The tragic events of yesterday morning in Vancouver B.C. in which three Masonic Temples were intentionally lit on fire, bring up an important discussion that I think we as Freemasons need to have.
What provisions for the security of our buildings, and the people in them, do we need to be making as hate, discontent, and violence grow in our society?
Well, certainly not disarming the brothers while in lodge would be a good start. I can't believe that this was even a topic of conversation a few years ago.
We had a homeless woman living in our building for a few days once. She had snuck in while we were upstairs in lodge, no one was downstairs, and the doors were unlocked. She had gone into the basement area and hid until we all left. After that, we started locking all of the exterior doors while in our meeting, and even installed a door bell for the front door so that they tyler can admit late arriving brothers. One of the bikes for books we had purchased was stolen but luckily nothing else really of value. Lesson learned.
We've also spend some money replacing all of the exterior doors with newer ones. But not having much of value to steal is a bonus. The building is concrete, not much to burn unless they did get inside. The only thing of value would be all of the paper records, everything else can be replaced.
Will be interesting to hear the story about why this man held a grudge against the fraternity.
Freemasons have long been targeted by zealots and tyrants. Meetings were held in secret and an armed guard was stationed to protect the brethren engaged in work. A sword was sufficient in the days of flintlock muskets but as technology has increased, so should the arms of our Tyler. Literally. If you think the purges of Nazi Germany, Stalins Russia, or Saddams Iraq can't happen here, you have failed in the history part of your masonic education.
Our building in Centralia is open during business hours, since there’s a business on the 2nd floor. As such, the public can actually walk the Interesting takes here.
Our building in Centralia is open during business hours, since there’s a business on the 2nd floor. As such, the public can actually walk the hallways of all three floors, and at times, we get some interesting people in those hallways. There was one time where a homeless person set up their blanket and belongings at the entrance to our Banquet hall on the second floor. Best thing to do in those cases is not be combative, and usually the problem solves itself. Fortunately we haven’t had to resort to the police so far.
The idea of locking the doors while the meeting’s in progress is something that we do in Tenino Lodge, since the distance between the Tyler’s door and the front door is out of earshot. There have been times where a Brother had shown up late, but all he had to do is call one of our officers, and the Tyler came down and let him in. Worked pretty well.
Having the Tyler armed with a more modern weapon is not a bad idea, as noted in both of the previous comments. As Jack indicated, there is a reason why it’s in our ritual.
As for the topic of Brothers “packing” in the Lodge room, there are those who cite sections of the ritual, especially one section towards the beginning of the First Degree “Master’s Lecture,” concerning “offensive or defensive.” Some say that statement only applies to EA’s, and others say it’s symbolic. Some believe only the Tyler should be armed, others say those in the Lodge need to be armed to and from the Lodge as well. Still others note a few inappropriate actions made in Lodge meetings concerning handguns that prompted the Grand Master’s attention at that time, which could very well have brought the topic to light. It’s a controversial topic, and one that likely will never be entirely resolved.
And finally, a great way to curb the tendency of someone to vandalize our buildings is to get involved in the community. Let them know you’re still there and not defunct. If you maintain a positive presence in your community, it’s less likely someone will vandalize your building. hallways of all three floors, and at times, we get some interesting people in those hallways. There was one time where a homeless person set up their blanket and belongings at the entrance to our Banquet hall on the second floor. Best thing to do in those cases is not be combative, and usually the problem solves itself. Fortunately we haven’t had to resort to the police so far.
The idea of locking the doors while the meeting’s in progress is something that we do in Tenino Lodge, since the distance between the Tyler’s door and the front door is out of earshot. There have been times where a Brother had shown up late, but all he had to do is call one of our officers, and the Tyler came down and let him in. Worked pretty well.
Having the Tyler armed with a more modern weapon is not a bad idea, as noted in both of the previous comments. As Jack indicated, there is a reason why it’s in our ritual.
