November  28,  1987

THE ANGLICAN CHLTRCH AND MASONRY
by Bro.  Norman Senn, PDDGM

INTRODUCTION

The Craft has been attacked for almost as many years as it has
existed.  The reasons have been many.  The anti-Masonic movement
in the U.S.A. following the "Morgan Affair,, in 1826 is a topic
commonly dealt with in Masonic research.  Publication of
exposures of the Craft started within a few years of the Craft
being formalized and still they come.

Most Canadian Masons are aware of the continuing attack by the
Missouri Synod of the Lutheran Church. Many odd distortions have
come out of that attack.  Less well known in North America was
the recent uproar that took place in the United Kingdom,
birthplace of Masonry as we know it.

The problems seemed to start with the publication in books,
magazines and on TV of negative material about the craft and of
material purporting to be initiation ceremonies.  In addition
there were a small number of murder mysteries written which
connected masonry with criminal conspiracy.  The best known was
possibly "Murder by Decree." This was the movie based on the
theory of Stephen Knight that the "Jack the Ripper" murders were
really a Masonic conspiracy at the highest levels.  The press
raised questions as to possible bias of police, magistrates and
others in authority, towards brother Masons.  There was much
discussion over proposed requirements for aldermen, police and
others to declare their Masonic affiliation publicly and for
consideration of Masonic affiliation in employment applications. 
Police integrity was questioned in cases before the courts.

Those outside the Craft seemed unaware of the mason's commitment
to uphold the law of the land and that lawbreakers are expelled
from the Craft--not supported.

In the Canadian press there were recently a number of articles.
referring to Masonry in negative terms.  Masonry was discussed by
the lawyers in two recent trials on hate literature when the
anti-Semitism, anti-masonry, world conspiracy cult raised its
ugly head to spew vicious rubbish out to all gullible enough to
listen. In the cases of both Ernst Zundel, in Toronto and James
Keegstra, in Red Deer, convictions were obtained for their
anti-Semitic expressions, but the anti-Masonic opinions were left
floating.

Some attack Masonry for obscure reasons, possibly due to 
distorted concepts or interpretations placed upon the Craft and
its works.  Some have attacked from religious fanaticism.  The
most recent attacks have come from unexpected quarters and
followed the publication of a number of books.  The first was
Darkness Visible by Walton Hannah, Augustine Press, 1952; the
second was Christian by Degree by Walton Hannah, Augustine Press,
1954 and these were followed by The Brotherhood by Stephen
Knight, Granada, 1983, Satan's Angels Exposed by Salem Kirban,
Morris Cerullo World Evangelism, 1980; and the The Antichrist or
the Masonic Society by Charles G. Finney, 1868 - reprinted 1984.

METHODIST CHURCH

In 1985 the Faith and Order Conunittee of the Methodist Church
produced a report from a Group of non-Masons based on printed
material.  The committee had no communication with the Grand
Lodge of England but written input was received from individuals. 
No information is available to show what proportion of the
correspondence was from Masons.  The report, consisting of 22
"memorials" was presented to the General Conference of the
Church.  There was acknowledgment of the high moral standards of
Freemasonry, its lack of social discrimination, and the high
commitment of many Methodists to Christ as well as to the Craft
with no feelings of incompatibility.  Notwithstanding these
attributes, the excessive secrecy, the individual's possible
misinterpretation of the ritual and the committee's view of the
Craft, influenced the Methodist Church to rule that a Methodist
could not be a Freemason.  This was because the committee
identified syncretism, (the tendency to reconcile religious and
philosophical tenets on the basis of common elements), elements
of the ritual replacing Christian elements, religious practices,
Competition with Christianity and compromise of Christian beliefs
for any Methodist who was a Mason.  All these could be easily
answered by looking at readily available evidence offered by
Grand Lodge, had the Church wished to ask.

In 1986, ten further "memorials" were put forward to counteract
the 22 which had-been adopted in the previous year.  These ten
were all rejected but the Committee now said that Freemasonry was
not "incompatible." The Association of Methodist Freemasons was
informed, however, by the Secretary  of the Methodist Church that
he would continue to act on the last of the 22 original
"memorials" which states that Methodists should not become
Freemasons.


