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How Do I Join?
What are the qualifications to
become a Mason?
We're proud of our philosophy and
practice of "making good men better." Therefore, only men of
high character are considered for membership. Every applicant
must state his belief in the existence of a Supreme Being.
Atheists are not accepted into our fraternity.
How do I become a member of
the Masons?
You must ask a Masonic friend to
recommend you. You must then sign a petition, stating your age,
occupation and place of residence. Members of the Lodge will
then vote on your admissions after careful consideration of your
character and reputation. If you are accpeted for membership,
you will be offered the opportunity to pass through the three
degrees of Masonry. A degree is a stage or level of membership
in the Masons. It is also the ceremony by which you attain the
three levels of membership:
-- Entered Apprentice
-- Fellowcraft
-- Master Mason
During the Middle Ages, when a man joined
a craft, such as the stonemasons, he was first apprenticed. As
he learned the skills of the craft, he became a "Fellow of the
Craft." (What we call a "Journeyman" today.) And finally, he
attained the level called "Master of the Craft."
Our degrees teach the great lessons of
life-the importance of honor and integrity, of being a person on
whom others can rely, of being both trusting and trustworthy, of
realizing that you have a spiritual nature, the importance of
self-control, of knowing how to love and be loved and of knowing
how to keep confidences so that others may open up to you
without fear.
As a candidate, you'll attend three
meetings to receive the three Masonic Degrees. The Degrees are
solemn, enlightening lessons and are an enjoyable experience
with absolutely no uncomfortable or embarrassing moments.
It is through the Degrees that the
principles of Masonry are taught and where you'll learn that
your family and your own necessary vocations are to be
considered above Masonry.
Once you become a Master Mason, you
will be welcomed as a "Brother" in any of the thousands of
Masonic Lodges throughout the world.
We're all trying our best to be better
men. We would like to hear from you.
Call us at
(713) 475-1399 or
email us.
Click here
to listen to an audio presentation by the
Grand Lodge of Texas that explains more about Masonry, and tells
how to join.
What is a Mason?
A Mason is a member of the world's
oldest and largest fraternity. Masons join together because:
· They want to do good in the world.
· They want to do good inside their own minds.
· They enjoy being together with other men they like and
respect.
What is Masonry?
Masonry is a worldwide fraternity with
the singular purpose of making good men better. It is neither a
forum nor a place for worship. Instead, it is a friend to all
religions which are based on the belief in one God.
Masonry, or Freemasonry, is a
fraternity so old that its origins have been lost in time. It
probably started with the guilds of stonemasons who built the
great castles and cathedrals of the Middle Ages and might have
been influenced by the Knights Templar, a group of Christian
warrior monks formed in 1118 to help protect pilgrims making
trips to the Holy Land.
Masonry was formalized in 1717 when the
first "Grand Lodge" was formed in England. Today, there are
about 13,200 Masonic lodges in the U.S.
What is a Masonic Lodge?
The word "lodge" refers to two things:
a group of Masons meeting in a particular place and the place in
which they meet. The term, "lodge," comes from the structures
which the medieval stonemasons built against the sides of the
cathedrals during construction. During the winter, when
construction work was stopped, they lived in their lodges and
worked at carving stone.
Masonic buildings are sometimes called
"temples," because much of the symbolism Masonry uses to teach
its lessons comes from the building of King Solomon's Temple in
the Holy Land.
What do Masons believe in?
All Masons believe in one God and in
respect for each other.
What do Masons do?
Masons are men of charity and good
works. In fact, Masonry is the world's leading charitable
organization, contributing nearly $2 million a day to charitable
causes which they have established themselves. Our hospitals for
burned and crippled children are known worldwide and are just
part of the work we do.
What are the qualifications to become a
Mason?
We're proud of our philosophy and
practice of "making good men better." Therefore, only men of
high character are considered for membership. Every applicant
must state his belief in the existence of a Supreme Being.
Atheists are not accepted into our fraternity.
How do I become a member of the Masons?
You must ask a Masonic friend to
recommend you. You must then sign a petition, stating your age,
occupation and place of residence. Members of the Lodge will
then vote on your admissions after careful consideration of your
character and reputation.
Why is Masonry so secretive?
Actually, Masonry isn't very secretive
at all, although it sometimes seems to have that reputation. We
make no secret of our membership --- we wear rings, lapel pins
and tie tacks with Masonic emblems. Our buildings are clearly
marked and are listed in phone books. Lodge activities are
even listed in newspapers in smaller
towns!
Like most fraternities, however, we do
have some secrets, and these fall into two categories:
Ways to identify ourselves to
each other as Masons.
We have special grips and passwords
(like many other fraternal organizations) which we keep
secret so that unscrupulous people can't pass themselves off
as Masons to obtain assistance under false pretenses.
Masonic secrets.
When you truly accept responsibility
for your own life and realize that real happiness comes from
helping others, you experience certain changes. It's almost
impossible to put these changes into words, to describe them
to others. (It's like trying to describe a sunset or the
feeling you get when you hear our National Anthem.) It's not
that these "secrets" may not be told, but that they simply
cannot be put into words.
Frankly, if we're a "secret society,"
then we're the worst-kept secret in town!
Is Masonry a religion?
No. Religion plays an important part in
Masonry, but Masonry itself is most definitely not a religion.
As we've already mentioned, our members
must have a belief in God. No atheist can ever become a Mason.