As for the topic of Brothers “packing” in the Lodge room, there are those who cite sections of the ritual, especially one section towards the beginning of the First Degree “Master’s Lecture,” concerning “offensive or defensive.” Some say that statement only applies to EA’s, and others say it’s symbolic. Some believe only the Tyler should be armed, others say those in the Lodge need to be armed to and from the Lodge as well. Still others note a few inappropriate actions made in Lodge meetings concerning handguns that prompted the Grand Master’s attention at that time, which could very well have brought the topic to light. It’s a controversial topic, and one that likely will never be entirely resolved.
And finally, a great way to curb the tendency of someone to vandalize our buildings is to get involved in the community. Let them know you’re still there and not defunct. If you maintain a positive presence in your community, it’s less likely someone will vandalize your building.
I’m a huge advocate of security whether it’s home security or security at a masonic lodge. At home I have a “Ring” doorbell camera that hook up to the peephole of my front door and notifies my phone/mobile device via picture and video notification to let me know who is at my front door. It is always on; it has motion sensors and I just charge the battery once a month. For home security I have “Nest” cameras inside my apartment unit which turns on when I am away and hook up to any DC outlet. The mobile app has a “Home” and “away” feature to turn on or off the device when I am home or not. It can also turn on via GPS mobile device. It will record the footage to a cloud base hard drive, and all hook up to my Wi-Fi network.
I was thinking maybe it would be beneficial to use these modern technologies and apply it to a masonic lodge. Have the Ring doorbell camera hooked up to the front door of the masonic lodge, and during a meeting when the lodge is in session the Tyler, SD, and WM will be notified via silent alarm to their mobile device app. The Tyler can go and admit the late/visiting brother. While simultaneously the SD and WM already knows who is in his lodge. As far as Nest cameras go inside the lodge while vacant it can detect motion and also night vision if incase any unexpected visitors decide to overstay their welcome in the lodge. It can notify and send pictures/videos to the Tyler, SD, and WM via their mobile devices.
I do not object to the Tyler carrying a more “modern” arm along with his sword if the lodge agrees. I think it is beneficial to the lodge if everyone feel safe during a lodge meeting.
Well, certainly not disarming the brothers while in lodge would be a good start. I can't believe that this was even a topic of conversation a few years ago.
We had a homeless woman living in our building for a few days once. She had snuck in while we were upstairs in lodge, no one was downstairs, and the doors were unlocked. She had gone into the basement area and hid until we all left. After that, we started locking all of the exterior doors while in our meeting, and even installed a door bell for the front door so that they tyler can admit late arriving brothers. One of the bikes for books we had purchased was stolen but luckily nothing else really of value. Lesson learned.
We've also spend some money replacing all of the exterior doors with newer ones. But not having much of value to steal is a bonus. The building is concrete, not much to burn unless they did get inside. The only thing of value would be all of the paper records, everything else can be replaced.
Will be interesting to hear the story about why this man held a grudge against the fraternity.
Freemasons have long been targeted by zealots and tyrants. Meetings were held in secret and an armed guard was stationed to protect the brethren engaged in work. A sword was sufficient in the days of flintlock muskets but as technology has increased, so should the arms of our Tyler. Literally. If you think the purges of Nazi Germany, Stalins Russia, or Saddams Iraq can't happen here, you have failed in the history part of your masonic education.
We've been locking all external doors for a while before we start. But we have had a homeless man found in the building one time.
We had a young man sleeping on the front steps one night during Rainbows. But we rarely use that entrance.
With many others, I want to know why that man burnt those Lodges.
Interesting takes here.
Our building in Centralia is open during business hours, since there’s a business on the 2nd floor. As such, the public can actually walk the Interesting takes here.
Our building in Centralia is open during business hours, since there’s a business on the 2nd floor. As such, the public can actually walk the hallways of all three floors, and at times, we get some interesting people in those hallways. There was one time where a homeless person set up their blanket and belongings at the entrance to our Banquet hall on the second floor. Best thing to do in those cases is not be combative, and usually the problem solves itself. Fortunately we haven’t had to resort to the police so far.