THE ANGLICAN CHURCH

In 1985, following the Methodist assault, the Synod of the
Anglican Church accepted a motion to have a Working Group develop
a discussion paper for consideration of the Synod "which
considers the compatibility or otherwise of Freemasonry with
Christianity." This was not the first time that such a request
had been made. In 1951, shortly after the publication of an
article in the magazine Theology, by Reverend Walton Hannah
entitled, "Should a Christian be a Freemason?" a request was made
for a review.  The request then had been denied.

The Working Group of seven people was not struck until one year
later. It consisted of two women, one a Professor of Sociology
who was the Chairwoman, two clergymen who were Masons, and three
clergymen who were non-Masons.  The Group had the responsibility
to meet five times and produce a short discussion paper to meet
the demands of the approved motion.

The first meeting of the Working Group was held two days later
and the secretary issued a press release inviting written
evidence.  He also communicated with the United Grand Lodge of
England which issued its own press statement. The Grand Lodge
release regretted the necessity for such an investigation but
expressed pleasure at being invited to give evidence.

The Working Group also sought information from "The Honorable
Fraternity of Ancient Freemasons," a women's organization, but no
response was received.

The Working Group received 106 written submissions which it said
were balanced between Masons and non-Masons. Six of these
submissions were from members of the General Synod.  There were
many responses from Masonic members of the clergy, both current
and retired.

GRAND LODGE SUBMISSION

The Grand Lodge had made an immediate offer to make all possible
information available to the Working Group when it had first been
proposed.  The submission to the Group when it was actually
formed was comprehensive and included all information thought to
be helpful.  The UGL Submission ran to 57 pages in length and
covered the following topics.

1. Freemasonry's relationship with religion
2. The King as a Freemason
3. Qualifications for membership
4. Secrecy, privacy or reticence
5. Freemasonry and the law
6. Aims and relationship of the Craft
7. Freemasonry and society
8. Lodge meetings
9. 'Pure Antient Masonry' and other degrees
10. Charity
11. Masonic discipline
12. Relationship with other Grand Lodges (particularly Europe)

Books and papers

13. Notes on the methodist report
14. Darkness Visible and Christian by Degree
15. The Brotherhood
16. Emulation Ritual
17. Freemasonry--A Way of Salvation
18. List of Books etc. given to the Synod Working Group


19. Supplementary Questions and Answers May 23, 1986
20. Sermon by Dean of Gloucester Cathedral (Masonic Service)
21. Extract of responses to newspaper articles
22. Extract of letter to Chairman of Working Group (Nov. 1986)
23. Extract of letter from Sec. General Supreme Council 33 degree
to the Chairman of of the Working Group (Dec. 1986)
23. Extract of letter to the Chairman of the Working Group (Feb.
1987).

The UGL submission gave many explanations and the major ones are
summarized below.

Freemasonry is not a religion or a substitute but requires of
each man belief in his own religion.  Masonry expects of every
member, a belief in a Supreme Being.  It has neutral prayers to
allow men of all faiths to participate with offence to none.  The
name of the Supreme Being is not of a Masonic or composite god
but represents to each Mason his own understanding of the God of
his belief.

The Bible MUST be open at all meetings but additional Holy Books
may be open according to the faiths of those present.  The
obligations are undertakings to follow the principles of
Freemasonry  and not reveal the methods of identification.  In
Britain the historical oaths of the three degrees and the
Installed Master's degree are now placed within the lectures to
avoid the accusations of horrific oaths over the Bible.

Although Freemasonry requires belief in a Supreme Being and uses
some prayers, it lacks the basic elements of a religion.  It has
no theological doctrine of its own and discussion of religion is
forbidden.  It offers no sacrament and does not offer or claim to
offer salvation either by works or secret knowledge.  The
teachings of the Craft support religion but are not the practice
of religion.  No lodge can meet on the Christian holidays.

King George VI was a sincere Freemason who rose to the rank of
Grand Master of Scotland and held the rank of Past Grand Master
of the Grand Lodge of England. He was just one of many Princes to
hold high Masonic office over a period of 170 years.

Only men may become members but there are women's orders and
those for men and women together but there is no Masonic contact
with these groups.

Secrecy only relates to the signs of recognition and information
is available to the public through publication of all sorts.  It
noted that the Masonic order was never judged an unlawful body
even when constraints were placed on many organizations in the
early 1800s.

All Masons are subject to the law of the land.  Membership,
rather than interfering with a man's duties as a citizen,
improves his performance. It is an offence for a Mason to use his
membership to promote his professional or business career.
Masonry should not interfere with a members family life or his
employment. The obligation of a Freemason as a citizen overrules
his obligation to another Freemason.

