Young Free-Masons form new Grand Lodge

You Won’t Find the Free-Masons in Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code At Your Old Neighborhood Lodge

ATLANTA, Ga., May 19, 2006 — Knock on the door of most any Masonic lodge in America, and you won't find Dan Brown's noble Grail-seeking men of honor, science and mysticism. If you manage to get anyone to answer that door at all, you will most likely find an old man's coffee and doughnut club, men who think of themselves as a religious service club.

Unless, that is, you've knocked on the door of Modern Free-Masonry!

In 2005, Free-Masonry rose from the ashes and rubble of intolerance, corruption and mediocrity, and the United Grand Lodge of America was born. After seven years of trying to work within the "traditional" Antient Free-Masonry system of individual state Grand Lodges, a group of young Masons in Atlanta wanted to revitalize the Masonic experience in their lodge.

They started by forming an informal group to study and discuss the ethics, history and meaning of Free-Masonry.

This group quickly became popular with the younger Masons in the area, and soon attracted the attention of officials within the Grand Lodge of Georgia. For reasons still not entirely clear, the Grand Master of Georgia ultimately declared their group "clandestine" (a Masonic word often used in much the same way that the Catholic Church once used the word "heretic") and ordered the summary "erasure" of these young men from the rolls of their lodges.

Free-Masonry, once a force for tremendous good in our country — most of the nation's founding fathers were Free-Masons — had devolved into not much more than a good ol' boy network peppered with petty squabbles, power struggles, and title-seeking. The social agenda in many lodges consisted of the occasional pot luck dinner and a yearly fried chicken or barbeque charity fund-raiser. And in spite of their aging membership — the typical Free-Mason is over 65 years old — and the dramatic drop off in applications from young men seeking to join their lodges, the Grand Master of Georgia tossed out the very kind of energetic, thoughtful, and dedicated young men he and Free-Masonry so desperately need.

Undaunted, these young men believing that Free-Masonry is larger than the Grand Lodge of Georgia and its autocratic Grand Master, joined together with young men from other states who were similarly dissatisfied with their autocratic grand lodges and formed the United Grand Lodge of America of Accepted Free-Masons. The Grand Lodge website www.GrandLodgeUSA.org lays out its purpose and mission: restoring Free-Masonry to its lofty and noble ideals.

"The mission of the United Grand Lodge of America of Accepted Free-Masons is the Brotherhood of All Mankind under the All-Seeing Eye of Deity through Universal Tolerance and the enlightenment of humanity. It is a message of peace for all humanity, a message more important for the world now than at any time in human history.

"But Free-Masonry for the sake of itself is devoid of meaning and purpose. Many Masonic organizations have lost sight of the divinely inspired goal of the Craft, and have attempted to turn Free-Masonry into nothing more than a social club and philanthropy. The effect of this is apparent throughout the Craft today as the eternal Light grows ever dimmer while the membership rolls age and shrink. We, however, view service to God and mankind as our priorities. The survival of Free-Masonry is the result of the performance of our duties and obligations to both God and man. While political and religious leaders draw lines on the globe to separate and divide men, we build bridges to unite them in Peace, Love and Harmony."

The world needs to hear, learn, and live this message. And Modern Free-Masonry is the messenger.

For more Information on Modern Free-Masonry go to www.ModernFreemasons.org.

About the United Grand Lodge of America

The United Grand Lodge of America was established on December 27, 2005 to restore and revitalize Free-Masonry in the Unites States. The Grand Lodge and its subordinate Lodges are open to all men regardless of their race or religion. For more information, go to www.GrandLodgeUSA.org.

For further information contact Jeffrey J. Peace at 404-405-5271 or jpeace@collegiumfabrorum.org.

Freemasonry | Masons | Grand Lodge of Georgia | United Grand Lodge of Georgia