# How to make sure your lodge is legit?



## Ziad (Aug 18, 2013)

Brothers,

My quest to find a regular lodge has finally paid off. I had been invited to join many lodges from lebanon and Jordan, however, all of them end up being irregular lodges. 

I finally met someone who claims to be in the process of setting up a prince hall lodge - how can i make sure that it is legit and recognized? 

Respectfully
Z



Freemason Connect HD


----------



## Brother_Steve (Aug 18, 2013)

A big clue that a lodge is not legit is if they are flat out asking you to join.

I showed an interest in masonry to a close friend and he never once asked me to join. I had to actually ask him and he said he was waiting for me to ask for a long time.

Are you US military or a mid eastern man looking for a lodge? Freemasonry is illegal in a lot of mid eastern countries but im not sure which ones. If it is illegal then your path is that much harder.


----------



## Ziad (Aug 18, 2013)

I asked - they replied that its possible after the 3 interviews, and the rest of the process...

I am middle eastern, not affiliated to the military - and know about the difficulties here, hence my suspicion , i also heard about a few scams here and there - any other way to make sure? 

Thanks
Z


Freemason Connect HD


----------



## detroit2jim (Aug 18, 2013)

Contact the grand lodge in your area, you should be able to find their contact info on line. The brother is correct, we don't recruit, ever.  Good luck. Stay away for clandestine. 


Detroit Lodge No. 2 F&AM


----------



## Mike Martin (Aug 18, 2013)

Ziad said:


> My quest to find a regular lodge has finally paid off. I had been invited to join many lodges from lebanon and Jordan, however, all of them end up being irregular lodges.
> 
> I finally met someone who claims to be in the process of setting up a prince hall lodge - how can i make sure that it is legit and recognized?


If you live in a middle eastern country where Freemasonry is an illegal pastime you will never be able to find a regular and recognised Lodge. It goes completely against the purpose of Masonry to Initiate a person who will then become a criminal BECAUSE he is a Freemason.

If you live in a country where Freemasonry is not illegal you will be able to check the bona fides of any Grand Lodge that you approach for membership by checking which other Grand Lodges recognise it.


----------



## dfreybur (Aug 19, 2013)

Ziad said:


> I finally met someone who claims to be in the process of setting up a prince hall lodge - how can i make sure that it is legit and recognized?



Ask which PHA jurisdiction they are in.  Check for them in the United Grand Lodge of England list, North America tab:

http://www.ugle.org.uk/about/foreign-grand-lodges

If possible go to the page for that PHA grand lodge and confirm they did in fact charter that lodge.


----------



## jasper7788 (Sep 4, 2013)

Contact the grand lodge in your area and ensure that the lodge you are joining is a warranted lodge.


Bro Jason Moreland


----------



## MarkR (Sep 7, 2013)

jasper7788 said:


> Contact the grand lodge in your area and ensure that the lodge you are joining is a warranted lodge.
> 
> 
> Bro Jason Moreland


The problem is, "the grand lodge in your area" might be clandestine.


----------



## dfreybur (Sep 7, 2013)

MarkR said:


> The problem is, "the grand lodge in your area" might be clandestine.



That's why I like to start at the UGLE web site.  Unless you want to join a PHA lodge in one of the states that still doesn't recognize drilling down to your local geography works correctly.  That's also why I have the Phylaxis Society's page on bogus Masonry in my bookmarks.


----------



## zouzoum (Dec 19, 2013)

Hi ziad ... I am lebanese but I live in scotland and I am a member in a lodge here ... if u like go to www.grandlodgescotland.com and u will find the curator email ...send him that u r interested to join and he will forward ur email to the district grand lodge secretary in lebanon...good luck man !

Sent from my GT-I9500 using My Freemasonry HD mobile app


----------



## zouzoum (Dec 19, 2013)

Btw freemasonry in lebanon is not banned and many lodges are consecrated 

Sent from my GT-I9500 using My Freemasonry HD mobile app


----------



## tomasball (Dec 19, 2013)

The Grand Lodge of New York has a dozen or so lodges in Lebanon under the department titled "District Grand Lodge of Syria-Lebanon".  The Grand Lodge of Scotland has six, organized as the "District Grand Lodge of Lebanon".  Those are listed here: http://grandlodgescotland.com/index...nd-lodges/534-district-grand-lodge-of-lebonan.  The Grand Lodge of DC founded a lodge in Lebanon in 2010 which led to the GLNY breaking off relations with them.  I assume they worked that out, but I don't know the details.  No other lodges in Lebanon are considered regular by the UGLE or the Commission for Information on Regularity of the Conference of Grand Masters of North America.


----------



## Plustax (Feb 8, 2014)

is there a phone app that shows a list of recognzed lodges by GLoT?


----------



## Bro Darren (Feb 9, 2014)

Plustax said:


> is there a phone app that shows a list of recognzed lodges by GLoT?



None that I am aware of. As stated many times, check with the Grand Lodge of that district as they will be happy to point you in the right direction.  


Sent From My Freemasonry Pro App


----------



## rfuller (Feb 9, 2014)

Plustax said:


> is there a phone app that shows a list of recognzed lodges by GLoT?



Inside Texas there are only 2. MWGLoT and MWPHGLoT.


----------



## Txmason32 (Feb 9, 2014)

And one is in Waco and the other in Fort Worth ... anything else is not 

Sent From My Freemasonry Pro App


----------



## dfreybur (Feb 10, 2014)

Plustax said:


> is there a phone app that shows a list of recognzed lodges by GLoT?



Do you mean member lodges within Texas?  Both regular and recognized jurisdictions in Texas have lodge locator links on their web pages -

http://grandlodgeoftexas.org/lodgelocator http://www.mwphglotx.org/lodges.asp

I do not know of any current phone app that charts the listed lodges by location.

I haven't found foreign recognition lists on the web sites of any of my jurisdictions.  I had to search the annual Proceedings book for the California list.  I have not searched for the lists in either Illinois or Texas other than looking up their PHA recognition agreements.  The UGLE list works in most cases because most GLs follow the lead of UGLE in recognition -

http://www.ugle.org.uk/about/foreign-grand-lodges

Many do not have lodge locators.


----------



## tomasball (Feb 10, 2014)

http://pantagraphprinting.com/2012LoL.html


----------



## BryanMaloney (Feb 12, 2014)

Please forgive me, but this thread has forced this image into my mind and I must exorcise it:

All life-memberships in my lodge doing MC Hammer's "Too legit to quit.", in full regalia.


----------



## rfuller (Feb 12, 2014)

Yeah.  I know it's form "Can't Touch This".  But it'll have to do.


----------

