MASTER’S STATEMENT

First, I thank the Great Architect of the Universe for it being his will that I am here serving as the Worshipful Master of William F. Taylor.  I thank the brothers of William F. Taylor for believing in me and allowing me to guide this great lodge for this masonic year.  I am

humbled, honored, and excited for this privilege. This year I would like to focus on three main areas – Friendship, Fraternity, and Finances.  By Friendship and brotherly love, it is my hope that we grow.  By the zeal for our Fraternity, I hope we grow stronger.  And by the additional attention to our Finance, I hope we secure our strength in Masonry.

Our Fraternity has a rich history.  Not just in its history of Prince Hall, but from time immemorial.  Freemasonry is a beautiful or peculiar system of morality, veiled in allegory and illustrated in symbols.  Its symbolism is found throughout our lodge and by that understanding, we can gain the knowledge to know our history and what our purpose is.  William F. Taylor has a reputation of being a ritualistic and teaching lodge, not just in our jurisdiction but every place we travel.  We have a reputation of being a traveling lodge, whereby, we enrich our brothers with the zeal and knowledge to understand who we are.  I plan to take every opportunity available to expand on that education, by exploring that history in this masonic year, as well as in our travels. My hope is that we, as a lodge, instill that zeal to learn infinitely into the hearts of every brother that we decide to welcome as a brother into our lodge. It is also my hope that by reigniting that zeal in every brother in our lodge, we will extend our arms to strengthen the fraternal love, and build our home not only through the love, but also our finances.

Our fraternity is built on Faith, Hope, and Charity, which are our three Principal Moral Virtues.  The last virtue, Charity is known to be the essential characteristic of a Freemasons heart.  It blesseth him who gives, as well as him who receives.  A claim on a Freemasons Charity is also made as his circumstances in life may warrant.  In fact, Freemasonry is so practical in its approach to Charity that we are told to practice Charity, without detriment to our connections or ourselves.  To practice Charity, we must have the ability and resources to contribute Charity.  Therefore, we must take one view of our organization, not just as a Fraternity, but also as a business, and increase our finances.  I plan to take an approach to our finances which will involve investing a portion of our earnings, so that when we practice Charity, we not only give, but improve the society in which we live.  A well-known poet by the name of Alexander Pope said, “In Faith and Hope the world will disagree, But, all mankind’s concern is Charity”.

We are all a part of one family, the human family.  Whatever background we come from, my hope is to strengthen our Friendship through brotherly love, improve our Fraternity by masonic education in Freemasonry and its history, and grow our organization through its finances so that our contributions will empower our communities and help those in the most need.  This can be made possible by building on the foundation of that was laid before – by working together as a TEAM.