From the Worshipful Master

The Fraternity of Free and Accepted Masons has always been very family oriented. We are taught brotherly love, relief and truth from the very beginning. As a Lodge, we get to know a candidate before they join which includes how they are with their family.

I want to side step for a moment and pose a question. The question is, “how do I know a man to be a good Mason?” We may even ask ourselves “how do I know if I am being a good mason?” There are many ways to answer these questions and we can go in-depth on all of the purposed answers. One way I would answer these questions is to ask some other questions about the Mason we are talking about. I would ask the Mason’s family what kind of husband and father they are. Do they provide for their physical, emotional, and spiritual needs? Is he faithful to his wife and supportive of his children? This is indeed a good place to start.

In addition to our actual families, we all have Masonic families. There are many appendant bodies in the Masonic Fraternity, but the ones I specifically want to draw attention to are the ones that compose the women and children in our lives. It is vitally important that we support the De Molay, Job’s Daughters, Rainbow Girls, and the Order of the Eastern Star. They do amazing things for the members who participate in those groups and for the community in general. Earlier this summer, I attended our Lodges’ Eastern Star group’s annual Wii Bowling Tournament. This year was a HUGE event and everyone had a blast. These women did a fantastic with organizing and promoting this event. People came from all over the state. A few of our Brothers are a part of the Easter Star from our Lodge, and they attended. I was able to go. And that was all the support our lodge gave them. It was truly disappointing. It is my hope a Worshipful Master of Wayfarer’s 50, that we increase our efforts in support our Masonic Family.

Christopher Huson
Worshipful Master

From the Senior Warden

The Masonic family is a loosely defined grouping of those with practices and beliefs complementary to Freemasonry that also either restricts their membership to regular Freemasons in good standing or to relatives of regular Freemasons in good standing. Those organizations restricted to Freemasons are generally termed concordant while those restricted to relatives, or requiring a Freemason as sponsor, are generally termed appendant. There is little agreement on the use of these terms; in the narrowest sense only the Scottish and York Rites are styled concordant.

DeMolay is an organization dedicated to preparing young men to lead successful, happy, and productive lives. Basing its approach on timeless principles and practical, hands-on experience, DeMolay opens doors for young men aged 12 to 21 by developing the civic awareness, personal responsibility and leadership skills so vitally needed in society today.

Job’s Daughters is an international organization which develops girls & young women into leaders through citizenship, leadership, & friendship by means of moral lessons & community involvement!

The Order of the Eastern Star is the largest fraternal organization in the world to which both men and women may belong. Worldwide, there are currently more than 1.2 million members.

Ken Olsen
Senior Warden

From the Junior Warden

When I think of the Masonic family, I think of my family at home. The organizations are important, and I want to stress that I believe that they do great good for our Fraternity by involving members of our families in Masonic activities, but I believe that the family at home must be on board with the decision to become a Mason and to be involved in the lodge.

In my experience, I have seen many a brother from various lodges around Arizona step away form the lodge because the family unit at home was not comfortable with the level of time commitment we seek of our candidates. I always like to socialize with candidates the concept that not only is the individual Brother joining the lodge, but that his whole family becomes a part of something greater, even if a wife is not a member of the Star, or a son is not a Squire. Masonry requires time, and that time should not be at the expense of family.

The lodge teaches family first. If that means that you can only attend the stated meeting, or one or two social functions a year, we would rather have you involved at that level than not involved at all. I personally believe that Brothers should always do what is most comfortable for their situation. Some Brothers can take the time to make a meeting every single Tuesday, and that’s great, but some cannot. And that too is okay. So long as you are getting something out of the lodge during the time you spend without, that is the most important thing. If you as a Brother can come away knowing what it means to engage in brotherly love, relief, and truth, then we as officers and as mentors have done our jobs. But we can’t forget the family at home. And having them come to lodge dinners and public functions is a way for them to be a part of what it is you are doing. And perhaps that would lead to them joining one of our amazing appendant bodies.

Jason Michlowitz, PM
Junior Warden