An Introduction

Greetings Brethren, Companions, Princes, Worthy Knights, and girls and boys. Unusually, I am not reporting on a Masonic gathering, raffle, or indeed ‘dinner’. Instead, I have some exciting news: I now have my very own website, dedicated to all things Masonic.

The obvious question is: why? During Covid, one of my online lectures was called ‘What’s Wrong with Freemasonry?’ and the answer was ‘nothing’ - although I accept that it may not have been the most gripping title ever devised. Covid did take its toll on Masonic numbers, and although things appear to be recovering slowly, many Lodges and Units are still finding life a little more challenging with less members than they would like.

Over the past couple of years, I have tried to publicise my experiences of Masonry through Facebook and Twitter — or ‘X’, as it now insists on being called, rather like a Lodge Secretary who has changed his email address and forgotten to tell anyone. But that is not enough. To view anything on many modern platforms, you need to be a member of them, and plenty of sensible people have managed to avoid staring at their phone late at night and trying to recall how to log on to such sites.

Hence the new website, which will be available for everyone to view without needing a password, a profile picture, or the ability to remember whether they agreed to cookies in 2019. As always, it is all about Masonic life as I see it, entirely in my own opinion. There will be no exposés on Ritual and no disclosure of what happens in meetings. If you really want to know, you could always become a member, which is much more fun than trying to piece it together from gossip and internet conspiracy theories.

It is, of course, very new and will need to be tweaked as time progresses — possibly more than once, and probably at the exact moment I think I have finally got it right. If you feel brave enough to view it, the web address is: www.arf-masonic.info. I am always pleased to receive feedback, especially if it is kind, constructive, or accompanied by cake.

I am very grateful to Son No. 1 for his help in developing the website. I could not have done it on my own- and, if I had tried, it would probably still be displaying ‘under construction’ in flashing red letters.

www.arf-masonic.info