We open our meetings with prayer. And
one of the first lessons we teach is that one should pray for
divine
counsel and guidance before starting an important undertaking.
But we are not a religion. We believe strongly in the importance
of religion and encourage our members to be active in the
religion and church of their choice. We teach that without
religion, a man is alone and lost and cannot reach his full
potential.
If Masonry isn't a religion, why does
it use ritual?
We all use ritual every day. Shaking
hands when you meet a friend is a ritual. Standing for the
National Anthem before a baseball game is a ritual. Our lives
are filled with ritual.
Masonry uses ritual because it's an
effective way to teach the important values we talked about
earlier. Masonry's ritual is very rich because it's so very old.
It has developed over centuries to contain some beautiful
language and ideas. But when you think about it, there's nothing
unusual about ritual. It's part of everyday life!
What is a degree?
A degree is a stage or level of
membership in the Masons. It is also the ceremony by which you
attain the three levels of membership:
-- Entered Apprentice
-- Fellowcraft
-- Master Mason
During the Middle Ages, when a man joined
a craft, such as the stonemasons, he was first apprenticed. As
he learned the skills of the craft, he became a "Fellow of the
Craft." (What we call a "Journeyman" today.) And finally, he
attained the level called "Master of the Craft."
Our degrees teach the great lessons of
life-the importance of honor and integrity, of being a person on
whom others can rely, of being both trusting and trustworthy, of
realizing that you have a spiritual nature, the importance of
self-control, of knowing how to love and be loved and of knowing
how to keep confidences so that others may open up to you
without fear.
As a candidate, you'll attend three
meetings to receive the three Masonic Degrees. The Degrees are
solemn, enlightening lessons and are an enjoyable experience
with absolutely no uncomfortable or embarrassing moments.
It is through the Degrees that the
principles of Masonry are taught and where you'll learn that
your family and your own necessary vocations are to be
considered above Masonry.
Once you become a Master Mason, you
will be welcomed as a "Brother" in any of the thousands of
Masonic Lodges throughout the world.
Do you think the Masons of Texas might
have something special to offer you?
We all have many roles to fill in our
lives. We're husbands, fathers, employees, neighbors and
friends.
We're all trying our best to be better
men.
What better way to live a life of
service to others while making yourself a better man than in the
company of your fellow Masons of Texas?
Ask a Mason. If you would like to know
more about the Masons of Texas,
call (713)
869-3954 or
email us and ask a Mason any
question you may have.
We would like to hear from you.
Texas' Masonic Heritage
Masonic membership was often the one
common denominator among the early settlers and adventurers that
came to Texas in the early 1800's. Men of different
backgrounds and cultures often found a hearty welcome in the
"friendly grip" of a brother Mason's handshake. The first
Mason known to have entered Texas was Major Zebulon M. Pike, a
member of Lodge No. 3, Philadelphia. He came in 1806 and 1807,
scouting the headwaters of the Arkansas and Red rivers, and the
Spanish settlements of the Rio Grande.
As the winds of Texas' war of
independence began to blow in the fall of 1835, there were many
Masons in the foremost positions of authority, both military and
political. The Texans' first shot was fired by Eli Mitchell on
October 2, 1835, near Gonzales. He and his commander, Colonel
John H. Moore, were both Masons.
Masonic historian Dr. James D. Carter
counts twenty-two known Masons among the fifty-nine signers of
the
Texas
Declaration of Independence,
signed at Washington-on-the Brazos on March 2, 1836.
Records from the early 1800's are often
incomplete and sometimes non-existent. As a result, some
memberships cannot be verified and many Masons are left
uncounted.
On March 6, 1836, after thirteen days
of siege, the fortified Mission San Antonio de Valero, known as
the
Alamo,
fell to the final onslaught of Mexican troops under the dictator
General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna. Among the
188 Texans who
died that day, only a handful can be
reliably identified as members of the fraternity.
By the end of 1837, three lodges had
been chartered in Texas by the Grand Lodge of Louisiana: Holland
Lodge No. 36, Milam Lodge No. 40 at Nacogdoches, and McFarland
Lodge No. 41 at San Augustine. On December 20, 1837, President
Sam Houston presided over a convention of representatives of
these three lodges in the city of Houston, and elected Anson
Jones the first Grand Master of Masons in Texas.
By 1846 Masons had served in nearly
every major governmental post in the Republic. All the
Presidents and VicePresidents of the Republic of Texas were
Masons. In 1844, George K. Teulon, Grand Secretary of the Grand
Lodge of the Republic of Texas, addressing a gathering of Masons
in Portland, Maine, observed "Texas is emphatically a Masonic
Country: Our national emblem, the 'Lone Star', was chosed from
among the emblems selected by Freemasonry, to illustrate the
moral virtues -- it is a five-pointed star, and alludes to the
five points of fellowship."
Freemasonry was without doubt the
single most important social institution in early Texas. The
first public building erected in a new community was often the
familiar two-story Masonic Lodge. The first floor ordinarily
served as the school classroom and town meeting hall, while the
lodgeroom occupied the upper floor.
Freemasonry in Texas has grown in the
last 164 years. Today there are about 132,000 Masons in nearly
900 lodges in The Grand Lodge of Texas, making it the fourth
largest grand lodge in the world. Texas Masons can take just
and lasting pride in their Texas Masonic heritage. |
