Christopher L. Hodapp's Blog, page 26

Breaking: Hostage Situation at Houston Scottish Rite

by Christopher Hodapp

NOTE: THIS STORY HAS BEEN UPDATED AT 1:20PM CT.
Houston, Texas police have arrested an armed man at the Houston Valley of the Scottish Rite after it was reported he was holding two hostages inside.
Police hostage negotiators and SWAT team rushed to the Rite in the southwest part of Houston just after 10:00AM local time.  One of the hostages was a 91-year old man.
In a live statement from the scene following the arrest, officer L. J. Satterwhite said that the suspect "appeared t...

Calling all Masonic Artists: Pennsylvania's Grand Exhibition Art Competition

Masonic artist Ryan J. Flynn
by Christopher Hodapp

Calling all Masonic artists! The Masonic Library and Museum of Pennsylvania is sponsoring the Grand Exhibition Art Competition: Embodying Masonic Values.

According to the Call For Entries posted in May, all artwork entries must display a visual interpretation of some aspect of Freemasonry in Pennsylvania, whether it be philosophical, historical, scientific, social, fraternal, charitable, architectural, etc. Selected artwork will be exhibited in the...

Congress on Fraternalism, Freemasonry, and History Opens Friday in Paris

by Christopher Hodapp

by Christopher Hodapp
The 8th Congress on Fraternalism, Freemasonry, and History opens this Friday in Paris at the Grand Orient de France and the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris.

This year's theme is "Are the Ancient Landmarks Ancient?."

Convened by the journal, Ritual, Secrecy, and Civil Society, in cooperation with the French national library, the Bibliothèque Nationale, and the Musée de la Franc-Maçonnerie (Museum of French Freemasonry), this event explores how associations...

Monumental Sphinxes at Scottish Rite's House of the Temple in D.C. Damaged By Vandals

by Christopher Hodapp

Arturo De Hoyos at the Scottish Rite (SJ) House of the Temple in Washington, D.C. reports that the two monumental sphinx sculptures flanking the entrance were vandalized sometime between Thursday night and this morning.
Enlarged for detail
From Art's Facebook page :

Two years ago today (June 3, 2020) I reported that vandals spray-painted ”BLM” and “FTP” on the House of the Temple.

Today, however, I have sadder news to report. Vandals severly damaged the two symbolic sphinxes whic...

Calling All Masonic Gamers: 'On The Square'

by Christopher Hodapp

Two talented brethren in England have come up with a new board game pitched specifically to Freemasons, called On The Square . The website explains the basics HERE:

On the Square is 2-6 player (Augmented) set-collection game based on establishing an English Freemasons meeting.

The aim of the game is to collect ceremonial items from around the board, whilst greeting the other officers in-order along the way, before returning to your seat to begin the proceedings. The first playe...

The Freemasons of TikTok

by Christopher Hodapp

UPDATED May 28, 5:00AM: This story has been corrected. I mistakenly said that Tyler McKenzie is from Texas. He is actually a Mason in New Mexico.
Interesting article this week on the Input Magazine site about Freemasons using TikTok to counter hysterical conspiracy theories and other misinformation about the fraternity. The article  "TikTok’s Freemasons are battling the haters and conspiracy theorists"  by Jessica Lucas highlights Brothers Tyler McKenzie from New Mexico ("@harp...

Indiana's Lodge Vitruvian 767 Celebrates 20th Anniversary

by Christopher Hodapp

Friday night was the 20th anniversary of the founding of Lodge Vitruvian 767 in Indianapolis. It was a wonderful evening and it was especially great to be with WB Jeff Naylor, our founding Worshipful Master. Many thanks to WB Christopher Bentlage for arranging this event at the Aristocrat.

Fifteen years ago today - May 21st, 2002 - a year after first receiving a dispensation to work, a group of Indiana Masons assembled at the Temple of Broad Ripple Lodge on the north side of ...

Grand Lodge of Tennessee Expels Minister For Performing Gay Marriages

by Christopher Hodapp
A heterosexual 41 year-old Tennessee Mason, minister, and father of three has been expelled from the Grand Lodge of Tennessee for violating their rule that forbids, in part, "promoting homosexuality."

Worshipful Brother Tag Thompson (photo above) was expelled in March after a Grand Lodge trial commission found him guilty of "promoting homosexuality," based on a Facebook post from last October in which he offered his services as a minister to gay couples seeking a celebrant f...

Fraternal Swords Aren't Always Masonic

by Christopher Hodapp

A lady with the last name of Tobias sent me an email early this morning asking for help identifying what she thought was a Masonic sword that belonged to her grandfather. The engraved name on the sword blade was 'U.S. Grant Tobias.' It was a very typical fraternal group sword from Ward or Ames or Pettibone, or one of the several other companies making these since the 1860s. And they made thousands of them.
While attempting to save her message after reading it on my phone, I a...

Ohio's Chad Simpson Passes Away

by Christopher Hodapp

NOTE: This story has been updated 5/6/2022 5:00PM:
It was a shock for me today to spot a Facebook post from Arts and Sciences Lodge 792 in Ohio reporting the death of Brother Chad Edward Simpson on Monday, May 2nd. He was just 49 years old.
I've known Chad almost since the day I became a Master Mason, and if memory serves, we joined the fraternity in the same year. In the early 2000s a group of us connected regularly via Masonic email groups and online forums, long before the ...