Masonic Grand Lodge Certificate

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Your Grand Lodge Certificate Last month, due to the fact that we had a busy evening, we did rather chuck Brother Ian Russell’s Grand Lodge Certificate at him. Often WBro David Shipley gives an explanation of the certificate when it is presented but time was pressing that night. He usually explains the symbolism in a form broadly in line with the explanation in the back of the emulation ritual book and tells the recipient that it has remained virtually unchanged since 1819 …however it has in fact undergone several changes over the last 3 centuries. Its history is closely intertwined with the politics within early Freemasonry and to our Masonic ancestors; possession of a certificate was often an invaluable insurance against the uncertainties of the 18th century. I should like to talk a little about what lay behind the design, grant and purpose of your Grand lodge Certificate. Like so many of our Masonic customs and heritage, the exact origins of Grand Lodge certificates have been obscured through passage of time. However, the first mention of the requirement for a Masonic certificate stems from an entry in one of the “Old Charges” which is dated around 1650. Part of this states:- That no person hereafter shall be admitted into any lodge or assembly until he has brought a certificate of ye time and acceptation from ye lodge … This was the era before any Grand Lodges were conceived and so any official certificates must have been prepared by private lodges. At this point, it is worth putting the growth of modern Freemasonry into perspective: In 1717, four London lodges combined to form Premier Grand Lodge, one of them being Lodge No. 4 with around 70 speculative, gentlemen members and the other three lodges, being partly operative, having an average complement of 15 brethren each ie 115 freemasons in all in the first wave. Doubtless there were

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