THE BUILDER June 1929

THE STUDY CLUB 

The Masonic Study Club Forum

Conducted by BRO. HERBERT HUNGERFORD

You Are Urged to Help Make This a Real Forum

All brothers interested in any phase of Masonic Education,
especially those who believe in fostering the Masonic Study Club
movement, are invited to send criticism, comments and,
particularly, practical suggestions for furthering this movement.
Those who are willing to help organize Round Table Discussion
Groups or other Masonic Study Clubs in their Lodges or their
districts are invited to send for Membership Blanks, etc., which
will be supplied free of cost.

Address:

HERBERT HUNGERFORD,
General Campaign Manager,

The Masonic Study Club Campaign Harrisonburg, Virginia.

WHY does the Masonic Study Club movement progress so slowly ? This
is a key question. Its answer will disclose just what those who are
attempting to foster the Study Club movement are up against. Let us
face the facts frankly and fearlessly. Let us not dodge any feature
or phase of the situation.

We know that there are many thousands of Freemasons who believe
that the most vital problem of our Fraternity today is teaching our
newly-made brethren the fundamental principles of Freemasonry and
encouraging them in practicing these principles. In fact, I doubt
if any thoughtful observer or leader in the Craft will dispute the
claim that the educating of more of our members in the genuine art
of Freemasonry is the paramount problem of our Fraternity today.

We know, likewise, that a fair percentage of our newly-made
brethren will gladly avail themselves of an opportunity to learn
more about the fundamentals of Freemasonry, providing they can
obtain this knowledge without too great an expenditure of time,
money and effort. From my personal observation, I believe, that at
least seven out of ten newlymade Masons would be glad to enroll for
at least a primary course of studies or discussions of the
fundamentals of Freemasonry.

This does not imply that more than a small minority of our brethren
are very seriously concerned about digging deeply into the study of
Freemasonry or would be willing to devote any great amount of time,
money and effort to Masonic Study.

The enthusiasts the "dyed-in-the-wool fans" of the Masonic Study
movement seem to think that any brief and superficial study of the
history, symbolism or teachings of Freemasonry is scarcely worth
while. Here is where we, who are undertaking this present campaign
on behalf of the Masonic Study Club movement, do not entirely agree
with our more learned brethren. We hold to the old principle that
creeping comes before walking and walking before running. We
believe that many of those who enroll for our admittedly
superficial introductory courses of Masonic Study are more likely
thereby to acquire a taste or desire to dig more deeply into the
lore and principles of the Craft. Likewise, we believe that even a
little Masonic Study is better than none at all.

We heartily approve of the endeavors of our learned brethren to
develop more Masonic scholars, but we also insist that what might
be termed the kindergarten class of Masonic students are deserving
of due consideration.

One answer to the question which opens this discussion, therefore,
is that one of the factors which has hindered the progress of the
Masonic Study Club Movement, heretofore, is the fact that the
courses of study recommended usually have been "over the heads" of
the rank and file. Even the so-called elementary courses have been
too elaborate and deep for most of us.

But, this is not the real answer to the question. Getting right
down to the "brass tacks" of the situation, the reason why more
Masonic Study Clubs have not been organized is due to the fact that
most of those who profess to believe in the value and importance of
such clubs, simply talk about their views as to the advantages of
Masonic Study and, likewise, deplore the lack of interest on the
part of their brethren in this matter. But, how infrequently do
these critics, these Masonic Study talkers, ever lift a finger in
actually starting a Study Club? Answer this question honestly and
you will find the real reason why there are only hundreds instead
of thousands of Study Clubs.

To give a pertinent and practical illustration of this point. Since
the writer began his series of articles on "Our Ancient Fraternity
and Present Day Problems," more than two hundred brethren in all
parts of the country have written to express their approval of our
viewpoint that the stimulation of more Masonic Study Clubs is the
most practical solution thus far proposed for the problems briefly
reviewed in our series.

If each brother who has thus expressed approval will actually do
his bit to form at least one Study Club, we surely will make a
flying start in getting our present Study Club Campaign under way.

COMMENTS AND SUGGESTIONS

As stated in my announcement, I am anxious to conduct this
department as a real forum, filled as fully as possible with
comments and contributions from brothers from all sections who are
interested in furthering the Study Club movement and are willing to
pass along their views and, especially, their experiences for the
benefit of their brethren.

This is written before our first announcement could reach many of
our readers, consequently few comments and contributions have been
received, excepting those from brethren who wrote me regarding my
series on "Our Ancient Fraternity and Present Day Problems," which
series was sort of a fore-runner for this forum. So, although some
of the comments are not directly concerned with Masonic Study
Clubs, selections are presented from the letters of several
correspondents, because, indirectly at least, all problems of the
Craft are concerned with Masonic Study.

