Post Office Box 821413, Fort Worth, Texas 76182 USA
February, 1998
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(Brethren, Brother Bachman is working security at the Fort Worth Stock Show this year. This and his other work responsibilities prevent him from submitting an article for the Trestle Board. He asked me to convey his special thanks to those who served in the "Mall Helper" program. -- Publisher)
(Brethren, Brother Hester is unable to provide an article for the Trestle Board this month. He asked me to encourage everyone to come to the February stated meeting, for the District Deputy Grand Master's visit, and the March stated meeting, for the Annual Fish Fry. -- Publisher)
Dear Brethren! What a time! Everybody is extremely busy, including the Lodge. The January stated meeting was long, but very productive. A warm welcome to our newest Master Mason, Brother Richard Franklin and to the Right Excellent (R:E:) Richard "Dick" Coates (Past Grand High Priest of the Grand Royal Arch Chapter of Texas), who became a plural member of Smithfield Lodge this month. Congratulations and thanks to our Tyler, Brother Cole, and the R: E: Brother Coates for their purchase of an Endowed Membership at Smithfield Lodge. Also, a humble and heartfelt thanks to the twenty-five or so Brethren, and my father-in-law (a Lion rather than a Mason), who participated in the "Mall Greeter" program between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Brother Hutcherson, thank you for coordinating this wonderful event. The Fort Worth Stock Show will be in progress as you read this. Come out and visit the booth sponsored by the Masters', Wardens' and Secretaries' Association.
For those of you who browse the World Wide Web, Smithfield Lodge now has a presence. You can find our site at the following address: "http://www.fwst.net/np/smithfield455/index.html" or you can send email to the lodge at "smithfield455@fwst.net". The web site is possible through the donation of a free Internet account by Fort Worth Star-Telegram On-line Services. Brethren, this represents a donation equivalent to about $20.00 per month. The newspaper deserves a pat on the back for their kind donation. I will update the web site content at least once per month in order to post the "Trestle Board". I'm also typing up a variety of other content to make the site a living historical site for the Lodge. We're making an impact. In just the first two days of operation, we had favorable comments from Brethren in Hawaii, New Jersey and Australia and legitimate questions from a non-mason in Katy, Texas.
Coming up in the next few months: the Grand Master is sponsoring a state-wide "Family Reunion Day" on Saturday, August 29 at the Masonic Retirement Home in Arlington. We are fortunate to be less than an hour's drive away, so be thinking about taking your family out to the Center for a wonderful time. The Forty-eighth annual Public Schools Week in Texas will be from March 2 through March 6. Do something nice for your neighborhood school. Smithfield Lodge will also host its forty-eighth annual Fish Fry at the stated meeting during that same week. All Masons and prospective Masons are invited to our fish dinner. The dinner is free but, the only thing I'll say is "We'll be having a Public School related speaker so, if you come to eat our food, honor our speaker by sticking around for his presentation". . . 'Nuff said! As for the Masonic Education Institute, we'll see how it goes. I'm hopeful.
If you want to give your kids, or grandkids, a great experience, call Frank Levings and schedule a time to go and pick onions and turnips. I'm hoping it dries out before we go!
David Terrell
Brethren,
We had a good response to the "Holiday Helpers" effort at the Food
Court Door at the Mall. If you did not pull a tour at the door, let
me tell you that it was you who missed a blessing. We got some
invaluable publicity from the news broadcast on channel 8. Brother
Mendenhall looked good at his station during the interview with the
Brother from Hurst Lodge. A copy of the broadcast has been sent to
the Grand Master for his evaluation. The money we received was not
bad either. A special thanks to "Brother Hutch" for his help.
We are off and running this year in the 64th Masonic District. We have attended several Lodge with Right Worshipful Brother Joe Brown DDGM. He has completed about half of his first official visits. He will be in attendance at our stated meeting in February. Please be there if at all possible.
