A Jewel In The Crown: Celebrating The 20th Anniversary of Fiat Lux Lodge

Andrew Hammer, PM Alba Lodge No. 222

As we all prepare to return to our lodges, and the joy of face to face (even if masked) Masonic labor, one lodge is especially grateful for the return date decided upon by our Grand Master. Fiat Lux Lodge No. 1717 was consecrated on June 30, 2001. The prospect of holding a Zoom meeting to celebrate its twentieth anniversary was less than inspiring, but now the lodge will be returning to labor just in time to make its June 19th stated communication a celebration of both that milestone and the return to normalcy.

The story of Fiat Lux is a pleasant reminder of so much of what one appreciates about Freemasonry in the District of Columbia. It is the only lodge in the United States that confers the degrees using the Emulation Ritual in English— we have five others in DC that also work Emulation, but in different languages— with the additional benefit of striving to provide the cultural environment of a lodge working under the English Constitution. For those who may be unfamiliar with that terminology, Fiat Lux is, for all practical purposes, an English lodge in the nation’s capital, using the ritual and operating principles of the United Grand Lodge of England, while being proudly chartered by the Grand Lodge of the District of Columbia, and following the same Masonic code that all D.C. lodges do.

In its founding documents, the Lodge called for it’s membership to be “diverse, balanced, integrated, and universally represented,” further stating that, “The Lodge shall emphatically avoid becoming lopsided by national origin or any other factor.” That seems to have worked out well over the years, as Fiat Lux is surely one of the few lodges in the world where its Masters have come from every inhabitable continent. Our location in such an international city helps in that regard, but as one knows, it is the state of mind, the active pursuit of inclusivity, that truly brings the achievement of such a goal.

The Lodge cannot claim to be first among those who built our system of universal Masonry here in the District. What it can claim, however, is to be the second brainchild of Right Worshipful Brother Victor A. Adegbite, who was one of the key architects of that system. RWB Adegbite always believed that we should have other lodges working different rituals, as is done in many grand jurisdictions throughout the world. A decade earlier, he had worked tirelessly with other distinguished brethren to help our second international lodge, Sojourner Kilwinning Lodge No. 1798, come into being using the Modern Scottish ritual. Adegbite thought it only right and proper that an English Emulation lodge be created, both for those brothers in our area for whom that ritual was their “mother tongue,” so to speak, and to further enrich our grand jurisdiction by giving D.C. Masons the opportunity to experience an English lodge without needing to purchase a plane ticket.

In 1998, RWB Adegbite reached out to three other brothers and friends to help draw the plans for what would become Fiat Lux Lodge. Throughout the next two years, then Worshipful Brothers Kwame Acquaah, John Orleans-Lindsay, and Worshipful and Reverend Brother Daniel Darko met to discuss every aspect of the Lodge and how it would be built. By January of 2000, they were ready to take the next step, and requested a meeting with then Grand Master Mansour Hatefi and Grand Secretary Stuart Miner to

RWB Victor A. Adegbite, the guiding light of Fiat Lux Lodge No. 1717

propose the formation of the new Lodge. The proposal met with great interest as well as approval, and the next steps began immediately. Most Worshipful Brother Hatefi granted dispensation to form Fiat Lux Lodge U.D. on March 24, 2000, and on April 29, the new Lodge began its work in earnest.

Long before most Masons had ever heard of “observant” lodges, the founding brethren of Fiat Lux U.D. had quietly drafted a vision and mission statement for themselves that would make any advocates of that method proud. Calling for such things as “furthering Masonic literacy… life-long spiritual growth and development,” and “studies on various religions, cultures, morality and ethics; and discussions on psychology and philosophy,” the Lodge also created a set of standing resolutions and guidelines that put forth an exceptionally formal approach to the Craft by American standards. All members of the Lodge were to be attired in tuxedo (incidentally, some brethren may be surprised to learn that this is actually recommended for all brethren in our grand jurisdiction), with the exception of the Installation meeting, where the brethren “shall dress in white tie and tailcoats.” Every meeting was to be followed by a formal, plated Festive Board, also in-line with English custom. But more than addressing matters from within the lodge, the founding brethren called for an approach to prospects that involved their reviewing the Vision and Mission Statement and Lodge guidelines, and only after said prospects declared that they understood these guidelines and found them acceptable, would they be given a petition to apply for membership in the Lodge.

After working diligently for a year, and raising three men as Master Masons during that time, the Grand Lodge voted at its Semi-Annual Communication on May 9, 2001 to grant a charter to Fiat Lux Lodge No. 1717. While the name of the Lodge came from Right Worshipful Brother Adegbite, the number was the idea of Worshipful Brother Orleans-Lindsay, to further associate the Lodge with the establishment of the Premier Grand Lodge of England in that year. As is a common custom in English Masonry, the Lodge would meet quarterly, with an additional Stated Communication in November for the installation of officers.

On June 30, 2001, Grand Master Grant R. Berning, accompanied by a suite of Grand Lodge officers, consecrated the Lodge in accordance with ancient custom and usages, during which, Worshipful Brother Harold Grainger was presented with the Lodge’s Fidelity Medal. The consecration ceremony was followed by a special Festive Board, and from that evening until now, our Festive Board always closes with the same amusing remark that was first given by RWB Adegbite.

Twenty years on, the Lodge can look back with pride at its accomplishments. One of its earliest came in 2004, when a delegation of brethren went on a journey to England, under the leadership of its Master, Worshipful Brother Elkanah E. Faux, and visited The Lodge of Living Stones No. 4957, and Columbia Lodge No. 2397.

A number of our brethren have served the Grand Lodge of the District of Columbia, in every capacity from Grand Lodge Committee members, to appointed Grand Lodge officers, to Grand Master, when our founding brother Kwame Acquaah was made Most Worshipful Grand Master in 2009. Two of our esteemed brethren, Worshipful and Reverend Brothers Daniel Darko and Elkanah E. Faux, have been honored to serve as Grand Chaplains.

Although every brother meets on the level, we have also been delighted to count amongst our ranks two brethren who are well-known to Masons round the world. The late Worshipful Brother Kirk MacNulty (author of The Way of the Craftsman) served the Lodge as its Assistant Preceptor for many years; and the prolific Masonic author and Worshipful Brother Ric Berman (Past Master of Quatuor Coronati Lodge No. 2076) is not only a member from afar, but has made visits to present to the Lodge on two occasions in the past few years.

Since the inception of the Lodge, two of its members have been recognized by the Grand Lodge for outstanding service. At its Annual Communication in December 2005, the Grand Lodge voted to award then Worshipful Brother Adegbite with the Grand Lodge Distinguished Service Medal. Then, in December 2007, the Grand Lodge vested Right Worshipful Brother Harold Grainger with the rank of Honorary Past Senior Grand Warden and conferred the same rank on Right Worshipful Brother Adegbite in December 2009.

If I may be permitted to offer a personal observation, one thing I have said about this Lodge since I joined in 2010, is that whatever I may have been dealing with during the day, whatever concern I may have had about something in the Lodge, I have never left a meeting of Fiat Lux without feeling happy in the most brotherly way at the end of the evening. I have also heard this sentiment from visiting brethren and Grand Lodge officers throughout the years. If we can be said to have done nothing else, that achievement is surely one of the most remarkable that a lodge can ask from its brethren.

By the Grace of the Most High, it is our earnest hope and prayer that the Lodge will continue to go from strength to strength.

WB Ric Berman on his second visit to Fiat Lux in 2019.

The author is Secretary of Fiat Lux Lodge No. 1717.