W. Bro. Daniel B. Robinson, 5020 W. 23rd St., Cicero, Ill.,
President of the West Suburban Masonic Standard Club of the 17th
Masonic District of his state, sends a mimeograph outline of the
program used in his Lodge during his term as Master, in the year
1927. We present a Topical Outline of W. Bro. Robinson's Course.

MASONIC STUDY CLUB PROGRAM OF PRAIRIE STATE LODGE

1-The Beginning of Free Masonry in America
2-Masonry's Place in the Early History of America
3-The Fatherhood of God and Brotherhood of Man
4-God
5-The Bible
6-What and Why Is Masonry
7-The First Degree ( Symbolical)
8-The Second Degree ( Symbolical)
9-The Third Degree (Legendary)
10-Review

Bro. M. E. Gore, 51 Main St., Orange, N. J., also sent us a ritual
designed to stimulate interest in Masonic Study Clubs, which we
regret went astray in the mails. We hope to receive another copy
from Bro. Gore for our next forum.

Bro. Philip Crossle, Assistant Secretary of The Lodge of Research,
Dublin, Ireland, writes a most interesting letter which, if space
permitted, we would like to quote in full. But we must confine our
extract to the first two paragraphs of Bro. Crossle's letter, which
give the keynote of his comments. Later we hope for further
contributions from Bro. Crossle telling us something of the
particular methods of his Lodge of Research.

I have been reading your recent series of essays in THE BUILDER
with great interest. Much of what you say about the inner meaning
of the teachings of our Antient Fraternity appeal to me so much
that I feel your Study Club Forum, if conducted according to your
practical point of view, would be of inestimable help to Masonic
students who are not carried away by fanciful theories so prevalent
these days.

The inner meaning of the symbolism of Freemasonry, as I endeavor to
insist upon with my brethren here, must be based upon something
more sublime and practical than a peculiar system of morality,
veiled in allegory, and illustrated by symbolism, a definition
which has never appealed to me as embracing the foundation upon
which our Antient Fraternity stands.

W. Bro. Franklin H. Reeder, P. M. of Colonial Lodge of
Philadelphia, Pa., makes an excellent comment upon Freemasonry and
Business, from which we quote the following brief extract:

When the question arises as to whether Freemasons should show
preference to fellow members, it is easily answered by your own
heart. If you are a true Mason, you will have a due regard for the
rights of others, more especially our brethren in Freemasonry. As
it takes not only push but pull to advance materially, we should
always help a brother, when knowing him to be worthy and his cause
just. Holy Writ informs us that If any provideth not for his own,
and especially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith
and is worse than an infidel. The Quakers look out for each other
and no one ever sees or hears of a Quaker begging. The Knights of
Columbus always give preference to a Roman Catholic, and the
children of darkness are wiser than the children of light. Masons
should stand up more for Masons. Any true Mason will consider every
other Mason worthy, unless proved otherwise, and will give him a
reasonable amount of preference over a non-Mason and will do so as
a privilege, and not as an obligation; and no true Mason would take
advantage of such consideration and wrong his brother. One who
would violate such confidence reposed in him should be regarded as
an unworthy and false brother and should be treated as such.

Bro. G. A. Kenderdine, Iowa City, Iowa, takes a slightly different
attitude, as shown by the following extracts from his most
interesting letter:

I have been following your series in THE BUILDER with a great deal
of interest. Many of your suggestions I agree with, and others, I
think are counsels of perfection, but not practicable.

Let me ask this question squarely, in respect to business ethics.
Can we, or should we, as an ethical proposition, expect from a
brother Freemason in dealing with him, any greater degree of
honesty, or service, than one can reasonably expect elsewhere? In
other words, if a man is absolutely honest in his business dealings
(and there are very few who don't draw the long bow sometime, as we
all know. Must of us are guilty of at least gilding the lily and
painting the rainbow when presenting a business proposition) but,
as I say, if we are dealing honestly and giving a good quid pro
quo, what more would another Mason have a right to ask or expect of
us or we of him in dealing?

I don t think Masonry should be considered an exclusive virtue,
although there are many who wear our badge, as someone has said
recently, for the purpose of being called Rabbi, Rabbi, and being
asked to eat in high places, there is no question about that. There
is a growing tendency among people to prize their Masonic
membership as a badge that, at some time at least, they were
respectable in their community and to wear it as a sort of
certificate in that direction with no intention of working at any
of the duties or responsibilities of the Craft.

Masonry seems to be more popular than ever in point of men wanting
to get into it, for the reason that I have expressed. Certainly
interest in the average lodge is dying down and, despite the
increase in the number of brethren holding proficiency
certificates, the time will come when these badge-wearers will have
to receive their degrees from teams of semi-professionals at least,
who may have to be hired to take time from their other secular
employment in order to perform this work.