That brings me to a subject that we all need to be thinking about . . . LODGE ATTENDANCE! When was the last time you attended lodge? Well, that's too long ago! Seriously, I do not know how to put it any other way. We need you at our stated meetings. The business that we conduct during our stated meetings is important to you. The Degrees that we confer would be better if you were there. The fellowship at our "bull sessions" would be more fun if you were there. We would be a better Lodge if you attended. How about it? Be there!
Some of you failed to heed my request about paying your dues before the first of the year. You now stand "in arrears." Please check your dues card and remit your dues, if you need to. The card that was sent to you in October was only a notice of dues. it was not a new dues card, as some have thought. please check again.
Fraternally yours,
B.R. Campbell, Secretary
February 5
Pot Luck Dinner 6:30 PM
Stated Meeting 7:30 PM
February 7
Ritual proficiency Forum & Exam -- Richland Hills Lodge, 7:00 AM
February 11
Masonic Service Bureau -- Tarrant Lodge
February 24
Smithfield Masonic Education Institute -- 7 PM
February 25
Grand Master's Official Visit to the 64th District at Home &
School
This is the ninth issue of the "Trestle Board" since the beginning of its most recent incarnation. For a couple of months, we received some very positive feedback about our efforts. Since then, its been a lot of feeding and not so much backing. For some, this is a cause for concern. Some have even espoused "cutting back" on the Trestle Board. Now, I'm schooling myself to be a writer and would write this kind of stuff anyway, for my journal. If nothing else, I'd post it on the web site. However, as you can tell from this issue, it is sometimes difficult for the same few Brothers to keep the fires kindled, the articles written, the kids' noses wiped, the pages laid out, the grass mowed, the final copy generated, the bed made, the 300+ copies produced, and folded and addressed and sorted and . . . Get the picture?
So here's the deal . . . if you are a Master Mason and especially if you are a member of Smithfield Lodge #455 . . . I SUMMON YOU to let the Lodge know what you think about the Trestle Board, if within length of your Cable Tow. Your response can be good, bad or indifferent but I want the Lodge to hear the heart-felt truth from you. Here's your chance to use your working tools on the Trestle Board. In satisfaction of this summons, you may present your comments in person, while at a stated meeting [preferably the February or March, 1998 meetings], or in writing, through posting a letter to the Lodge or via electronic mail to smithfield455@fwst.net. I will present all written comments to the Lodge. So "turn to and carry out the Plan of the Day." I sincerely look forward to your comments.
David Terrell, JW, Trestle Board Publisher and Lodge WebMason
Your support is a continuing need. $100.00 or more puts your name, or the name of someone you wish to honor, on a plaque in the lobby of the Lodge. Please send your donation to Smithfield Masonic Lodge #455, A.F.&A.M., P.O. Box 821413 , Fort Worth, Texas 76182
The following brethren will observe their Masonic Birthdays in February. They were raised to the sublime Degree of Master Mason during this month.
W.G. Black 2-12-47
C.W. Bowman 2-04-97
Trace Brooks 2-04-97
V.W. Chambers 2-18-67
R.L. Cobb 2-10-66
J.L. Evans 2-27-75
L.N. Farris 2-25-93
M.J. Gaston 2-25-84
R.H. Giles 2-17-72
L.M. Hammond 2-20-69
L.D. Haun, PM 2-10-53
M.W. Hestilow 2-23-61
D.R. Holloway 2-29-92
C.T. Marler 2-04-82
K.W. Ritter 2-10-94
T.J. Stevenson 2-11-82
D.G. Terrell 2-21-95
M.B. Whatley 2-11-55
W.W. White, III 2-23-84
R.M. Whitt 2-15-62
M.S. York 2-19-76
Congratulations Brethren!
