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Master Mason Proficiency
- Thread starter drw72
- Start date
Dontrell Stroman
Premium Member
You will be given a bible ? Is the certificate your speaking of the Master mason diploma ?
dfreybur
Premium Member
Depends on the state. In Texas it's mandatory. In California it's optional unless you go into an elected chair.
In California I got my apron and Bible the night I was raised and a large frame-able and small wallet-sized copy of a certificate when I presented my MM proficiency a couple of years later.
In California I got my apron and Bible the night I was raised and a large frame-able and small wallet-sized copy of a certificate when I presented my MM proficiency a couple of years later.
drw72
Premium Member
Yes, according to our Secretary.
Dontrell Stroman
Premium Member
What bible are you talking about ? I received my white lamb skin apron, my master mason apron, a master mason diploma, my monitor, and Constitution. Do y'all not receive a master mason diploma ?
Wheatfarmer
Registered User
Good luck , I too am doing mine as well on Friday night. So I can take a chair.
drw72
Premium Member
Thank you Brother....and good luck to you as well.
Dontrell Stroman
Premium Member
Okay I see. I believe they are the same thing. Just worded a little different.
In NM it's required to be elected to office or go on to Appendant or Concordant bodies.
Mandatory in Grand Lodge of Texas as Brother dfreybur stated and must be done within 3 months, I believe. All the degrees have some type of limits.
Ripcord22A
Site Benefactor
Actually its not. We just added it to Cerrillos' by laws a couple months ago. In fact johnny just did his MM prof in nov i think after serving as JW and SW.
Ripcord22A
Site Benefactor
In Oregon it is required of all MM
hanzosbm
Premium Member
In KY, to the best of my knowledge, it isn't a requirement unless you want to sit in a chair (I'm not sure if it's all chairs, but I know that SD required it). That being said, at least in my lodge, it was expected that you take it and there was definitely a stigma for choosing not to take it.
I've told this story elsewhere, but at the time of my raising, I had a LOT going on in my life and couldn't dedicate the time to study. I had planned on coming back to it when things settled down. That being said, those chairs need to be filled, so I was forced to "give" my proficiency, which was a joke, so that I could serve. Now, obviously, I take Masonry seriously enough that I can study on my own after the fact, and I've done so, however...I've never found anyone willing to take the time with me to learn it since then. Who wants to spend months teaching something mouth to ear for a man who has been in the craft for years and who technically already holds his proficiency? This wouldn't be a huge problem with the EA or FC degrees; you can just study the monitor and it seems like lodges are putting on the degrees all the time. But the MM is different. The two monitors I have don't give everything, and the degrees are often done in a non-typical setting (i.e., outdoors, at a different lodge, etc) so they are more difficult to get to. To this day, while I consider myself well educated on the EA and FC degrees (but always still learning), I am weak in the MM degree.
Long story short, do your MM proficiency and REALLY learn it, don't just go through the motions to get the piece of paper.
I've told this story elsewhere, but at the time of my raising, I had a LOT going on in my life and couldn't dedicate the time to study. I had planned on coming back to it when things settled down. That being said, those chairs need to be filled, so I was forced to "give" my proficiency, which was a joke, so that I could serve. Now, obviously, I take Masonry seriously enough that I can study on my own after the fact, and I've done so, however...I've never found anyone willing to take the time with me to learn it since then. Who wants to spend months teaching something mouth to ear for a man who has been in the craft for years and who technically already holds his proficiency? This wouldn't be a huge problem with the EA or FC degrees; you can just study the monitor and it seems like lodges are putting on the degrees all the time. But the MM is different. The two monitors I have don't give everything, and the degrees are often done in a non-typical setting (i.e., outdoors, at a different lodge, etc) so they are more difficult to get to. To this day, while I consider myself well educated on the EA and FC degrees (but always still learning), I am weak in the MM degree.
Long story short, do your MM proficiency and REALLY learn it, don't just go through the motions to get the piece of paper.
dfreybur
Premium Member
http://www.masonicsupplyshop.com/products/Masonic-Altar-Bible-V.S.L.html
That's the Bible presented to newly raised MMs in most lodges I have been to in all three of my current jurisdictions and in all the US jurisdictions I've attended MM degrees in. It's on my shelf at home.
You were presented both lamb skin and MM aprons? Cool. I've seen personal MM aprons but didn't get a second personal apron until my PM one.
California offers a frame sized diploma for MMs but none of the lodges in my mother district give them out. My wife saw one at GL and ordered it for me for Fathers Day one year.
Dontrell Stroman
Premium Member
That is awesome. We have that bible at our alter, but we did not receive one after we was raised. Maybe funding, I don't know. Yes I received both aprons. We only wear the white lambskin apron when teaching a newly EA how to wear it and teaching on the FC. After that it's only worn for funerals or special occasions. Other than that we were our master mason apron with a blue border around it with the square and compass and the all seeing eye on it.
Brother_Steve
Premium Member
MM proficiency is required in nj.
We get a lambskin apron during our EA degree and a bible after being raised. We only get a dues card after our MM exam.
We get a lambskin apron during our EA degree and a bible after being raised. We only get a dues card after our MM exam.
Companion Joe
Premium Member
In Tennessee, a man gets his apron when he are raised. The MM lecture is optional, but if you give it in open lodge, you get a certificate.
Dontrell Stroman
Premium Member
Did y'all receive a bible in TN ?