The idea of locking the doors while the meeting’s in progress is something that we do in Tenino Lodge, since the distance between the Tyler’s door and the front door is out of earshot. There have been times where a Brother had shown up late, but all he had to do is call one of our officers, and the Tyler came down and let him in. Worked pretty well.
Having the Tyler armed with a more modern weapon is not a bad idea, as noted in both of the previous comments. As Jack indicated, there is a reason why it’s in our ritual.
As for the topic of Brothers “packing” in the Lodge room, there are those who cite sections of the ritual, especially one section towards the beginning of the First Degree “Master’s Lecture,” concerning “offensive or defensive.” Some say that statement only applies to EA’s, and others say it’s symbolic. Some believe only the Tyler should be armed, others say those in the Lodge need to be armed to and from the Lodge as well. Still others note a few inappropriate actions made in Lodge meetings concerning handguns that prompted the Grand Master’s attention at that time, which could very well have brought the topic to light. It’s a controversial topic, and one that likely will never be entirely resolved.
And finally, a great way to curb the tendency of someone to vandalize our buildings is to get involved in the community. Let them know you’re still there and not defunct. If you maintain a positive presence in your community, it’s less likely someone will vandalize your building. hallways of all three floors, and at times, we get some interesting people in those hallways. There was one time where a homeless person set up their blanket and belongings at the entrance to our Banquet hall on the second floor. Best thing to do in those cases is not be combative, and usually the problem solves itself. Fortunately we haven’t had to resort to the police so far.
The idea of locking the doors while the meeting’s in progress is something that we do in Tenino Lodge, since the distance between the Tyler’s door and the front door is out of earshot. There have been times where a Brother had shown up late, but all he had to do is call one of our officers, and the Tyler came down and let him in. Worked pretty well.
Having the Tyler armed with a more modern weapon is not a bad idea, as noted in both of the previous comments. As Jack indicated, there is a reason why it’s in our ritual.
As for the topic of Brothers “packing” in the Lodge room, there are those who cite sections of the ritual, especially one section towards the beginning of the First Degree “Master’s Lecture,” concerning “offensive or defensive.” Some say that statement only applies to EA’s, and others say it’s symbolic. Some believe only the Tyler should be armed, others say those in the Lodge need to be armed to and from the Lodge as well. Still others note a few inappropriate actions made in Lodge meetings concerning handguns that prompted the Grand Master’s attention at that time, which could very well have brought the topic to light. It’s a controversial topic, and one that likely will never be entirely resolved.
And finally, a great way to curb the tendency of someone to vandalize our buildings is to get involved in the community. Let them know you’re still there and not defunct. If you maintain a positive presence in your community, it’s less likely someone will vandalize your building.
I’m a huge advocate of security whether it’s home security or security at a masonic lodge. At home I have a “Ring” doorbell camera that hook up to the peephole of my front door and notifies my phone/mobile device via picture and video notification to let me know who is at my front door. It is always on; it has motion sensors and I just charge the battery once a month. For home security I have “Nest” cameras inside my apartment unit which turns on when I am away and hook up to any DC outlet. The mobile app has a “Home” and “away” feature to turn on or off the device when I am home or not. It can also turn on via GPS mobile device. It will record the footage to a cloud base hard drive, and all hook up to my Wi-Fi network.
I was thinking maybe it would be beneficial to use these modern technologies and apply it to a masonic lodge. Have the Ring doorbell camera hooked up to the front door of the masonic lodge, and during a meeting when the lodge is in session the Tyler, SD, and WM will be notified via silent alarm to their mobile device app. The Tyler can go and admit the late/visiting brother. While simultaneously the SD and WM already knows who is in his lodge. As far as Nest cameras go inside the lodge while vacant it can detect motion and also night vision if incase any unexpected visitors decide to overstay their welcome in the lodge. It can notify and send pictures/videos to the Tyler, SD, and WM via their mobile devices.
I do not object to the Tyler carrying a more “modern” arm along with his sword if the lodge agrees. I think it is beneficial to the lodge if everyone feel safe during a lodge meeting.