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Inter-visitation Procedure

Blake Bowden

Administrator
Staff Member
Say a member of the Grand Lodge of Texas A.F. & A.M. wants to visit a Prince Hall Lodge in Texas, which is under the jurisdiction of the Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Texas, what would they need to do?
 

Bill Lins

Moderating Staff
Staff Member
I'll email the packet to you. Basically, the Brother(s) who wish to visit send an application to their Grand Secretary, who forwards it to the other Grand Secretary, who forwards it to the Lodge to be visited. They vote upon the application at a stated meeting, and send the app, either approved or disapproved, back to their GS, who sends it to the other GS, who sends it back to the applicant(s).
 

Bloke

Premium Member
I'll email the packet to you. Basically, the Brother(s) who wish to visit send an application to their Grand Secretary, who forwards it to the other Grand Secretary, who forwards it to the Lodge to be visited. They vote upon the application at a stated meeting, and send the app, either approved or disapproved, back to their GS, who sends it to the other GS, who sends it back to the applicant(s).
That's very clunky....
 

Ripcord22A

Site Benefactor
Not being a texas mason I cant say for sure but id bet that process came from the PH side. I say this because i have a buddy whose PH and I invited him to my Lodge and he told me he would have to contact his worshipful master and make sure it was okay that he visited another Lodge. Even though he knows that New Mexico recognizes New York Prince Hall and vice versa. I could be Way Off the Mark though and it could be the Grand Lodge of Texas who wanted that extra four steps

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Bloke

Premium Member
I'm not sure who is to blame for it, but I don't think the word "clunky" is nearly strong enough to describe our convoluted procedure. Of course, my opinion plus about $2.00 will get you a cup of coffee @ most places around here. :(

So, there's the question Bill, does the procedure apply to all Masons visiting from a foreign GL - or just to Texan Prince Hall Freemasons ?
 

MRichard

Mark A. Ri'chard
Premium Member
Not being a texas mason I cant say for sure but id bet that process came from the PH side. I say this because i have a buddy whose PH and I invited him to my Lodge and he told me he would have to contact his worshipful master and make sure it was okay that he visited another Lodge. Even though he knows that New Mexico recognizes New York Prince Hall and vice versa. I could be Way Off the Mark though and it could be the Grand Lodge of Texas who wanted that extra four steps

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Trust me, it was mutual if the PHA side wanted it. Inter-visitation is also at the discretion of the WM. Most of the lodges under the GLOT have never had a Black member. It is slowly changing.
 

Bill Lins

Moderating Staff
Staff Member
So, there's the question Bill, does the procedure apply to all Masons visiting from a foreign GL - or just to Texan Prince Hall Freemasons ?
Prince Hall Masons (Texas & Maryland) only- hence, my aggravation. IMHO, all Masons visiting from other recognized jurisdictions should be treated equally, but remember what I posted earlier about coffee. :(
 

Bloke

Premium Member
Prince Hall Masons (Texas & Maryland) only- hence, my aggravation. IMHO, all Masons visiting from other recognized jurisdictions should be treated equally, but remember what I posted earlier about coffee. :(
I agree... you would have to think it is an effort to keep the two groups apart.. which is probably nothing to do with "race" and all about GLs preserving their power... yes, I am a remember of our GL - but does not mean I trust them to be wise or just .. mind you, when I read of some of the shenanigans which go on on GLs in the States, espe what GMs get up (Haas etc) I realise how lucky I am to be part of UGLV. The irony is, the better you now the other local jurisdiction, the better you are proving them...
 

Ripcord22A

Site Benefactor
Prince Hall Masons (Texas & Maryland) only- hence, my aggravation. IMHO, all Masons visiting from other recognized jurisdictions should be treated equally, but remember what I posted earlier about coffee. :(
Since you guys recognize texas PH do you also recognize all other PH that have local recognition? And if so lets say a NM PHA from Las Cruces wants to vist a el paso lodge....he doesnt have to go through all that shenanigans?

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Bill Lins

Moderating Staff
Staff Member
As I stated earlier, to date GLoTX ONLY recognizes the PHGLs of Texas & Maryland. Until & unless the PHGL of NM applies for & receives recognition from GLoTX, their members may NOT visit our Lodges. Should they become recognized and our GL maintains the same policy it has with the currently-recognized PHGLs, their members WILL have to follow the same procedure for visitation.
 

Bloke

Premium Member
As I stated earlier, to date GLoTX ONLY recognizes the PHGLs of Texas & Maryland. Until & unless the PHGL of NM applies for & receives recognition from GLoTX, their members may NOT visit our Lodges. Should they become recognized and our GL maintains the same policy it has with the currently-recognized PHGLs, their members WILL have to follow the same procedure for visitation.

Thanks for the clarification...
 

Ripcord22A

Site Benefactor
As I stated earlier, to date GLoTX ONLY recognizes the PHGLs of Texas & Maryland. Until & unless the PHGL of NM applies for & receives recognition from GLoTX, their members may NOT visit our Lodges. Should they become recognized and our GL maintains the same policy it has with the currently-recognized PHGLs, their members WILL have to follow the same procedure for visitation.
Oh ok...i thought you were saying that only texas and MD pha had to do that...not that they were the only ones you recognized...

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dfreybur

Premium Member
What we have been told is that we are to directly contact the Lodge we wish to visit instead of going through Grand Lodges.

Which is exactly how it works with any other jurisdiction.

There is one major caveat. It's trivial to look up which lodges are in your area, but only if you are aware of some methods to check recognition. There are plenty of men who have no idea how to tell truth from fiction on the Internet. It may be trivial to look up a local lodge once you know how, but learning how is not trivial.

Since a lot of clandestine jurisdictions exist, it can range from trivial to impossible for any one Brother to tell which ones are the regular and recognized ones.

https://grandlodgeoftexas.org/lodge-locator/
https://www.mwphglotx.org/about/affiliated-lodges/

It would be very nice if every jurisdiction had a recognition list on its web page so members can start at their own jurisdiction and go to the correct web sites from there. Doing that would have fewer errors than going through the Conferences of Grand Masters and Committees on Recognition. Doing that would also have a lower error rate than starting at the United Grand Lodge of England. http://www.ugle.org.uk/about/foreign-grand-lodges

I combine the methods I listed plus knowing where to look in some of my jurisdictions. The combination works better than any one method, but I had to learn how first.
 
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