The lodge is a place to perform Masonic business and carry out
ritualistic work to admit and instruct new Masons. The moral
messages are not exclusive to Freemasonry but the method of
teaching is.

The submission pointed out that while the degrees in England
include the Supreme Order of the Holy Royal Arch, this latter
degree is controlled by Grand Chapter which is an independant
body.  The two organizations work closely together.

The amount of charity work done and the fact that a third of all
charity is for non-Masonic activities was presented with pride.


THE REPORT OF THE WORKING COMMITTEE

The report by the Working Committee was finally published under
the title, "Freemasonry and Christianity--Are they Compatible? A
contribution to Discussion." It was divided into nine sections:

Introduction
Historical background
Organization and structure
A 'Secret' Society?
The Masonic rituals
A peculiar system of morality?
Comments and questions
Appendices
Bibliography

An overview of this Report sees it covering primarily what is in
Canada the distinct areas of Craft Masonry and the Holy Royal
Arch.  In Britain the Royal Arch degree is considered the
conclusion of the Craft Degrees and although there is no direct
control, the responses to the Report came through the Grand Lodge
of England.  We are only interested in the areas which are
associated with our three Craft degrees.  I will, however,
outline the major concern for the Royal Arch at the end of this
paper.

The Report used some material from the Grand Lodge but relied
heavily on the anti-Masonic authors and on TWO letters  from
disturbed individuals who felt Masonry created problems for them. 
The Report was published in some secrecy, noted even by members
of the Synod, and the major areas of concern were never discussed
with the Grand Lodge before publication.

The principle concerns were based on:


1. the apparent secrecy of the Craft
2. the use of prayers making meetings "worship" especially when
the location is called a "temple," an "altar" is used and there
is a Chaplain
3. the use of Christian wordings omitting reference to Christ
4. the Masonic oaths on the VSL and "swearing" in any form
5. the erroneous historical association with pagan rites
6.oaths to things not yet revealed

and the Report suggests that the Craft is:

7. Gnostic
8. Pelagianistic
9. theologically indifferent and deistic and
10. syncretistic.

Of this list, two are heresy (7 and 8) and two are heretical
misdemeanors (9 and 10), if in fact any of them are true.

It is important to understand what these offences mean.
Gnostic means having its own spiritual knowledge, Pelagian means
providing salvation through works, deism is the promoting of
natural religion without divine authority and, syncretism is the
attempting to unify or reconcile different religions and
philosophies.

The Working Group stated in its Report that the members bore in
mind the anxiety that their enquiry would generate and that it
not be a "witch hunt." It also stated that if there really was a
serious concern about the latter issues, a much larger committee
and staff would be required to avoid looking foolish.

The Group said it was wary of making categorical assertions about
the rituals used for initiations due to a lack of experts in
comparative religion in the Group or within the General Synod
itself.

The Report started with an overview of the Craft and the
associated organization without too much in the way of comment. 
It freely intermixes the anti-Masonic authors to prove points and
this makes reading a little confusing at times.

In its brief history of the Craft both Hamill and Hannah are
quoted to refute the so-called Masonic historians who have tried
to trace Freemasonry back to Adam.  This distortion cast all
Masonic history into doubt.  The Group accepted Hamill's sound
commentary as a base.  They then asked two questions:

a) in what sense was [Masonry] a secret organization? and

b) was [Masonry] a Christian organization?

The Group agreed that covert existence was not the meaning of
secrecy but rather the privacy of its meetings, its social
exclusiveness and its emphasis to new initiates on not divulging
the words and signs of recognition.  It was to these latter
activities that exposures and condemnation was targeted from the
17th century to the present.  It was these that led not only to
curiosity but also to suspicion.

The Report stated that the answer to whether Masonry is Christian
is clearly "no." Originally the references to God seemed to be to
the God of the Christian faith but in 1816 all Christian
references were removed.  This was to allow men of various faiths
to unite without offending or compromising their own faith.  The
Antients, who emphasized the link with Christianity, gave this up
at the time of the union in 1813.

The Report then outlined the structure of masonry and reviewed
the basis for recognition of other Grand Jurisdictions.

The Group then questioned the basis for the acceptance into the
Craft being in "A Supreme Being or "THE Supreme Being" and the
attempt to encapsulate the God of all religions under the single
term "The Great Architect of the Universe."

