No subordinate lodge shall use any work or permit the delivery of any Masonic lectures which have not been approved by this Grand Lodge; provided, that this section shall not apply to the charge to be given to candidates.
See Decision Nos. 17, 45.

Related Decisions

No. 17. Affirmation Versus Oath

Decision: An affirmation can be administered instead of an oath to any person who refuses, on conscientious grounds, to take the latter.

General Regulations, Article II, Sec. 2.2.4. November 13, 1867. (Doyle, GM)

No. 45. Use Of Robes In Degree Work

Decision: Use of robes in degree work is prohibited. That the use of such slides, without audio, as may be approved by the Grand Master, are hereby authorized for use in degree work.

General Regulations, Article II, Sec. 2.2.4. May 16, 1898. (Van Slyck, GM)

Amended November 19,1977.

No subordinate lodge shall inter a person not a Master Mason with Masonic honors, or unite in his funeral as a lodge.
See Decision Nos. 13, 68, 86.

Related Decisions

No. 13. Chapter Or Commandery Funerals

Decision: It is in the discretion of the Master whether his lodge shall join in the funeral procession of a brother whose remains are to be buried by a Chapter or Commandery.

General Regulations, Article II, Sec. 2.2.5. November 15, 1869. (Doyle, GM)

No. 68. Authorized Funeral Ceremonies

Decision: I held that it was improper to permit an officer or member of any other organization (in this case a Commandery), at a funeral conducted by a lodge, to pronounce any portion of the burial service of such other organization, and that the service as laid down in "The Freemason Burial Office" should be strictly adhered to.

General Regulations, Article II, Sec. 2.2.5. May 21, 1917. (Scott, GM)

No. 86. Masonic Memorial Service And Cremains

Decision: A Masonic Memorial Service can be performed by a lodge for a member in good standing when the remains of the brother are to be cremated and those cremated remains (cremains) are to be scattered.

General Regulations, Article II, Sec. 2.2.5. November 19, 1988. (Carpenter, GM)

No subordinate lodge or member thereof shall give a certificate to enable any person to solicit aid from the Masonic Lodges of this or other jurisdictions.
See Decision No. 25.

Related Decisions

No. 25. Reimbursement For Relief

Decision: A Lodge of Masons contributing to the relief of a distressed sojourning Mason, has no right to demand reimbursement from the lodge of which such distressed sojourning Mason is a member.

General Regulations, Article II, Sec. 2.2.6. November 16, 1874. (Morton, GM)

No subordinate lodge shall admit a visitor to whom objection is made by a member of the lodge. That it is the right of any Master Mason to object to a visitor being admitted to his lodge after being properly avouched. This objection cannot be based on race, color, creed or nationality.
Amended May 14, 1989.
See Decision No. 29.

Related Decisions

No. 29. Resident With Foreign Degrees

Decision: A person who while absent in foreign country received the degrees, upon his return to this jurisdiction desire to visit a lodge. I decided that he could not be allowed to visit, and that the brethren must not hold Masonic intercourse with him. Afterwards he desired to affiliate with the lodge, and I authorized the Master, if he was satisfied that the person referred to was ignorant of our regulations, and innocent of any attempt to contravene them, to examine him, and if he was satisfied that he had been made in a regular lodge, and had the proper vouchers, to receive his application for membership in the usual way, and admit him upon a unanimous ballot, and the payment of the regular fee.

Constitution, Article VII, Sec. 1.7.20. May 15, 1882. (Freeman, GM)

General Regulations, Article II, Sec. 2.2.3.

General Regulations, Article II, Sec. 2.2.7.

No subordinate lodge shall strike from its roll of membership the name of a member who has removed without its jurisdiction, until he shall have obtained a demit from said lodge, except as provided in cases of non-payment of dues assessed by the lodge.
See Standing Order No. 12.

Related Standing Orders

No. 12. Rights When Petitioning For New Lodge

Ordered: That the signature of a Mason to a petition for a dispensation to open or form a new lodge does not affect in any way his standing in his own lodge, his rights therein remaining unimpaired. No member of a lodge can sever his connection therewith, without the consent of the lodge, and the assent of the lodge to the petition for a dispensation cannot be construed to be a demit or a temporary suspension of his membership.

Gen. Regulations, Art. II, Sec. 2.2.8. May 16, 1874.

No subordinate lodge shall suspend a by-law, nor alter or expunge any part of its records after they are approved.
See Decision No. 11.

Related Decisions

No. 11. Suspension Of By-Laws

Decision: A Master can suspend a by-law, but is answerable to the Grand Lodge for so doing. There must be a clear necessity for the exercise of the power, which should be used only in great emergencies.

A Master would not be justified in suspending a by-law at his own pleasure, or the convenience of members, or when he has ample time to apply to the Grand Master for a dispensation; but the power should be used when the peace or harmony of the lodge is at stake, or when the law interferes with his prerogatives, or the working of the lodge.

General Regulations, Article II, Sec. 2.2.9. November 15, 1869. (Doyle, GM)

Every member of a subordinate lodge, except life members, or members who may be exempt from the payment of dues, shall pay his dues in accordance with the provisions of the by-laws of his lodge, upon the payment of which the Secretary thereof shall issue to him, provided all assessments due have been fully paid, an identification card, which shall be a receipt for his said dues and/or assessments.

Every member of a lodge shall present to the Tiler, his said card, showing not only the payment of dues or exemption therefrom, for either the current year or for the previous year, but also the payment of all assessments due at the date of issue, before being admitted to his lodge, unless specifically excused by the Master of the lodge. This discretion shall apply to members of his own lodge only: provided, however, that the Master of any lodge may authorize the Tiler to admit as visitors, an Entered Apprentice or a Fellow Craft who has not completed his membership in any lodge upon presentation of a certificate from the Secretary of his lodge to the effect that such person has taken the aforesaid degree or degrees.
Amended November 15, 1948.