Two of our own -Mark Cassidy & Warwick Bell
Freemasons New Zealand’s vision is to add value to society by supporting good men and their families and communities.
The key themes are: fellowship among men; charity benevolence and personal development.
"Free Masons in New Zealand."
Two of our own -Mark Cassidy & Warwick Bell
Warwick became a Freemason in his early twenties, and he has held regional leadership positions over the years. He gave us a brief history of the organisation – started by the masons building many of the cathedrals in the UK and Europe. The Lodge was the timber building that sat alongside the cathedral – and within the lodge, multigenerational craftsmen developed traditions and rituals that were part of their career progression. The tools and practices that the craftsmen used became symbols for lessons on ethics and morality, much of which are still used in Freemasonry rituals and formalities today.
As operative masonry declined, non-operative masons were introduced to the organisation to ensure the continuation of their charity work. The principle of Freemasons looking after the families of deceased members was established and still applies today.
The first gathering of Freemasons in New Zealand is said to have happened on board a French whaling ship in Banks Peninsula. By 1841 groups in Wellington and Auckland were expressing a wish to charter Lodges here and the first Lodge was established in 1842. When the Grand Lodge of New Zealand was established, it also established a charity fund that still makes distributions today.
To become a Freemason, individuals need to approach a member and show interest - they are not invited to join. Membership is currently still limited to men and as a member you are welcome at any Lodge throughout the world.
Mark isn’t a Freemason but works for them to run the operational side of the organisation where his brief is to implement a strategy for attracting more members. He provided a summary of the many charities supported by Freemasons in New Zealand. I suspect that there are a number of us in the Club who have whanau who have benefitted from Freemasons support either for their university studies, housing or other community projects.