There is a comment on the requirement that an applicant sign a
form stating that he had not been improperly solicited, and yet
in a Grand Lodge publication there is the statement that a
"neutrally worded approach" is not cause for objection, nor a
reminder of that approach at a later date.  This point was used,
effectively, to emphasize the inconsistency of the promises made
in the Craft.

Within its discussion of 'structure' the Report looked at the
time between degrees, the relationship to the Royal Arch and
Scottish Rite Degrees.

In the section on the secrecy of Masonry the concern felt by one
author was that "if Freemasonry is right, why all the secrecy?"
The Report noted that even the secrets are pretty well known and
the Emulation Ritual was easily obtained.  This availability of
an approved secret ritual was one of the several paradoxes
identified.  It was noted that Masons are sworn not to reveal
much of what goes on and that particularly the Royal Arch members
are sworn not to reveal the sacred and Mysterious  Name. It was
this latter point that was a major target of the report.  The
Group noted that in Darkness Visible, the full rituals are
published.  It was pointed out in the Report that it is odd for
Masons to swear not to reveal what are published (and well read)
secrets.

The Report then printed what it believed to be the penalties of
the three Craft degrees, the Installed Master's Degree, and that
of the Royal Arch. It stated that these are "barbaric and an
abuse of language." The fact that Grand Lodge has removed the
penalties from the obligation was acknowledged and it was
understood that they must remain within the lectures to explain
the signs of recognition, which were derived from them.  The fact
that these penalties had been taken on the Bible where in Matthew
5.33-37 Christians are abjured to 'swear not at all,' was
considered to be most inappropriate. It was also noted that if
this had been only a symbolic gesture, then it was vain swearing
or profanity, which is also condemned.  It then noted that the
initiate is sworn not to reveal secrets which as yet were
unrevealed, another serious criticism.

The Group then commented on the ready availability of information
to a candidate but the assumption of his ignorance by the Lodge
members.  This was considered a major problem for Christian
Masons who were required to lie in swearing not to reveal secrets
yet to be revealed later when they may already know them.  If
there were additional secrets they may have found they had joined
an "alien cult."

The Report then asked, "What is Freemasonry?" The definition as
states in the Grand Lodge pamphlets was then printed and also the
explanation by Hamill, although he is accused of glossing over
it.  The Report stated that Masons emphatically deny that
Freemasonry is a religion and refers to the 1983 pamphlet
entitled "Freemasonry and Religion." It commented on the use of
the terms, "temple," "altar," "chaplain," and "G.A.O.T.U." It
then questioned whether Freemasonry represents or connives at a
syncretistic understanding of religion and representation of
good.  The term, "syncretism" is used frequently from this point
on and is defined as, 'attempting to unify or reconcile different
religions' . The Report asked whether Masons expected their
published interpretation to be accepted, or 'what was understood
by the common man, or non-Mason'.

The Masonic rituals were then discussed at length.  The Group
noted the lack of reasons behind early ritual development and
elaboration.  This of course was due to the original demand for
secrecy.  In addition early ritual was by word of mouth and
probably was modified in delivery.  The first published ritual
was in the 1870s and the Standardized Emulation Ritual was not
published until 1969.  The basic allegory was then described in
the Craft and Royal Arch degrees and the fact the work is
memorized was noted.  The Report then explained the main lesson
of each degree.

The Report then looked at wording in the ritual relating to
Egyptian and Greek philosophers as showing an affinity with
Masonry in spite of the belief that it has Christian overtones. 
It again asked, "do the rituals add up to worship, to what God,
and is Freemasonry a religion?"

It quoted the prayers and blessings and noted that many are
familiar Christian prayers with Christian references omitted. 
This was particularly objectionable to some who made submissions
to the Working Group.  They believed that the deletion of
Christian references makes Masonry and Christianity incompatible. 
The Masonic belief that the deletion  of references to Christ
does not deny Christ is noted as being unwise; and the use of
Christian phrases and prayers is misleading.

The Report then argued that as "worship means paying homage to
human or God, the prayers offered as an integral part of the
ritual are worship.  There were said to be "many" (undefined in
number and identity) who argue that the prayers "less reference
to Christ" are a denial of Christ's divinity.

