Masters Message April 2024

My Brothers,

As I write this message, I look back on the month of March and find myself beaming with tremendous pride. At the SJ1P communication on Wednesday, 3/20, two great things happened. First, our candidates delivered their Fellowcraft proficiency to the Officers and all the brethren in attendance. Once again, I was speechless (choked up, actually) at how well they delivered their work and how effortless they made it seem. It was nothing short of exceptional, and I felt how important this Masonic journey is to them. Thank you, my Brothers, for your hard work. In finding the candidates fully proficient, the Officers and I then conferred the Master Mason degree on our six candidates. Keeping in mind the need to convey awe, we truly delivered an amazing Master Mason degree. We focused on the senses, the experience and amazing ritual. One of the enhancements this year was having twelve Fellowcraft participate in the second part of the degree. Personally, I have never witnessed this full complement of Fellowcraft in an MM degree BUT I can say that, witnessing the work from the East, it was beyond impressive and just added even more WOW to the degree.

I have so many Brothers to thank for helping with the MM degree. First, thank you to all who attended that night. We had almost 100 brothers in attendance, and your presence and participation unquestionably added to the degree. It was a tremendous sign of support for both the candidates and the Officers. Secondly, thank you to all the Brothers who participated as cast and crew in the degree. Please know how much I appreciate your dedication and support. *WE* put on an amazing degree. More importantly, I hope you also share in the pride of what you helped to create and deliver. And, thank you to R:.W:. DDGM Eric Grist and W:. GMC John Kent for attending the degree. It’s always wonderful to share our Lodge with you, and I am thrilled that you got to witness the amazing degree work this Lodge delivers! Finally, please join me in congratulating our newly raised Master Masons on their achievements: Brothers Lenine Camacho, Richard Lunn, Omar Niazi, Jason Norberg, Joseph Puleo and Alan Vukas. They will be delivering their MM proficiency to the Lodge in May.

There are many events taking place in the very busy month of April: our Grand Masters Testimonial Dinner at Harbor Lights on 4/5, our Special Ladies Luncheon at Chapel Grille on 4/7, our DDGM Visitation to Overseas Lodge on 4/10 and the Demolay/Rainbow Progressive Dinner on 4/13.

At our April communication on Wednesday, 4/17, R:.W:. DDGM Eric Grist will be making his final official visitation to the Metro District at SJ1P. As you know, this is a very special evening for our DDGM before he moves into the Grand Council and out of the districts. That said, and in recognition of this, I have scheduled to bring in an amazing speaker for the semi-public presentation that evening – W:. Bro. Andrew Hammer, author of Observing the Craft. Bro. Hammer is a wealth of knowledge and an amazing lecturer. Moreover, Bro. Hammer has been my source of inspiration and direction this past year. Bro. Andrew Hammer is Master of Lodge Alba N° 222 in Washington, DC, and a member of Lodge Sir Robert Moray Nº 1641, under the Grand Lodge of Scotland, as well as of Lodge Ireland Nº 2000 under the Grand Lodge of Ireland. He is the Grand Historian and Deputy Grand Lecturer of the Grand Lodge of Washington, D.C., and Secretary of Fiat Lux Lodge N° 1717 in that jurisdiction. He is Past Grand Orator of the Grand Lodge of North Carolina, and an honorary member of Adelphic Union Lodge Nº 14 in Harlem, under the Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge of New York. Brother Hammer is President of the Masonic Restoration Foundation, a Fellow of the Philalethes Society, and a member of the Quatuor Coronati Correspondence Circle. He is a Past High Priest, a Past Sovereign Master of the Allied Masonic Degrees, and a 32° KCCH Scottish Rite Mason. He is a recipient of the Grand Master's Order of Merit from the United Grand Lodge of Victoria.

That said, between the combination of our DDGM’s final visitation (who has emphatically promised me he is not going to cry) and our guest presenter, I expect that we will have a very full lodge room that evening. So, this is a reminder to make a dinner reservation no later than the Friday before our communication – this month that is April 12th (but the sooner, the better!) You can make your reservation for dinner with Brother Senior Steward via email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 401.861.1757. The cost of the meal with a reservation remains $10. *IF* we can accommodate a Brother without a reservation the evening of the communication, the cost is $20. As always, thank you in advance for your cooperation.

Looking forward to seeing you at our April communication!

Fraternally,