CALENDAR OF EVENTS

Stated Meetings
Thursday, January 13th, 7:30 p.m.
Thursday, January 27th, 7:30 p.m.

Stop Action Practice
Thursday, January 6th, 7:00 p.m., Entered Apprentice Degree

Saturday Morning Breakfast
January 22nd, 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.
Medina Masonic Temple Dining Hall

2005 INSPECTION SCHEDULE

Jan. 7 HANOVER #115, Loudonville,               E. A.°, Napier, Dinner 6:30

Jan. 10 MANSFIELD #35, Mansfield,               F. C.°, Thompson, Refreshments

Jan. 12 WEST SALEM #398, West Salem        M. M.°, Crouse, 1st Section 5:30 – Dinner 6:30

Jan. 19 SHELBY #350, Shelby,                            F. C.°, Napier, Dinner 6:30

Jan. 21 SHILOH #544, Shiloh,                            M. M.°, Napier, 1st Section 5:30 – Dinner 6:30

Feb. 3 VENUS #152, Mansfield,                         E. A.°, Napier, Dinner 6:30

Feb. 7 CEDAR #430, Orrville,                             F. C.°, Thompson, Dinner 6:30

Feb. 9 WADSWORTH #385, Wadsworth,      E. A.°, Crouse, Dinner 6:30

Feb. 10 ASHLAND #151, Ashland,                   F. C.°, Thompson, Dinner 6:30

Feb. 12 SEVILLE #74, Seville,                              F. C.°, Thompson, 9:00AM – Breakfast 8:00AM

Feb. 17 MEDINA #58, Medina,                          E. A.°, Thompson, Dinner 6:30

Feb. 18 MARQUIS #690, Mansfield,                M. M.°, Napier, 1st Section 5:30 – Dinner 6:30

Feb. 22 SULLIVAN #313, Sullivan,                   F. C.°, Crouse, Dinner 6:30

Feb. 25 GARFIELD #528, Shreve,                      E. A.°, Thompson, Dinner 6:30

Mar. 2 EBENEZER #33, Wooster,                      E. A.°, Crouse, Dinner 6:30

Mar. 5 BELLVILLE #376, Bellville,                    M. M.°, Napier, 1st Section 9:00AM – Breakfast 8:00AM

Mar. 17 SPARTAN #126, Millersburg,            M. M.°, Thompson, 1st Section 5:30 – Dinner 6:30

Apr. 2 HARRISVILLE #137, Lodi,                     F. C.°, Crouse, Dinner 6:30

Apr. 13 LITCHFIELD #381, Medina,                M. M.°, Crouse, 1st Section 5:30 – Dinner 6:30

IMPORTANT DATES for the 2005 MASONIC CALENDER

TYPE WRITTEN RITUAL
Date & location to be announced

HOLY WEEK
March 21st through March 27th

GRAND MASTER’S RECEPTION
May 20, 2005
Baku Grotto Hall, Mansfield

OHIO MASONIC HOME DAY
June 5, 2005

20th DISTRICT GOLF OUTING
June 11th, 2005
Location to be announced

19th and 20th DISTRICT OUTING
June 27th, 2005
Turk's Pavilion, Ashland

ANNUAL COMMUNICATION OF GRAND LODGE
October 21 & 22, 2005, Columbus

20th DISTRICT ANNUAL MEETING *
November 19, 2005: 8:30 a.m.
Mansfield Masonic Temple

PAST MASTER’S CONVOCATION *
November 19, 2005: 9:00 a.m.
Mansfield Masonic Temple

OFFICERS' SCHOOL OF INSTRUCTION *
November 20, 2004: 9:00 a.m.
Mansfield Masonic Temple

* Registration & Refreshments 7:45 AM — 8:30 AM

DEPORTMENT WHILE IN THE LODGE

Your deportment while the Lodge is open should be governed by good taste and propriety. You should not engage in private conversations, nor through any other action disrupt the business of the Lodge. Discussions in the Lodge are always a healthy sign and promote the interest of the Lodge - if properly conducted. If you wish to speak, rise and, after being recognized, give the due guard and sign and make your remarks. Always address your remarks to the Master, even if you are responding to a direct question from another Brother. When finished, you may then be seated. Religion, partisan politics and any other subject which might disrupt the peace and harmony of the Lodge, should not be discussed in Lodge.

MASONIC SNIPPETS

In the Opinion of the Supreme Court of Nebraska
Concerning the oft-heard statement by some that Freemasonry is a religion, the Supreme Court of Nebraska, in deciding a case some years ago, used the following illuminating language:

"The guiding thought is not religion but religious toleration…The Masonic fraternity refrains from intruding into the field of religion and confines itself to the teaching of morality and duty to one's fellow men, which makes better men and better citizens.

"The distinction is clear between such ethical teachings and the doctrines of religion. One cannot espouse a religion without belief and faith in its peculiar doctrines. A fraternity broad enough to take in and cover with its mantle Christian, Moslem and Jew, without requiring him to renounce his religion, is not a religious organization, although its members may join in prayer which, in the case of each, is a petition addressed to his own Deity. Neither can the belief in the immortality of the soul be denominated religious in the sense that it is typical of any religion, of any race, or of any age. It constitutes one of the most beautiful and consoling features of our own religion, but it is equally found in almost every other. It is so unusual and spontaneous that it is not so much belief or dogma as it is an instinct of the human soul. Neither does it imply or require adherence to any system of religious worship.

"The fact that belief in the doctrines or deity of no particular religion is required, of itself refutes the theory that the Masonic ritual embodies a religion, or that its teachings are religious." "Let There Be Light." by Alphonse Cerza. The Masonic Service Association, 1983.

We are never Adjourned
A Lodge may not be adjourned for any purpose. No member has the authority to present a motion for adjournment since that would usurp the Master's power. A Lodge must be in one of three conditions: closed, open and at work, or at refreshment. "One Hundred One Questions about Freemasonry" Masonic Service Association, 1955.

From Whence We Came
Prior to 1717 Masonic lodges were simply formed wherever and whenever enough Masons gathered who could, and desired to, form a lodge. The lodge could be formed for a single meeting or with the intent to be permanent. They devised their own rules and followed their own counsel. But all that changed when four such lodges held a combined meeting in London, England, in the year 1717.

The meeting took place in February 1717. The four lodges that attended were (a) the lodge that met at the Goose and Gridiron Ale-House in St Paul's Churchyard, (b) the lodge that met at the Crown Ale-House in Parker's Lane near Drury Lane, (c) the lodge that met at the Rummer and Grapes Tavern in Channell Row, Westminster, and (d) the lodge that met at the Apple-Tree Tavern in Charles St, Covent Garden. This combined meeting took place at the Apple-Tree Tavern.

As a result of the February meeting these four lodges formed Freemasonry's premier Grand Lodge on June 24, 1717, in London, and became known as the "Moderns". This was the beginning of constitutional Freemasonry as we know it today.

Of the four lodges that met to form the Grand Lodge of England three are still in existence (a) the Lodge at the Goose and Gridiron, now called Antiquity No. 2; (b) the Lodge at the Rummer and Grapes, now called Royal Somerset House and Inverness Lodge No. 4; and (c) the Lodge at the Apple-Tree Tavern now called Lodge of Fortitude and Old Cumberland No. 12. (Sources: Coil's Masonic Encyclopedia, Mackey's Encyclopaedia of Freemasonry)