2025 Midwest Conference on Masonic Education Wrap Up

by Christopher Hodapp

The 75th Midwest Conference on Masonic Education in Indianapolis has wound down for 2025, and I'd like to express my deepest thanks to everyone who helped make it a great success. Not only to the other presenters, but to the attendees, as well. 

Speakers at the Conference included Steve Harrison, Heather Calloway, Daniel Gardener, Adam Kendall, Brent Morris and myself.

Among the close to 100 attendees were representatives from 17 different Masonic jurisdictions.

As president of the Conference this year, James Buckhorn did an outstanding job in arranging and organizing the programs, the venue, the meals, and so much more. 

The Grand Lodge of Nebraska will be next year's host.

Those Midnight Freemason guys show up everywhere.

Before the Conference, some of the 'Indiana Friends of Brent' were able to join up with the 
venerable Dr. Morris on Thursday, along with our mascot, Billy the Wonder Goat.

Nebraska's Prince Hall Grand Lodge Building Vandalized

by Christopher Hodapp

The Omaha headquarters of the Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Nebraska was vandalized and robbed last Monday night. According to a report on KETV-7, a brick was thrown through the glass front door of the 100-year old Masonic hall, and thieves then entered the building.

In addition to the shattered door, MW Grand Master Freddie L. Clopton, Jr. reports that swords and robes were stolen from the lodge room, which usually points to bored teenagers in these cases. (The TV station misspelled his name on the chyron.) But Grand Master Clopton had a remarkably sanguine and charitable response to the TV reporter on Thursday when asked about the damage. "Hopefully the person who did that – if there's anything we can do to help, that's what we're about."

The reporter was a bit hyperbolic describing the items as 'sacred.' They are merely used in putting on the ceremonial degrees of Freemasonry, but are by no means considered to be 'sacred.' Masonry is not a religion, nor are Masonic ceremonies religious in nature. The Prince Hall brethren would simply like their items returned. 

The north Omaha Prince Hall building is also home to a chapter of the Order of the Eastern Star, the Joshua David Kelley Consistory No. 27 of the United Supreme Council of Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite NMJ (PHA), and Zaha Temple No. 52 AEANOMS.

The MWPHGL of Nebraska has been raising money to help repair and renovate their historic hall, so this damage and burglary comes at a lousy time for them. If you are so inclined, they have a GoFundMe fundraising campaign going on at this time.

Back on June 12th, GM Clopton and Grand Master Ronald D. Stites of the Grand Lodge F&AM of Nebraska issued a joint message about recent violence and demonstrations across the country. "We do not approve of the hatred of racial discrimination or the destructive actions we have seen," they wrote. "But we do approve of emulating the brotherhood Masonry is built upon. We stand together as a sacred Brotherhood."

MSA Concludes Nebraska Disaster Appeal

Nebraska's Grand Master Robert W. Moninger has officially asked the Masonic Service Association of North America to conclude their Disaster Relief Appeal.

A message from Simon LaPlace at the MSA reports:

The Grand Lodge of Nebraska is grateful for the outpouring of support from Masons across the USA in their flood relief efforts. They have been able to directly support the rebuilding efforts of brothers affected by the remarkable flooding this spring. In addition to the monetary support of MSA and their own state wide appeal, brothers from neighboring states also provided in-kind donations such as hay and other direct farming supplies to brothers.

The Grand Lodge of Nebraska said, " We have been truly been blessed by the ties of brotherly love and affection."

As of today, there are no active Disaster Relief Appeals, for which we should all be thankful.

Nebraska Raises the Bar, and Masons Need to Pay Attention

You know the point during the Stated Meeting when the Secretary casually waves the junk mail at his desk and offhandedly mutters, "We got a post card from the jerks at water company asking us to stop showering so long, a flier from another pest control place... Oh, and the usual Short Talk Bulletin from the Masonic Service Association is on my desk if anyone wants to read it."

Well, read it this month. Worshipful Masters need to snatch it up and read it aloud in lodge. And Grand Masters everywhere need to dig it out of the trash and look very carefully all the way through it.

The May 2019 STB is has a truly shock and awe title: Nebraska's Return To Proficiency. 

How can that be? These are the 2010s — what bunch of thick-headed clots actually RAISES standards, when everybody knows that "modern men" don't care about such trivial tripe, and making something harder will only keep us all from Saving Freemasonry? Why, what a bunch of stuffy Victorians those Nebraska guys must be.