The question, "Who's God?" was then asked with the note that in
an effort to offend none, some confusion arises.  It noted again
the discrepency of "A Supreme Being" vs.  "The Supreme Being"
before quoting a pamphlet "Freemasonry and Relgion, 1983." It
further notes that Freemasonry has tried for 200 years to bring
men of many faiths together, a problem that inter-faith service
has not coped with. The requirement in the Christian faith to
establish its preeminence over all religions leads to
difficulties when attempting not to offend those of other faiths. 
The Report questioned the extent to which Christian Churches
publicly uphold the view that Christianity is THE RELIGION
necessary for salvation.

It then stated that Freemasonry has no obligation to support
Christianity but although members understand the nature of their
God and their prayers are addressed to Him, the simultaneous
worship by others of the great Architect implies indifferentism
to claims of distinct religions.

The Report stated that it had letters from a "number" of
uncommitted Christians who still believed in God, but on
conversion, withdrew from Freemasonry.  Other letters from both
laity and clergy stated that though they have been members of the
Craft for many years, they had found no compatibility.

The Report concluded with the statement that while there were
some differences within the committee, there are clear
difficulties to be faced by Christians who are Freemasons.  The
Report fundamentally questioned the compatibility of Freemasonry
with Christianity.

The Report was presented to the Synod in 1987 and in a short half
hour the Synod voted to endorse the Report in spite of its
inaccuracies and lack of authoritative input.  The Report was
then referred to the church as a whole for discussion.  A process
through which it will no doubt be going at this time.


RESPONSE OF THE UNITED GRAND LODGE OF ENGLAND

The Grand Lodge of England made various initial statements to
address the final Report but its major arguments took some time
to formulate.  The delay in receiving the Report allowed no
interaction between Grand Lodge and the Working Group before
presentation of the Report to the Synod.  The late and almost
secretive delivery of the Report to the Synod seemed a deliberate
act, the purpose of which is unknown.

Immediately following the issuance of the Report the Grand  Lodge
issued a press release which expressed disappointment that there
had been no opportunity to reply to the accusation before
publication.  It noted help was offered but the lack of questions
caused the assumption  that previous explanations were accepted. 
The UGL commented that the Working Group had not paid enough
attention to the Grand Lodge's interpretation of words.  It had,
instead, accepted erroneous alternative interpretations and then
finally  used its own interpretations of Masonic words.  The
statement questioned the reaction of the thousands of Christian
Masons to the charges of heresy, when they knew Masonry to be
good and supportive of their personal religion.

The UGL commentary stated plainly that Freemasonry has no
theology, no sacraments, and provided no way to salvation. 
Devout Christians developed Fremasonry and adapted it, not to
deny Christ, but to make the system acceptable to men of other
religions.  The early Freemasons would not have designed anything
heretical, nor would modern-day Christians have stayed in the
order if it were heretical or incompatible with their faith.

The next press release entitled "Grand Secretary Hits Out at
Church's Report on Freemasonry and Christianity" stated that the
charges of heresy were ill-founded due to reliance on incomplete
extracts from ritual and commentaries by non-Masonic authors of
doubtful objectivity.

It repeated some statements from the earlier release but added
that the two letters describing masonry as psychically disturbing
and evil are hardly the basis for the Report to use them as
evidence.  Normal Freemasons know that that ceremonies are
symbolical and 320,000 Masons would hardly remain if they thought
it to be evil. It then looked at the ill-founded heresy charges
and stated "Freemasonry is not a religion and does not comment on
religious matters.  It does not deal in special knowledge, or in
salvation, by works or any other means.  Freemasonry does not
attempt to combine religions.  It is indifferent--in the sense of
being impartial--to the claims of any religion." It concluded by
suggesting that the Report is unworthy and misleading when
directed at a 270 year old association which encourages men to
follow principles which the Church must approve.

A third UGL press release on the Synod Debate stated that it was
sad that the general Synod 'endorsed' rather than 'noted' the
inadequate Report that did not give weight to authoritative
Masonic evidence.  The release hoped that the discussions in the
Church would allow discussion with Masonic authority on the
specific allegations.

The Grand Lodge then published a small paper entitled
"Freemasonry and Christianity" outlining the criticism of the
General Synod of the Church of England and the response of Grand
Lodge to the charges.  This short paper was distributed to all
British Freemasons through their Lodge Secretaries. It contained
many of the comments noted previously, but some additional points
were made.  It was noted that "questioning the compatibility of
Freemasonry with Christianity is not the same as saying that the
two are incompatible." The paper included a speech given by the
Archbishop of York, a non-Mason, who questioned the commissioning
of the Report and its conclusions.  The paper concluded that
Masonry won the debate but lost the vote.  It reminded Masons of
the debate that is to go on in the Church.

