Freemasons For Dummies: September 2026

Saturday, September 05, 2026

National 'Brethren In Unity 9/11 Memorial' in Indianapolis Friday

by Christopher Hodapp

On Friday, September 11th, the Indianapolis Scottish Rite Cathedral will be the site of an extraordinary 9/11 Memorial service. All four of the Supreme Commanders of the Scottish Rite Supreme Councils of the United States will join together on the same stage with our city's first responders, veterans, and Freemasons to present a special donation to the Tunnel To Towers Foundation as part of the Scottish Rite Brethren in Unity 2026 Campaign.

To donate to this campaign, visit the website HERE: https://dogood.t2t.org/campaign/scottish-rite-freemasonry-brethren-in-unity-2026/c782074

Doors to the Cathedral will open at 8:00AM Friday and the program will begin at 8:45AM:

Doors Open - Guests Arrive
Tunnel to Towers Video
Processional of Sovereign Grand Commanders
Welcome by Dr. Eugene Anderson
Pledge of Allegiance by Rear Admiral William G. Sizemore II, USN (Ret.)
National Anthem by Randolph Seipel

Fireman's Bell Ringing - Troy Clements
Invocation by Dr. Kenneth Allen
Remarks on Scottish Rite Unity and the Tunnel to Towers Foundation Remarks — Brigadier General Jon M. Taylor, Alabama Air National Guard
III. Walter F. Wheeler, 33°, Sovereign Grand Commander, Supreme Council, Northern Masonic Jurisdiction, USA
III. Melvin J. Bazemore, 33°, Sovereign Grand Commander, United Supreme Council, Northern Masonic Jurisdiction, Prince Hall Affiliation, USA
III. Corey D. Hawkins, 33°, Sovereign Grand Commander, United Supreme Council, Southern Masonic Jurisdiction, Prince Hall Affiliation, USA
Ill. James D. Cole, 33°, Sovereign Grand Commander, Supreme Council, Southern Masonic Jurisdiction, USA
Presentation of Check to Troy Clements and Team
Closing Remarks -Lt. Phil Burton, Court Operations & Security-Judicial Enforcement Division, Marion County Sheriff's Office
Closing Benediction - Chaplain (MAJ Kelly Mathis, FTS Chaplain 219th EN BDE-Traditional
Recessional of the Sovereign Grand Commanders

If you are intending to attend in person, veterans, active service persons and responders are asked to dress in uniform, if possible, and Masons are requested to dress in suits and ties. There is free parking at the Cathedral.

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The Legendary brotherhood
A mythic past
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.

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 currently serves as its President and Co-Director.

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.

Chris is a Fellow of the Philalethes Society. As a Masonic author, in 2012 he was named as Friar No. 101 in the Society of Blue Friars. Chris was also 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.

APPEARANCES

Contact Chris directly to enquire about speaking at your event.

2026
April 8, 2026
Jubilee Lodge
Whiteland, Indiana

April 11, 2026
Grand Lodge of Wyoming Spring Reunion
Riverton Lodge 26
Riverton, Wyoming

May 19, 2026
Grand Lodge of Indiana
Indianapolis, Indiana
June 19 -20, 2026
America's 250th Birthday Masonic Festival
Grand Lodge of Indiana
Compass Park
Franklin, Indiana
June 27, 2026
Abraham Lodge 8
Louisville, KY
July 18, 2026
Pillars of Knowledge - 6th Ohio Masonic District
J.B. Covert Lodge
Cincinnati, OH
August 12, 2026
Miami-Peru Lodge No. 67
Peru, IN
September 17-21, 2026
Grand Lodge of Federal District (Brazil)
Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil
October 1, 2026
Sequin Level Lodge 140
Newington, CT
October 6, 2026
Philadelphia Lodge No. 2
Philadelphia, PA

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