Masons
Freemasonry is the world’s oldest and largest fraternity that teaches a learning system designed to build character by using symbols and allegory and expressed through rituals and ceremonies.
Freemasonry is not a religion. It is a secular organization. However, it does have a religious component. All members of the fraternity must profess a belief in a Supreme Being, but it is left up to each individual member to believe in that Supreme Being in the way he chooses. In fact, Freemasons are not allowed to discuss religion nor politics at their meetings, because these topics tend to be divisive and often interfere with developing relationships based on universal virtues in which all humans can agree.Therefore, it is common to find members of the fraternity with varied religious and political views working together for the greater good despite their differences.
To become a Freemason, one joins something called a “lodge”. A lodge meets in a “lodge room”. Lodge rooms are housed in Masonic Halls, Masonic Temples, or Masonic Centers.
The Grand Rapids Masonic Center was built in 1915 and only used for fraternal purposes until the mid-1980s. Though much of the Grand Rapids Masonic Center building is now rented out to a variety oftenants, it still has designated lodge rooms where a number of the active masonic lodges of the Grand Rapids Freemasons meet.
If you need any more information about the fraternity, we invite you to visit the Michigan Masonic Museum and Library located on the lower level of the Grand Rapids Masonic Center building where its knowledgeable staff is happy to answer your questions.
The United States Masons (also known as Freemasons)originated in England and became a popular association for leading colonials after the first American lodge was founded in Boston in 1733. Masonic brothers pledged to support one another and provide sanctuary if needed.
George Washington, a young Virginia planter, becomes a Master Mason, the highest basic rank in the secret fraternity of Freemasonry. The ceremony was held at the Masonic Lodge No. 4 in Fredericksburg, Virginia. Washington was 21 years old and would soon command his first military operation as a major in the Virginia colonial militia.
Freemasonry evolved from the practices and rituals of the stonemasons’ guilds in the Middle Ages. With the decline of European cathedral buildings, “lodges” decided to admit non-stonemasons to maintain membership, and the secret fraternal order grew in popularity in Europe. In 1717, the first Grand Lodge, an association of lodges, was founded in England, and Freemasonry was soon disseminated throughout the British Empire. The first American Mason lodge was established in Philadelphia in 1730, and future revolutionary leader Benjamin Franklin was a founding member.
Gerald R. Ford, the thirty-eighth President of the United States of America, was initiated into Masonry on September 30, 1949, in Malta Lodge No. 465, Grand Rapids Michigan, along with his (half) brothers Thomas Gardner Ford 1918-1995, Richard Addison Ford 1924 and James Francis Ford 1927. The Fellowcraft and Master Mason Degrees were conferred by Columbia Lodge No. 3, Washington, D.C., on April 20 and May 18, 1951, as a courtesy to Malta Lodge. The Supreme Council Scottish Rite. Brother Ford was also a Shriner. Brother Ford was the last President to be a Freemason.