Members The University Lodge of Liverpool may not have been able to meet for the best part of a year however that does not mean that they have been just waiting around for meetings to start again. Once the lockdown became apparent – as we have already said before – members started out to help and support anyone less fortunate who wanted assistance.

Lockdown no.2 saw a similar response from members to support people across Merseyside and West Lancashire through food banks. ULOL members rallied round and we managed to send two carloads of non-perishable items to a central collection point in Garston to swell the amount being given.

As Christmas approached we were aware that due to the various lockdowns many elderly residents of residential and care homes were missing out on family contact so again members rallied round and together we bought, made or sent 320 cards, one to each resident of the six major Homes in the Liverpool area including the Tithebarn Masonic Home in Crosby.

Once again ULoL has demonstrated that active charity has a major place in what we do and how we are a part of the communities in which we live.

The pandemic might have shut down or severely restricted Freshers Week for Liverpool, John Moores, Hope and Edge Hill Universities but that does not mean that Freemasonry has ceased to be still active.

Our own ability to meet has been restricted but we are around and happy to make contact with any men who are interested in what we stand for and would like to be actively involved. Contact us through this website, on twitter or our Facebook at (https://www.facebook.com/UniversityFreemasonryLodgeofLiverpool/)

Liam, who runs the Lodge Twitter account writes…..

In only twelve months the University Lodge of Liverpool No.4274 (ULOL) Twitter account has gone from having zero ‘followers’ to now having well in excess of 600.  The interest shown in who we are and what we do is across all sections of our community and not just amongst Masons.

In a time where social media and technology is so relied upon, it is evident that utilising this medium within Lodges is becoming more important and apparent. However, we cannot allow any of our members to fall behind who perhaps don’t choose to use the latest smartphone, or have never heard of Tik Tok, let alone knowing where to start with taking a selfie or posting a tweet. So, how do we proceed in this modern day and age and ensure that all are included and understand the traditions we follow, the charitable support we offer and the part we can play in society? 

If one thing is for certain, the recent lockdown period has highlighted that social media is so heavily needed and relied upon by many more people today, including Freemasons.   Zoom meetings have been adopted and used to good effect by many Lodges up and down the country, including our own in order to stay in touch with members and attend virtual conferences and webinars. 

ULOL has an official page on Facebook …….(https://www.facebook.com/UniversityFreemasonryLodgeofLiverpool/)

along with a closed Group for private messaging and Twitter, as well as regularly using our website to ensure communications are kept modernised and appealing to all audiences, but some Lodges and Provinces are now even moving towards using the likes of Instagram, YouTube and Snapchat in order to publicise the significant charitable work that Freemasons support and engage in throughout our local communities. 

To draw back to my point of including all, while we must look to the future we should also balance this with our established practices to ensure we get an effective mix.   We have already widely adopted email as a main method of communication and this is arguably more effective than a simple text, but some Lodges also still prefer to send hand written letters, as is the preferred way of receiving a communication by some of our older members.   

In addition to having a presence on social media, we can ensure that the members pathway and all of the online Masonic learning available to members are widely encouraged and used, but also more importantly understood by members. 

In all of this it is important that the lack of access to, or familiarity with, social media such as Twitter must not divide the members of a Lodge, especially ours.  The challenge is to use whatever might be appropriate and we will in the immediate future need to work at planning properly, engaging effectively but most of all communicating clearly if we are to succeed.

Interested in following us ? – you can join us on Twitter : @Freemasonry4274

What a time we are having! …. Universities will soon be deciding on admissions and students will either be taking their first term online or here in Liverpool. It does seem that all of the Universities we cover (Liverpool / John Moores / Hope and Edge Hill) will not be starting with Freshers or Welcome meetings and neither will most students attend here in person in October. That does not mean the University Lodge of Liverpool will not be here when needed.

We will still be taking expressions of interest in Masonry and what we stand for from any male students who are starting or continuing their degree studies in this area. Once social distancing is no longer a problem we will arrange a meet-up and can answer queries and questions and get to know you as well as giving you the chance to know who we are.

Freemasonry, although conducted separately for both men and women, has Fellowship and Charity at its heart and does require a belief in a Supreme Being – in whatever form you believe in. It is not a religion but offers its members a guide for living life. Should it interest you then women students can look for more information on https://www.owf.org.uk/join-us/i-want-to-join/ and men who are interested in joining us should look at https://www.ugle.org.uk/becoming-a-freemason/universities-scheme where details of what we offer to students in particular can be found.

We wish everyone who would like to undertake higher education this year all the best for whatever selection process you will go through to get there.