There were many individual arguments, commentaries and notes on
the errors of fact within the Report but they do not add to the
general statements made within the responses of the Grand Lodge
and already noted within this brief paper.


ROYAL ARCH MASONRY

The area of the Report not included to this point is the charge
that the Royal Arch is guilty of blasphemy.  The supposed
blasphemy relates to whether the word related to the triangle
within the circle which rests upon the altar, is a word
indicating attributes of God or a name for God.  The Report uses
"Hannah" and also its own interpretation to come to a strange
conclusion about this word and then claims the outcome is
blasphemous.  The Grand Lodge, as spokesman for both Bodies,
denies this categorically and cannot understand why the
authoritative statement that it is a word describing attributes
of God was not acceptable. It did point out, however, that some
older rituals do have conflicting wording but the Grand Chapter
has had a committee working for the previous eight years to
review and clarify this matter.


FINAL COMMENTS

The overall result of the Report and the stance of the Anglican
Church will have repercussions on Freemasonry but it will be
weathered, as have many previous storms.

It is important that each member avoid adding any fuel to an
unpleasant fire.  Should you be asked to comment directly to the
media, you should refer them to the Grand Secretary who will
identify the spokesman for the Jurisdiction.  This will avoid
conflicting statements that can be the basis for negative news
items.

As individuals within your Church you should certainly express
your views on the Craft remembering that very little is secret
and our principles are something of which to be proud.

 
Bibliography

Freemasonry and Society (Pamphlet).  London: United Grand Lodge,
1987.

Freemasonry and Religion (Pamphlet).  London: United Grand Lodge,
1985.

Guidance to Methodists on Freemasonry, Report of the Faith and 
Order Committee of the Methodist Church.  London: ---, 1985.

Notes on the 'Contribution to Discussion'.  London: United Grand
Lodge, 1987.

What is Freemasonry (Pamphlet).  London: United Grand Lodge,
1987.

Hamill, John. The Craft: A History of English Freemasonry. 
London: Crucible, 1986.

Higham, M.B.S. Anglican Report on Freemasonry (Press Release). 
London: United Grand Lodge, 1987.

Higham, M.B.S. Freemasonry and Christianity.  London: United
Grand Lodge, 1987.

Higham, M.B.S. Freemasonry and Christianity, Address to
Provincial Grand Chapter, South Wales, Eastern Division.  London:
United Grand Lodge, 1987.

Higham, M.B.S. Freemasonry--From Craft to Tolerance.  London:
United Grand Lodge, 1985

Higham, M.B.S. Grand Secretary Hits Out at Church's Report on
Freemasonry and Christianity (Press Release).  London: United
Grand Lodge, 1987.

Higham, M.B.S. Synod Debate--Masons Comment (Press Release). 
London: United Grand Lodge, 1987.

McLeod, Wallace. Anti-Masonry in the Eighties.  Seattle: Walter
Meier Lodge of Research, 1987.  Proceedings, Vol V, No. 20, pp.
236-243A.

United Grand Lodge and other Masonic Authorities. Freemasonry and
Christianity, Evidence on the Compatibility of Freemasonry and
Christianity.  Submission to the Working Group of the General
Synod of the Church of England.  London: United Grand Lodge,
1986.

Williamson, Wayne B. "An Answer to the Question is Freemasonry a
Religion." California Freemason 34, No.4 (1987).

Working Group Established by the Standing Committee of the
General Synod of the Church of England.  Freemasonry and
Christianity--Are they Compatibile? A Contribution to Discussion. 
London: Church Publishing, 1987.



ADDENDUM TO
THE ANGLICAN CHURCH AND MASONRY

by Bro.  Norman Senn, PDDGM


DEVELOPMENTS:

Scotland:

In the April 1987 issue of Life and Work, the publication of the
Church of Scotland, it was recorded that the Aberdeen Presbytery
would make a presentation to the General Assembly on the subject
of Freemasonry. It intended to ask that the Panel on Doctrine
consider the theological implications of the Craft.  The Aberdeen
Presbytery decided by a large majority that the action should be
taken after hearing arguments that Freemasonry was incompatibile
with Church membership and that other Churches had already spoken
out about this.

