On September 1, I and six other members of Berwyn Lodge had the pleasure of visiting a Stated Meeting of Hiram Lodge #14 PHA F&AM at the Prince Hall Masonic Temple in Chicago. Bro. Milan Gracanin, Berwyn’s Chaplain, provided this report:
Yesterday some of us from Berwyn Lodge were privileged to visit Hiram Lodge of Prince Hall Masonry. For those of you who do not know Prince Hall masonry is primarily African-American membership. The lodge we visited was very impressive. It is located in a very old stone building and is on the third floor with a view of downtown. The temple itself has a large ballroom like black and white finished floor. There is also very ornate ceiling and wall work to view.
What was the difference you may be asking between Prince Hall meetings and ours? Well for one their floorwork is very military like. It is very technical and their is a lot of stomping which I thought was very good. Also when the chaplain prays the Junior and Senior stewards form a Arch over the chaplain while they walk back and forth from the alter. They also sing after the prayer a song similar to our closing tune. Their knocking of the gavels is also very fast vs. ours. Aside from that everything seemed very similar to what we do.
The lodge was very hospitable to us. The meeting itself took over 2 hours! (Very long indeed compared to what we are used to.) However it was worth the wait, we were lucky enough to indulge on their dinner which consisted of chicken wings and potato wedges. The wings were delicious as evident by within a short time all the food was gone.
To end the night we all exchanged info and vowed to keep in touch. Hiram Lodge also presented us with gifts and Worshipful Alan a Prince Hall Masonic video. We invited the Prince Hall brothers to our first degree night coming soon. Hopefully they will be able to attend. All in all a very rewarding experience.
I am also happy to report email from our MW Grand Master Daniel C. Yandel and our RW DDGM Vyts Paukstys commending Berwyn Lodge for its program of lodge visitations and opportunities to expose our members to new vistas of Masonry.
Travelling to other Lodges is one of the many splendors of the Craft. It allows you the opportunity to have Masonic Fellowship with new friends. It may also give you another point of view.