Dr. A. J. Caldwell, Amarillo, Texas, Past Potentate of the Shrine,
writes a most vigorous and pertinent letter from which we quote a
few paragraphs:

In every age of recorded history, when an organization becomes
creed bound, and therefore, ossified, a few progressive Entities
have deserted the sinking craft and sought so-called "Salvation" in
the life boats of progressive thought and a greater appreciation of
truth. Within the organization of Masonry there is an ever-
inereasing number who are becoming dissatisfied with a few
rudiments of Geometry; a few unimportant traditions, the meaning of
which is imperfectly understood or totally unknown, and a few
maxims of morality that have been preached and practiced for
thousands of years.

Unconsciously or otherwise, the organization has and is building
within itself a Robot or Frankenstein monster that is both
certainly and surely causing its disintegration. Physical and
mental inertia must be speedily overcome, in part, if this so-
ealled Accepted Institution remains and functions, during the
oncoming centuries.

We are deeply interested and greatly concerned that we, as an
organization, assist a great number within the pale, toward
acquiring not only further Light but more Light than we are now
giving.

Space will not permit quotations from many other interesting and
helpful comments, but we wish at least to make mention of a number
of brethren whose letters have given us much encouragement. Also,
we want sincerely to thank each of these brothers for their promise
of cooperation and support in our Study Club Campaign and give each
writer the assurance that we will be grateful to have them report
fully regarding their efforts and experiences in fostering or
organizing Study Clubs in their localities. Letters pledging
support for the Masonic Study Club Campaign have recently come from
the following brethren, and with such support the spread of the
movement is assured:

Prof. O. W. Dynes, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tenn. 
Mr. Edson Davis, 191 N. Harris Ave., Columbus, O. 
Mr. C. W. Sehulz, Rex Hotel, Duluth, Minn. 
Mr. Alex Vanna, 1146 13th st., San Diego, Cal. 
Mr. E. C. Parmenter, Belmont, Vt. 
Mr. Raymond Williams, 845 S. National Ave., Fort Scott, Kans. 
Mr. Ernest w. Gruss, R. No. 6, Pox 317, Houston, Tex 
Mr. Samuel Pfrimmer, Corydon, Ind. 
Mr. W. M. Strom Greenville, Texas.

The Easiest Way to Organize a Masonic Study Club

With Keypoint Programs for Discussion and Study, Historical,
Symbolical and Ethical

By BRO. HERBERT HUNGERFORD

THAT graded courses of study must be provided which are adapted to
the various ages, interests and tastes of all classes of students
is a sound pedagogical principle which, I believe, should be
applied to Masonic Education as well as to all other branches of
knowledge.

To some Masonic scholars it may seem a sad situation that most
members of our fraternity can only be interested in a superficial
or extremely elementary study of the fundamentals of Freemasonry.
Yet, this is a real condition and not a fancied theory. Therefore,
we must face the fact that the introduction of Masonic Study into
the average lodge should begin with what we might call the Primary
Grade possibly, in many cases, kindergarten would be a better term.

Likewise, if we make Masonic Study appeal to the rank and file, we
must accept the condition that the average Mason will not be
willing to permit studies of any sort to interfere with or distract
from the time and attention he devotes to the movies, sports, and
other recreational and social affairs. Furthermore, the average
Mason will become bored and drop out of the meetings if there is
too much red tape officialism, or if the discussions go into
matters too deep and mystical for ordinary understanding.

Keeping these plain, common-sense factors in mind, the easiest way
to introduce Masonic Study into a Lodge is to begin without any
great hurrah or whooperup speechmaking.

STARTING OUT IN THE RIGHT WAY

Experience has shown that many a time an enthusiastic Masonic
orator has stirred up so much interest that a large group has begun
a Masonic Study Club which, after just a few meetings, has entirely
petered out, leaving those who started the club disillusioned and,
perhaps, bitter over the indifference of their brethren towards
"the deeper interests of life in general and Freemasonry in
particular."

In every Lodge, I believe, it will be possible to discover a few
members who will take a fairly keen interest in the hidden
mysteries of the craft. But it is almost impossible to find out
just who these members are by any check-up of the membership.

Experience indicates that the best way to discover the genuine
Masonic students of any Lodge is to begin your Masonic Study Club
work with a brief series of informal discussion group meetings,
taking up at each meeting a topic of the most universal and
elementary nature. For a few meetings of this character it will be
possible to maintain the interest of quite a large number of
members. But one important objective of these introductory
discussions meetings will be to discover or develop a few genuine
Masonic students who are likely to get together and take up more
advanced work in Masonic Study.

On the other hand, my personal opinion is that every member who
attends any of these introductory discussion group meetings will
receive considerable benefit, so that the courses would be well
worth while, even if none of the members should be encouraged to
pursue the more advanced study of Masonic subjects. But, in most
cases, I am sure you will find that your introductory discussions
will start a number of the brethren on the way towards the keen
enjoyment to be gained from digging more deeply into Masonic
problems.