Well, it seems that way back in the Devonian Epoch of 1989, like so many other U.S. jurisdictions, Nebraska's Masonic brain trust decided that the biggest impediment to "modern men" who stubbornly didn't want to become Freemasons were really put off by that relic from the Stone Age, memorization of basic proficiency. And they allegedly ran screaming from the building after joining when anyone dared to suggest actually memorizing actual ritual parts. "Drop that derned proficiency memorization requirement," the Brethren sagely intoned, "and they'll flock in like hungry mosquitoes at a blood bank.Young men will be so suffused with an incandescent glow over the prospect of just learning grips and words that they'll give us their pants and choke the sidelines and we'll have to add more folding chairs!"

It'll Save Freemasonry, went the conventional wisdom.

Well, no, it didn't. And in fact, as the Grand Lodge of Nebraska concluded after studying trends and attitudes, causes and effects since 1989, it actually gutted Freemasonry. And way too many US jurisdictions dropped it in the 90s, which ultimately had a deleterious effect on the overall strength of the fraternity.

From the STB:

"[B]etween 1992 and 2017, except for coincidental spikes, the number of men raised began a steady and drastic decline. It wasn't unusual for seasoned veterans who learned the full-form proficiency to reminise with candidates about their time spent with a mentor. That relationship, they were often told, created a strong bond between them, as well as with the lodge."

And THAT, my dear Brethren, was ALWAYS the point.  Not rote regurgitation of long passages of little or no meaning from memory that had been learned in the deadly, isolated silence of a room from a printed book, or picking it up over quick sojourns at the bathroom book stack. The whole point from the very beginning of the introduction of the ritual into Freemasonry was ALWAYS about the initial one-on-one relationship between Master and Apprentice, Candidate and Mentor. In countless lodges prior to the 1990s, the model was almost uniformly that two men sponsored your petition, introduced you to the lodge, and then at least one became your Mentor in all things Masonic. No, this is not a Memorization Club. But as you met frequently under the excuse of "learning the work," you built that personal bond with each other that could never be broken. You learned about each other's lives and family in far more detail than some superficial passing acquaintance ever could. You became more to each other than just a guy you saw once a month across the room. And, in turn, you talked about much more than just why you had to take off a shoe or what the hell a hecatomb was - even though he explained that, too, and why it is important and where it came from. Mouth to ear, full-form proficiency was only tangentially about reciting words. 

You didn't just join some club called the Freemasons. You BECAME a Freemason.

And then the wheels fell off. Nebraska was far from the only jurisdiction to dump full-form proficiency. Not by a long shot. Many states did it purely to more easily facilitate one day classes so candidates could dispense with that bothersome proving of their work between degrees in favor of"Blue Lightenings" or "Sidewalk to Shrine in a Day!". Yes, it momentarily plumped up membership tallies so a Grand Master could beam "Just LOOK how many we brought in during My Year!™" But the age-old model that strengthened friendships, built bonds, and made a new member truly a living, breathing part of his lodge was eroded and eventually broken. Today, it is soul-crushing to see the figures on how many men join Freemasonry and depart in less that two years - and frequently less.

And it has also decimated the ranks of 21st century Freemasons who actually know the ritual parts well enough to continue to confer degrees. The population of those able ritualists is aging and shrinking at an alarming speed, as Nebraska discovered to its collective horror. It's happening in your state, too. The deadly one-two punch of reduced proficiency, combined with fully written out ritual books (or the offhanded whisper to a candidate, "Just buy a Lester's and you can learn it on your own") has now delivered us to the point where increasing numbers of lodges can't confer their own degrees, and fewer are encouraged to take it on, or given a pass because it is quite absurdly accepted that "modern men" are just far busier than any other generation for three centuries and don't have any time to spend with another adult human being. There are all kinds of social ramifications wrapped up in this myth, and none of it bodes well as Americans continue to lose their basic interpersonal skills (which has been amply documented by sociologists). 

And if for no other reason, Masons who travel outside of their own jurisdiction armed only with bare bones proficiency and a dues card may have an uncomfortable moment at a strange lodge that still adheres to the old, tried and true method of trying a visitor by the catechism that every Mason used to be conversant with. If you never learn it, you may be turned away by a lodge across state lines or around the world, depending on that lodge's preferences.

