‘Masonry and #metoo at MMRS’

    

Laurel-Wreath Lodge 149.

Maryland Masonic Research Society will meet next month for what sounds to me like a provocative discussion. From the publicity:

The Maryland Masonic Research Society invites you to a very interesting and timely presentation on Saturday, December 9: #metoo, Masculinity and Freemasonry.

Our meeting will be at the newly renovated, beautiful Patmos-Solomon’s Lodge 70 in Savage, Maryland (9140 Washington St.). Laurel-Wreath Lodge 149 in Laurel (209 Washington Blvd.). Lunch at noon, followed by the presentation.

Your donation ($20) includes lunch. Advance registration is required. Please do so by email here before noon Monday, December 4. 

#metoo, Masculinity and Freemasonry

This is a discussion on how the #metoo movement caused a re-examination of what masculinity is and what that means to a fraternal organization.

Tim Sheils, First Vice President of MMRS, joined Masonry in 2013 and served as Worshipful Master of Silver Spring Lodge 215 in 2020 and 2021, obtaining the Grand Master’s Award both times. He is a member of the Maryland Masonic Academy, and Grand Inspector for the Grand Lodge of Maryland. In 2022, he became a member of Columbia Lodge 58 in Frederick, and became First Vice President of the Maryland Masonic Research Society. He joined the Frederick/Baltimore Scottish Rite in 2023 and continues serving as Tyler of Silver Spring Lodge.

I’m curious to know where this talk goes. If you followed #metoo during its meteoric notoriety, you should have noticed that not every woman is believed, and not every woman should be believed. What does that mean to a fraternal organization? I don’t know about the others, but Freemasonry is about the pursuit of Truth, so I am hoping this conversation is open-minded about reality.