The younger (and hopefully less at risk) members of the Lodge have taken the opportunity of home working etc. to practice what we preach – namely benevolence and charity.   Members of the Lodge who live across Merseyside have begun to deliver food and other essentials to those elderly members, their families and friends and any widows of Lodge members who are confined to their homes and are self-isolating.

Currently we have assisted with deliveries in the Anfield area of Liverpool and are moving across to Wirral where we have been asked for help but as we have members across most of Merseyside will not restrict ourselves to those areas.

 

Here are two of our Brethren starting out last evening with the first of our deliveries

 

 

The University Lodge of Liverpool was delighted to welcome 5 new members at our regular meeting on 3rd February as well as a Joining member.  The Lodge has grown by 12 new members this year already and while we have lost some of our Brethren following graduation etc. they will in some cases have moved on to other Lodges in England/Wales and hopefully others will come back to Freemasonry once they have settled in their careers.

Here we see our Worshipful Master with his newly initiated and Joining Brethren right after the ceremony.   We wish them all a very long and happy association with the Lodge for many years to come.

Not finished yet……   We had to hold an Emergency Meeting on Saturday 15th February at the unusual time of 10,30am by permission of our Provincial Grand Master to enable us to progress some of our number through the second stage of their membership.  Holding only 6 meetings a year is becoming an issue with the numbers joining us and the Lodge will be looking carefully at whether the frequency and how we organise meetings at the present time will be sufficient in the future.

Having given us his Dispensation for the extra meeting, our Provincial Grand Master Tony Harrison joined us along with one of his Assistants, Keith Kemp and was also accompanied by the Provincial Director of Ceremonies Malcolm Bell and the Chairman of our Group of Lodges John James.  It was also an occasion when one of our student Brethren taking his next steps was joined by his father who travelled up from the midlands to witness the occasion.   The morning was carried off with great style and in a flawless manner by our Master and all his Officers to the congratulations of everyone else present.

Photographs courtesy of  #IMAGINEBYSZP:

https://www.facebook.com/imaginebyszp/

 

 

University Lodge Liverpool has opened the new year with 6 new members to be initiated at the beginning of February – making 11 so far this year – and success brings its problems in scheduling progression for everyone who needs it so we will be having an extra day-time meeting on Saturday 15th February .

The Worshipful Master and his team of Officers are working extra hard this season as well as planning for our Centenary which is provisionally scheduled for 1st November 2021.    2020 brings back some of the issues faced when the Lodge was first formed and members came forward in similar numbers in the 1920`s.   The 1980s were probably the lowest point in memory when Freemasonry was under attack from narrow-mindedness on one hand and ignorance on the other however our principles of benevolence and fraternity kept us going until we could enjoy the upturn and our Centenary was assured.

 

On 9th December the Lodge welcomed five more new Masons to the Fraternity as we celebrated the start of the festive season.  The meeting saw one of our members assist his father to join while the remaining four initiates were from the student body of both City Centre universities.    We hope to bring in at least another five new members at our February meeting – which has had to be brought forward by one week because of availability of the venue we use.     Indeed our success in attracting new members means that we are looking to have an additional meeting at the end of February – on a Saturday morning!   Watch this space for details……

Also – a message to students at Hope and Edge Hill …  we do find it difficult to engage directly with you at Freshers Fairs but would still welcome enquiries from men who are students or staff at either establishment.   Female staff and students from any University who might also wish to find out more are also welcome to email us through this site and we will pass your details over to one of the female masonic organisations who also have lodges locally.

Monday 11th November saw the Lodge install its new Worshipful Master Kris for the forthcoming year. Each year every Lodge chooses one from amongst its number to lead the membership forward for the next 12 months. It is a very special occasion – and for many of the Brethren it is on a par with their own Initiation, an occasion that is never forgotten and which hold great significance for them.

It is particularly significant in the University Lodge Liverpool as it is the occasion for members to re-affirm their academic status by wearing the gowns and hoods appropriate to the degrees we hold. This year was also significant in that it coincided with Remembrance Day which was marked by those with Armed Forces service also.

This is the start of our penultimate Masonic year before we celebrate our Centenary in November 2021

On 14th October we celebrated 60yrs of continuous membership of the Lodge on the part of two of our Brethren.   John and Geoff are pictured here before the meeting started in company with John James, the Garston Group Chairman, who presented both celebrants with a scroll commemorating their achievement.  We then proceeded to confer the Master Masons degree on four of our younger members – making it an evening of celebration covering both ends of the masonic pathway!

Our caters served up an excellent meal and 40 members and visitors finished the evening with good fellowship and an opportunity to honour Masonic and other charities.