Freemasonry, above all, is a social activity. We meet on a monthly basis for ceremonies, we meet frequently for practices and we meet semi-frequently for social occasions. With lockdown, none of these have been possible. So what does a Lodge in lockdown look like? One would assume that such a situation would signal the temporary suspension of all masonic activity. However, that would be completely wrong. Masonic life has continued with much vigour throughout these unprecedented times! Take a look at the variety of activities that have been going on;
‘One would assume that such a situation would signal the temporary suspension of all masonic activity. However, that would be completely wrong.’
- The Lodge now has a very active WhatsApp group covering a wide range of topics, some masonic and some not so masonic! Birthdays and anniversaries have been celebrated regularly via this group; a group that didn’t exist pre-lockdown.
- In place of the weekly practices and monthly ceremonies, we have been hosting weekly Lodge meetings via the power of Zoom. With attendances as high as 60 or so, we’ve had more brethren in the ‘room’ than many Lodges have at ‘real’ meetings. We’ve also hosted a number of guests who previously would not have been able to visit.
- During the early period of the pandemic lockdown, a large number of brethren have been out shopping for older members of our fraternity as well as lodge widows. This service has been a real ‘life saver’ to those that couldn’t get out to the shops and pharmacists during the period.
- Brethren of the Lodge have stepped up to volunteer to work for the NHS, including working at the Harrogate Nightingale hospital and even coming out of medical retirement, in order to work alongside Lodge brethren and brethren’s families who work for the NHS. The Lodge is very proud of all of them.
- We have held a Past Masters’ Zoom Lodge night and a Junior Master’s Night via Zoom; both of which were great fun, all well attended in goodly numbers.
- Lodge brethren have been ensuring that we all stay in touch with ‘cheer up’ phone calls to each other to ensure no-one is lonely or in need of anything during this period.
- Previous Masters of The Lodge of Dawn have been giving interviews about their time in The Chair. These interviews have become a very popular part of the Lodge website. As part of this we also discovered fascinating footage of a 1953 Ladies Night.
- Lodge brethren purchased around two dozen Twitter Freemasonry badges, the proceeds of which went to Brain Tumour Research. In total this appeal, led by Steve Blake of Hampshire Province, brought in over £5000.
- The majority of the brethren of The Lodge of Dawn purchased our newly created personalised gloves. Whenever we ‘happy meet again’ we will all look smart, but in addition, part of the cost of the gloves went to the Almoner, raising £140 for this very important part of Freemasonry.
- Many brethren contributed to the West Yorkshire Province ‘Meal Appeal’ by donating their Festive Board payments to the appeal.
- Since lockdown on April 16th, we’ve kept in touch with the masonic world at large via our Twitter account. Over the period (to date) we posted 33 Tweets (along with many additional comments), which in total have been seen over 52,000 times – that’s an average of 665 impressions per day.
All of the key tenets of Freemasonry – integrity, friendship, respect and charity – through the support and good deeds, have shone through at The Lodge of Dawn during this period. Brotherly love, relief and truth have never been so focused as at this time.
So as you can see…… the world may have temporarily stopped but Freemasonry in Leeds, and this The Lodge of Dawn in particular has continued, perhaps even stronger.
If you are not a Freemason and would like to find out more read our Seven Reason to Join The Freemasons or our simple ‘What is Freemasonry?’ guide.
And if you would like to join The Lodge of Dawn in Leeds, please feel free to get in touch via our ‘Contact Us’ page.