"First, my brethren, some of our Lodges are realizing what our lady folks have known for centuries, that one of the best ways to a man's heart, mind and soul is through his stomach. We should have a few more good eating meetings." (V.A. Browning, Grand Orator, GL of Texas, 1968)
Lodges are the basic, and the oldest, organizations in Freemasonry. What goes on in lodges is partly the formal business that any association has to do, such as the consideration of minutes of the previous meeting, and dealing with propositions for membership, accounts of general and charitable funds, subscriptions, donations, and the like. Once a year a new Master is elected and at the next meeting he is installed and appoints and invests his officers (i.e. the active players in the ceremonies which the lodge prepares for those becoming Freemasons).
However, the real core of Freemasonry is the ceremonies which involve admitting new masons and teaching them Freemasonry's moral message.
The moral message is not peculiar to Freemasonry, but is common to many systems - natural equality, dependence on others, benevolence, intellectual truth, inevitable death, fidelity - all under God. The method of teaching is Freemasonry's own, a series of ritual dramas, based on ancient mythology and stonemasons' customs and tools, in which the members of the lodge work together to get the message across to each new member.
Despite popular myths, Masonic ceremonies are not at all secret and printed copies are freely available (its history is incidentally fascinating). The quality of its language is readily apparent and the actions are not hard to imagine. However, merely reading the printed word does not explain that the ceremonies are delivered from memory, nor how everyone in a lodge (and not just the officers directly concerned) concentrates on familiar words and actions which are new to the candidate or how effectively the ceremony makes an impression on the candidate.
Of the various officers of the lodge, some are obligatory while others are optional. Those that lodges have to have are a Master, a Senior Warden, a Junior Warden, a Treasurer, a Secretary, an Almoner, a Charity Steward, a Senior Deacon, a Junior Deacon, and Inner Guard and a Tyler. The optional officers are a Chaplain, a Director of Ceremonies, an Assistant Director of Ceremonies, an Organist, an Assistant Secretary and a Steward or Stewards.
The appointment of all officers, except the Master and Treasurer (who are elected by ballot), and the Tyler, (who is elected if he is not a member of the lodge) is in the sole discretion of the Master.
All Freemasons are styled and may be addressed by other Freemasons as 'Brother'. An Installed Master is styled 'Worshipful Brother'. While in the chair of his lodge, he is described and addressed as Worshipful Master and after his period of office he becomes a Past Master.
Through the Secretary, the Master formally convenes a lodge's regular meetings but he is not a free agent as there is no power to cancel a meeting, nor is he any longer permitted to summon an emergency meeting without authority from Grand Lodge. This last limitation was imposed soon after World War II when it was clear that if they were not controlled in some way lodges would take in far more candidates than they could absorb.
Rule 180 of the Book of Constitutions requires the Master to admonish any behavior in the lodge liable to disrupt the harmony of the meeting, and if it persists, to censure it, or even exclude the Brother causing the disharmony for the remainder of the meeting if the majority of the members agree.
It is undoubtedly the Master's prerogative to decide what is to be the business transacted at each lodge meeting, but much of this is governed by the bye-laws of the lodge and the Book of Constitutions. When it comes to performing the ceremonies (what we call working the ritual) a way of doing this peculiar to the lodge will have probably evolved over the years, and the Master of the lodge will do well to fall in with this. He has, however, more freedom in seeking assistance or in deciding to go it alone with the actual ceremonies.
From the point of view of legislation, neither Master nor lodge has any absolute authority, since no by-law or amendment can be effective until it has been approved by a higher authority. In any case the Grand Master's approval would not be given to any by-law or amendment which was at odds to the Book of Constitutions.
When it comes to internal discipline, a lodge is free to exclude one of its members 'for sufficient cause', provided that it goes the right constitutional way about it.
A lodge has indeed much of the semblance of a democracy with one man one vote on all matters of domestic concern, but it is, in addition, governed not only by its by-laws, which as we have seen are subject to outside control, but also by the Book of Constitutions itself.
Send your questions or comments to: David G. Terrell (smithfield455@fwst.net)