6/27: Speaking at Louisville's Abraham Lodge No. 8

by Christopher Hodapp

I'm honored to be speaking at the Festive Board of Kentucky's famed Abraham Lodge No. 8 this Saturday evening, June 27th at the historic Brown Hotel in downtown Louisville. I'll be wrapping up an afternoon program of several events.

2:30PM - Royal Arch Abraham Chapter 196

3:00PM - Cornerstone Ceremony (Master Masons only!)

4:00PM - Intermission

5:00PM - Lodge of Instruction

6:15 to 7:15PM - Cocktail Reception at the Brown Hotel 

7:30PM - Festive Board and Keystone Presentation 

                Christopher L. Hodapp: "How Dare We Be Masons: A New Masonic Mission"

For information, contact Secretary John P. Journey HERE. 

Flag Burned in Front of Masonic Temple in Bath, Maine

(Photo: Maine Department of Public Safety)

by Christopher Hodapp

On the morning of Tuesday, June 2nd, an unknown person set fire to a large American flag draped across the entrance of the Bath Masonic Temple in the town of Bath, Maine. According to the story in the Times Record, the fire was extinguished before responders arrived and caused minor charring to the building itself. 

Although the motive is unknown, the Maine State Fire Marshal has classified it as arson. 

Oddly, a replacement flag was put up in its place by an unknown person shortly after the initial incident was reported.

(Photo: Grand Lodge of Maine)

The Bath Masonic Temple is the home of Solar Star Lodge No. 14.

Authorities are requesting anyone with knowledge about the incident contact the local fire department or state arson investigators at 1-888-870-6162.

Scottish Rite SJ Celebrates 250th Anniversary in Charleston

by Christopher Hodapp

The Supreme Council of the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite Southern Jurisdiction, the "Mother Supreme Council of the World," was established in Charleston, South Carolina on May 31st of 1801 at Shepheard's Tavern on the corner of Broad and Church Streets (which had also been where South Carolina Freemasonry was originally established in 1754).

While originated in Charleston, the SJ moved its headquarters to Washington DC in 1870 and is located in the House of the Temple.

The AASR-SJ celebrated the 225th anniversary of their founding with a live broadcast of its special session in Charleston over the weekend. The replay can be seen via YouTube HERE or by clicking the video at the top of this post.

While we in the U.S. think of the Scottish Rite as an appendant body within Freemasonry that confers degrees 4-33, it is actually a complete degree ritual system that has its own initiatory degrees 1-3. Outside the U.S., the Rite's total 1-33 degree lineup is actually the most widely-worked degree system in the world, in both regular and irregular, unrecognized jurisdictions. It's also the source of one of the greatest misconceptions about the Masonic world. Because they number their degrees, largely for convenience, most non-Masons mistakenly believe those higher numbers denote higher rank within the fraternity. 

Tip for non-Masons: asking a Mason "How high a degree are you?" is the fastest way to show that you have no idea what you're talking about. 

Likewise, a "high ranking Mason" doesn't really exist, with the exception of the grand office holders in any given jurisdiction. A Grand Master within a Grand Lodge, such as the Grand Lodge of New York or the United Grand Lodge of England, does wield authority over the Masons in his region, but only for the duration of his elected term.