Here is the scope of Nebraska's problem in black and blue:

"After a survey of [Deputy Grand Custodians] of Nebraska's 130+ lodges in 2017, two-thirds were found unable to confer degrees because members didn't know ritual.Many believed this was because of the then-long-standing shorter proficiency. As experienced ritualists died, there were not enough willing to memorize the parts, creating a major void in the work of lodges."

Was this dramatic shift in Nebraska's rules this year some devious change cooked up by some stern, cranky ritualaterian Grand Master as his last "Get off my lawn" croak of defiance against kids these days? Nope. It was overwhelmingly approved by a full 2/3 of Nebraska's voting members of Grand Lodge. 

Nebraska has also created schools for learning the parts, reinvigorated its statewide Deputy Grand Custodian of the work corps of teachers, offered coins and awards to new and improved ritualists, and more. Additionally, their Grand Lodge publications and other venues advanced this issue after it failed with just 62% of the vote in 2018. That had been tried cold with no real promotion, but by 2019, the state's Masons were overwhelmingly supportive in the wake of now Past Grand Master Patrick Barger's hard work and promotion of the idea.

Jerry Seinfeld was once asked why he wore a suit onstage in this casual era: "It's a signal," he answered. "I'm not loafing up here."

Years ago, one of the biggest uproars I ever received was over a simple photograph I posted of a lineup of Masons in an unidentified lodge, with their faces and identities obscured. They were all dressed like four alarm slobs to be raised as Master Masons - ripped pants, sloppy football jerseys or inappropriate tee shirts, sagging shorts. I had made no commentary save for the headline, "Standards: we used to have them." I received so much hate mail over it and shrieks from Masons horrified that I would make such a passing judgement, combined with the usual twisted false bromides about "the interior of a man is what Masonry regards!" I finally, reluctantly, took it down when the Master of the actual lodge contacted me and told me how badly it had hurt these new Brethren, who had actually been ill-served by the members of their own lodge who failed to uphold standards their lodge had formerly practiced for over a century. It hadn't been a stumble on the part of the candidates, but on the other members who decided that Freemasonry wasn't important enough anymore to ask them to even show up in presentable clothing for this once in a lifetime event, because "that stuff doesn't matter anymore.".

Similarly, when Dwight Smith wrote his booklet Whither Are We Traveling? in the 1960s, he wrote the following:

QUESTION 9: HASN’T THE SO-CALLED CENTURY OF THE COMMON MAN CONTRIBUTED TO MAKING OUR FRATERNITY A LITTLE TOO COMMON?

An old legend which comes to us from the Napoleonic Wars tells of a youth, too young to fight, who was permitted to carry the regimental banner. During one bitter engagement his unit was advancing on the enemy under heavy fire. In his youthful zeal the boy went so far ahead of the regiment that he was almost out of contact. The commanding officer send a runner bearing the message, “Bring the standard back to the line.”

With heroic recklessness the lad sent back the ringing reply, “Bring the line up to the standard.”

So once again, I am saying, Standards: We Used To Have Them. Nebraska has taken this bold step to draw a line in the sand, and say at last, "This is the new standard once again." Be better, not easier, or cheaper, or faster, or with less bother. This has been the standard that helped link us with three centuries of heritage and reputation as the best of the best, and everyone from garbage collectors and pipe fitters to presidents and kings have done this irritating thing you find to be a quaint annoyance. It connects you with every single Freemason in the face of the Earth in a way no dues card or golden ring ever can. It's a shared language we all have in common, even if we have nothing else. It is a tool of our Craft. It's part of the price of admission.

And it proves you're not loafing up here.

Learn it, and become part of this endless chain to pass on to those who haven't even been born yet.



UPDATE 5/23/2019

Because of the immediate popularity of this particular Short Talk Bulletin in the wake of this discussion, the MSA has made it available in its entirety online as a pdf. See it HERE.

MSA Expands Nebraska Disaster Appeal

In March, Nebraska experienced catastrophic flooding in the eastern part of the state and crippling blizzards in central and western Nebraska, leading to major destruction of farm and ranch property, and loss of income. Many Nebraska Masons were affected by these catastrophic events and required assistance to get back on their feet. At that time, the Grand Lodge of Nebraska AF&AM issued a statewide disaster appeal for Masons and their families across the state.

