of the Indiana College of the Societas Rosicruciana in Civitatibus Foederatis. He belongs to numerous other Masonic appendant organizations.

As a Masonic author, in 2012 he was named as Friar No. 101 in the Society of Blue Friars. Chris was a Founding Fellow of The Masonic Society, and was the founding Editor in Chief of The Journal of The Masonic Society. He was the editor and a contributor in 2004-5 to "Laudable Pursuit: A 21st Century Response to Dwight Smith" by the Knights of the North, a Masonic leadership think-tank focusing on modern lodge solutions. He has written for Indianapolis Monthly, Heredom, Masonic Magazine, Templar History, the Scottish Rite Journal, the Knight Templar Magazine, the Indiana Freemason , the Phylaxis, and numerous other publications.

His most recent Masonic book, Heritage Endures, was published in January 2018 as part of the 200th anniversary of Indiana's Grand Lodge.

Chris is also the co-author with his wife Alice VonKannon of The Templar Code For Dummies and Conspiracy Theories And Secret Societies For Dummies. Together they developed scripts for the History Channel program, Brad Meltzer's Decoded in 2010, and contributed material on conspiracies and secret societies for TruTV and the American Heroes Channel. They have both appeared on National Public Radio, the History Channel, Discovery, National Geographic, Smithsonian, and the American Heroes Channel - most recently in the 2024 episode of America's Book of Secrets - The Freemason Factor for History and Prometheus Productions.

Chris and Alice reside in Indianapolis with their canine companions , Sophie the Flying Poodle and Maxwell, the Idiot Circus Doodle, who have them both answering to basic commands. They can frequently be found alarming the wildlife and dazzling the rustiks in their Airstream trailer as they crisscross the country. Appropriately, their newest books together are RVs and Campers For Dummies, released in June 2021; and RV Vacations For Dummies - 7th Edition, released in June 2023.

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