In presenting the following outlines for our Seven Keypoint
Programs on Masonic History, Masonic Symbolism and Masonic
Teachings, no apology is made for their incomplete and somewhat
superficial character. It would be impossible to cover these
subjects completely in seven short programs.

The reason we have arranged for seven meetings on each general
Subject is obvious to all members of the Craft. The term, Keypoint,
refers to the idea that each discussion is intended merely as a key
to the door which opens up a broad field of information.

GROWING YOUR OWN STUDY COURSES

The brief topical outlines we present herewith are simply offered
as seed-thoughts to enable each discussion group to "grow it's own"
study course. We make no pretense that our outline programs are the
best. On the contrary, our strong hope in offering them is that
they will bring forth many suggestions and ideas for their
improvement.

To change our figures from the seed-thought idea to what may be
regarded as more of a Masonic comparison, our introductory outline
programs are merely the rough framework for our proposed structure.
We expect to modify and improve the construction of the programs in
accordance with the suggestions for their betterment which we hope
to draw from the experience of our well-informed brothers from all
parts of the country.

Accordingly we not merely invite but most earnestly urge every
interested reader to send his comment or criticism. Do not hesitate
to point out any flaw or weakness that you may find, or to suggest
any change or correction that you think would be an improvement. We
shall gratefully welcome all comment from every possible source.

These Introductory Keypoint Programs actually will be arranged and
constructed by the readers of THE BUILDER. At the outset we merely
offer the topical headings for the seven meetings of each course.
We propose, from month to month, to present a more elaborate
outline of questions, items of interest and suggested references
for the successive topics of each of the three general programs.

In brief, these Keypoint Programs will be conducted through this
department of THE BUILDER and it is hoped that a goodly number of
our readers will help us knock off the rough corners and construct
a fairly smooth working course or rather, three courses to be used
as the best possible introduction to the study of the main phases
of Freemasonry.

The best possible way, and by far the most practical plan, to aid
us in developing this Study Club Campaign is for every brother
interested to get together a study club group and follow the
program with us. It is not necessary that your discussion group be
numerous or your plans elaborate. To simply get a few interested
brethren to meet once a month and discuss together the question
presented will be better than to attempt a more elaborate and
formal organization.

Our references will be confined to the most popular and easily
procured books on Masonic subjects, which may be found in any good
library. It will be unnecessary for any member of the introductory
discussion group to purchase any text-books, since all the data
actuall r required will be given in THE BUILDER. Of course, it is
hoped that the discussion will encourage some members of the group
to read more Masonic literature, but that objective will be gained,
usually, when the leader of the group conducts the discussions so
enthusiastically as to stimulate deeper interest in the subject on
the part of some of those participating in them.

Bear in mind that all the abundant resources of information of The
National Masonic Research Society are available to every Study Club
discussion group. All you have to do is to ask and you will receive
advice or information on any Masonic question.

Finally, brethren, don't overlook the point that this puts the
problem of fostering the Masonic Study Club movement up to you. If
you really believe that more Masons ought to be better informed
with regard to the principles of the institution, you are the one
who should start the ball rolling. You can do it now with the least
possible expense and effort. Instead of going about criticising the
Craft for being indifferent or ignorant regarding the real
fundamentals of Freemasonry, let us put a little action in the
place of mere talk and we shall at least start things on the way
towards the betterment of our beloved brotherhood.

Seven Keypoint Introductory Programs, Arranged for Round Table
Discussion Groups

MASONIC HISTORY

1-Primative Origins of Masonic Activities.
2-Legendary Forerunners of Freemasonry.
3-Early Records of Operative Freemasonry.
4-The First Grand Lodges of England.
5-Beginnings of the Craft in America.
6-Patriotism, Persecution and Progress.
7-Historical High Spots of the Past Fifty Years.

MASONIC SYMBOLISM

1-The Origin, Development and Importance of Symbolism.
2-The Major Symbols of the First Degree.
3-The Minor Symbols of the First Degree.
4-The Major Symbols of the Second Degree.
5-The Minor Symbols of the Second Degree.
6-The Major Symbols of the Third Degree.
7-The Minor Symbols of the Third Degree.

MASONIC TEACHINGS

1-The Prime Importance of Character Building Through Self-Denial,
Self-Control and Self-Culture.
2-A Reverent and Reasonable Faith in the Fatherhood of God.
3-The Practice of Brotherly Love in all Human Relationships.
4-The Belief Life is Eternal and the Soul of Man is Immortal.
5-The Profession and Practical Exemplification of the Spirit of
True Democracy
6-The Practice of Universal Tolerance, Unlimited Charity and
Constant Loyalty.
7-The Ultimate Triumph of Truth and Righteousness.