Since that time, the Grand Lodge determined that more help was needed than their statewide funding could handle. This month, the Masonic Service Association issued the following statement:

Nebraska Grand Master Robert W. Moninger has asked the Masonic Service Association to issue a Disaster Relief Appeal. Nebraska has experienced historic flooding in the eastern part of the state and devastating blizzards in central and western Nebraska with major loss of farm and ranching assets and income. 

Rivers swollen by rain and dam breaches have left many bridges and roads impassable and triggered the evacuation of thousands of residents. The Nebraska Masonic family have been affected by these catastrophic events and will need assistance to get back on their feet. Please give what you can toward this Disaster Relief Appeal.

MSA deducts no part of your contribution for administrative expenses including charges by PayPal, bookkeeping, and cost of acknowledgment letters. Your entire gross donation is sent to the affected jurisdiction. Make donations online at www.msana.com.

Please forward any donations you feel appropriate to MSA. Checks should be payable to MSA Disaster Relief Fund and sent to 3905 National Drive, STE 280, Burtonsville, MD 20866. When remitting by check, please mark that your donation is intended for the Grand Lodge of Nebraska.

For more information and to donate online via credit card, visit the MSA Disaster Relief web page HERE. 

GL of Nebraska Issues Disaster Relief Appeal

The Grand Lodge of Nebraska AF&AM has issued a disaster appeal for Masons and their families across the state. The following message was posted yesterday:

Nebraska has experienced historic flooding in the eastern part of the state and devastating blizzards in central and western Nebraska, with major loss of farm and ranching assets and income in the month of March 2019. Many of our Nebraska Masonic family members have no doubt been affected by these catastrophic events and will need assistance to get back on their feet. Here’s how you can help.

Donations

The Nebraska Masonic Relief Fund is collecting monetary donations that will be dispersed to Masonic family members affected by the floods and storms through an application process. If the donations exceed the needs of our Masonic family, the funds will be donated to other flood and storm relief efforts. Those interested in making a financial donation to support relief efforts can do so by clicking the Donate button below.

Donations can also be mailed to Grand Lodge of Nebraska, 301 N Cotner Blvd., Lincoln, NE 68505. Checks should be made payable to Grand Lodge Relief Fund, with flood/storm relief in the memo field.

Thank you so much for your support of this relief effort.

There is a direct Paypal link on their website to make donations online. CLICK HERE.

According to a report at noon today, the floods have affected 80% of the state of Nebraska, and the statewide estimates of damage exceed $1.3 billion so far. At this time, 89 cities and 77 counties have made emergency declarations. Many other parts of the Midwest, including South Dakota and Iowa, have also been affected by the disaster.
I spoke with the Grand Secretary's office in Nebraska this morning before posting this appeal, and I also checked with the Masonic Service Association. These types of fraternity-wide disaster appeals normally go through the MSA to take advantage of their international network and tax deductibility, but they haven't taken that step just yet. As of Tuesday night, the Grand Lodge of Nebraska had not yet determined that there was enough damage and need within the Masonic family to request assistance from outside of the state. However, the floodwaters keep rising across Nebraska today, and the GS office continues to receive new reports.

They will determine by Friday whether or not a full-throated MSA appeal is required.
H/T to Thomas L. Hauder, PGM

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UPDATE 4/22/2019

This disaster appeal was, in fact, widened by the the Grand Lodge of Nebraska and the MSA in April. This notice was issued by the Masonic Service Association:

Nebraska Grand Master Robert W. Moninger has asked the Masonic Service Association to issue a Disaster Relief Appeal. Nebraska has experienced historic flooding in the eastern part of the state and devastating blizzards in central and western Nebraska with major loss of farm and ranching assets and income.

Rivers swollen by rain and dam breaches have left many bridges and roads impassable and triggered the evacuation of thousands of residents. The Nebraska Masonic family have been affected by these catastrophic events and will need assistance to get back on their feet. Please give what you can toward this Disaster Relief Appeal.

MSA deducts no part of your contribution for administrative expenses including charges by PayPal, bookkeeping, and cost of acknowledgment letters. Your entire gross donation is sent to the affected jurisdiction. Make donations online at www.msana.com.

Please forward any donations you feel appropriate to MSA. Checks should be payable to MSA Disaster Relief Fund and sent to 3905 National Drive, STE 280, Burtonsville, MD 20866. When remitting by check, please mark that your donation is intended for the Grand Lodge of Nebraska.

To donate online via credit card, visit the MSA Disaster Appeal website HERE.