Read the new issue at californiafreemason.org
Since 2015, the Grand Lodge of California has made a priority of developing new Masonic lodges throughout the state. The idea is to both establish a greater presence in communities without an existing lodge, as well as to offer a greater range of choices to members.
It wasn’t always like this: Only five lodges that launched from 1970 to 2000 are still in existence. However, in the time since then, a whopping 36 new lodges have opened up (including two research lodges), along with four more under dispensation. Of those, 25 were established since 2017.
What has this lodge-building boom meant for the fraternity?
For Danny Foxx and the other charter members of Pilares del Rey Salomon № 886, it was a vision for a Spanish-speaking lodge that wouldn’t just meet and confer the degrees of Freemasonry, but also be a hub of Masonic education and philanthropy. At Seven Hills № 881 in San Francisco, Mark McNee says the challenge was to forge a new culture from scratch. Charlie Cailao, the current master of Palos Verdes № 883, points out that his lodge received its charter over Zoom. As a lodge without a home, his group relied on an unusual commitment from its members to stay together.
That was certainly the case for the eclectic band behind Ye Olde Cup and Ball № 880. Formed as the first “affinity” lodge in the state, Cup and Ball is made up of Mason-magicians who meet at Los Angeles’s venerable Magic Castle.
In this issue of California Freemason, we’re exploring what it takes to get these groups off the ground, how they define themselves within the landscape of Masonry in the state.
Ethnically diverse, culturally attuned, sometimes proudly eccentric, these groups show that while building a lodge is no easy feat, it’s also worth the reward.
