Lodge Anniversary

Last year, a lot of subordinate lodges have celebrated their respective centennial anniversary. Many more lodges, especially those with earlier charter number will follow suit this year and the next.

In not a single instance that a query about Lodge Anniversary was referred to the Committee on Jurisprudence. The good thing though is that it has been consistent in rendering its opinion notwithstanding the change in its composition every year. The question asked was: When exactly is the date of a lodge anniversary? Is it the date it was granted a dispensation to form a lodge or the date its charter was finally issued? In resolving the matter, several provisions under Art. I, Part II (Ordinances) of the Masonic Law book are worth revisiting:

Sec. 1 provides “A Lodge can be formed only by authority of a dispensation from the Grand Master and perpetuated by a charter from the Grand Lodge”;

Sec. 3 provides, “A dispensation shall be valid only up to the end of the month preceding the Annual Communication and the lodge under dispensation shall, at least fifteen (15) days prior to the Annual Communication, return the dispensation to the Grand Secretary, transmitting at the same time its By-Laws, books or records and Annual Report with payment of dues and fees up to that date”;

Sec. 5 on the other hand provides, “Upon return of the dispensation of a new lodge, a charter may be granted by the Grand Lodge if an examination of its work and proceedings shall prove satisfactory and upon proof that it is free from indebtedness and that it has complied with all other requirements. Such lodge shall then be constituted within sixty (60) days thereafter.” Moreover, as pointed out by Albert G. Mackey, in his “Principles of Masonic Law: A treatise on the Constitutional Laws, Usages and Landmarks of Freemasonry”, “a lodge under dispensation is simply the creature of the Grand Master. To him it is indebted for its existence, and on his will depends the duration of that existence. He may at any time revoke the dispensation, and the dissolution of the lodge would be the instant result. Hence, a lodge working under a dispensation can scarcely, with strict technical propriety, be called a lodge; it is, more properly speaking, a congregation of Masons, acting as the proxy of the Grand Master.”

It is clear therefore that a lodge is officially recognized as a regular lodge, once it has been issued a charter. Hence, its official anniversary should be its charter date. Of course, nothing can prevent a subordinate lodge to also commemorate the date of its being granted a dispensation, as it may please.

ity of a dispensation issued by the Grand Master is only temporary and automatically expires at the end of the month preceding the Annual Communication. For such lodge under dispensation to continue functioning as a lodge, it shall need a charter to be issued by the Grand Lodge in order for it to be a “just and legally constituted lodge”. The lecture of the First Degree teaches us that a “Lodge” is an assemblage of Masons, duly congregated, having the Holy Bible, square, and compasses, and a charter, or warrant of constitution, empowering them to work.” (underscoring supplied)