There was, prior to this decision, considerable controversy over
a period of months, in Life and Work.  This was in the readers'
letter pages and followed on the action of the Methodist Church. 
The criticism was quite vitriolic with accusations that
Freemasonry was the "most corrupt secret society in the world."
Masons were said by a few to be devil worshippers, subversive and
guilty of character assassination Most of these accusers were
using Stephen Knight's book as the basis for their outlandish
claims.  There were a number of rebuttals printed which both
supported and defended the Craft.

There are some wiser heads in the Church who realized that many
would vote by walking away from the already decreasing membership
of the Church.  This of course would further lower the income of
the Church--a most important consideration.

When the motion was presented, it was rejected by the General
Assembly.  The Assembly did however pass a motion "for an inquiry
with consultations with the Grand Lodge of Scotland." Two
clergymen spoke strongly in favor of moderation and common sense
which would no doubt show the lack of incompatibility.


England:

The Church Times of Great Britain has been a forum for many
letters from clergymen arguing in favor of Freemasonry.  Many
excellent arguments have been used. One of these was that the
Church itself is unsure of what it stands for, especially as it
relates to the homosexuality issue.  It should be addressing its
own problems of confusion and allowing an organization which so
clearly sets out its tenets to help the Church to reestablish its
own credibility.

The United Grand Lodge of England has reprinted its publication,
Freemasonry and Religion. It has simply modified the section
which relates to the location of the penalties after having moved
them from the obligation to the explanation.  The pamphlet is
readily available in the United Kingdom.

A recent article in the Daily Express, a leading British daily
newspaper, noted that the Anglican Church had recently accepted 
$200,000.00 for the renovation programs of over 16 cathedrals. 
The significant point of the article is that the press is taking
the Church to task for being two-faced and is thereby siding with
Freemasonry.

Vigorous enquiry of many Masons in England, as well as one of the
Masons on the working Group elicited the information that the
report seems to have dropped out of sight for the moment.  No one
could be found who had discussed it in their Church.

Canada:

The United Church Observer in May of 1988, printed a full page
article entitled, Masons, organized religion and the need to
belong.  This article is positive and reviews briefly the Church
of England action and notes the outrage felt by Masons at the
uninformed and undeserved attack on an organization practicing
high moral principles.

The article notes the titles of advanced degrees, the decreasing
level of secrecy and prints a penalty.  It then notes that many
Christians, including many ministers, are in fact members of the
Craft.  It quotes a number of the ministers who speak favourably
about the Craft.  In particular it notes the strong personal
relationships that are built by Masons and then notes the
Church's own failures in this area.

The article concludes that if Masonry if offering men things that
are not present in the Church, then the Church had better look at
itself in relation to standards of behavior and the creation of
challenging activities.

Later issues of the Observer contained letters which continued to
support Masonic involvement of Church members.

The Canadian Churchman, the publication of the Anglican Church of
Canada, printed a third of a page in September of 1987, simply
reporting the events that had occurred in England related to the
action of the General Synod.


The article leaves the report hanging in the air as there is no
reference to the passing of the decision of the General Synod to
the Churches for discussion.  This would lead the reader to
believe that the action is concluded and the condemnation has
been accepted by the Church.

In the November, 1987 issue of the same publication, the readers
responded.  Under a heading, Report on Masonry Disturbing, five
letters were published from various parts of Canada.  All letters
strongly condemned the action of the Church of England and argued
very powerfully against the General Synod action.  One letter
made the point that, "the Anglican Church, by allowing
intolerance, bigotry and misunderstanding free rein, has told
more about the authors and done greater harm to the Anglican
cause."

The action continues to come nearer to the North American
Jurisdictions and Masons should be prepared to defend their
beloved Craft.

Bibliography

Freemasonry and Religion.  London: Board of General Purposes,
United Grand Lodge of England, 1987.

"Masonic Rituals Blasphemous says Freemason Report."  Canadian
Churchman.  September, 1987. p.6.

"Report on Masonry Disturbing." Canadian Churchman.  November
1987. p. 5.

Allen, David.  "Masons, Organized Religion and the Need to
Belong."  The United Church Observer.  Vol. 51, no. 11.  May,
1988.  p. 21.

Donovan, Alfred. The Church and Incompatibility.  Vol. 13, no.3. 
Shepperton, England: Masonic Square, Lewis Masonic Publishers,
September 1987.  p. 129.

Dundee, A. E. Kirk to Study Freemasonry.  Vol. 14, no. 2. 
Shepperton, England: Masonic Square, Lewis Masonic Publishers,
June 1988. pp. 84-85.



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