AMD & Knight Masons

The comments appearing below were written by members of each of the Councils, and are possibly only the opinions of one individual. The purpose of this webpage is to share information about how members of AMD and Knight Masons Councils view what their individual Councils are doing, in the hope that sharing this information can lead to all of us who belong to Councils attempting to improve what happens.

Half Moon Council No. 2 New York	From an email November 2006: From its number you may assume that it is one of the oldest in the USA. Ronald M. Goldwyn is Council's secretary. We also have one of the few Royal Ark Mariner Lodges moored to our Council and it is Half Moon Lodge No 1, RAM, but in recent years the officers of the Council serve as the officers of the lodge that includes member of other councils in the New York City area. Half Moon Council No. 2 also is the only council in the USA that may induct a Master Mason who is NOT a Royal Arch Mason into our Council, but we have NEVER exercised this right. These two bodies meet four times a year at the call of the Sovereign Master.
Joseph Murrow Council #10 Oklahoma	We meet two times a year. We always open in due form and have a business meeting. Once each year we confer the Excellent Master Degree. At the other meeting a paper is presented on some subject of Masonic History or York Rite Masonry. Our meetings are not open to spouses, or non-AMD members
McMillon Council #15 Tulsa, Oklahoma	Meets in Tulsa, OK. We have been having 4 meetings per year and trying to stick to the following format: 1 Dinner meeting for members only with a degree conferred on candidates after dinner. 2 Dinner meeting for members and their ladies with some type of evening out. Last year we went to a local live theater performance. This year we went to an outdoor production of the Broadway play Oklahoma. Next year we plan a dinner cruise on a nearby lake that runs several large paddle boats. 3 Dinner meeting for members only with business meeting, voting etc. followed by a research paper prepared by Master or another member. 4 18th century style table lodge meeting with festive board. We are trying to invite in an outside Masonic speaker for this meeting.
Finger Lakes Council #40 upstate New York	Meets quarterly. They do no degrees and whatever papers are presented are watered down to five minutes or so. Sometimes they have a "two-minute drill" where they go around the table. I have heard maybe two papers in the several years that I belong. They have a good annual picnic, which is one of the four meetings.
William J. Gronning Council #83 Freehold, New Jersey	Meets four times a year. We meet in a Blue Lodge, using both the lodge room and the kitchen/dining area. Before our meetings, we get together [wives too] for a home-cooked meal and conversation. After an hour or so of that, the members head upstairs to the lodge room for the meeting. There is a due form of opening and closing, but I must say the AMD keeps it simple. After the regular business is addressed, the reading of members' research papers begins. I wish I could say all 27 members of our Council are regular participants, but we draw about 12 to a meeting. Once a year, all of the AMD Councils in the state will come together for an 'ingathering.' Again, we meet at a lodge and hear research papers and eat, but in greater numbers. Degrees also are worked here.
Inkopah #86 San Diego, California	We meet quarterly. We meet in a Lodge Room and usually have two papers presented, each followed by discussion. We begin at 3:00 PM on a Sunday afternoon, and close about 5:00 PM. We then move to a local restaurant for dinner...frequently joined by our ladies.
Lord Fairfax Council #90 Fairfax, Virginia	Always meets 4 times a year, on 5th Fridays (most, not all) and in December for elections - Research papers always presented, but some are "light research"
Winter Haven Council #115 Florida	My AMD Council is the first one to be authorized to set up shop in Florida. It was chartered sometime in the 70's and remained the sole council in the state until the 90's. We meet quarterly and always present a paper at our meeting. We first meet for dinner at a local restaurant, where we have our own little room to eat together. Then, we proceed to Lodge and conduct our business meeting. After the meeting, we invite in the ladies and a paper is presented. Our membership number of 27 is usually complete and one must wait for an older member to pass away for an opening to develop. We have a very compatible group and can boast of an attendance rate of 80 to 90% at our meetings.
Princess Anne Council #129 Virginia Beach, Virginia	Meets four times a year. Most of the meetings are preceded by a pot luck dinner. Then a paper is given, we have had two degrees exemplified.
Red River Council #193 Fargo, North Dakota	Meets once per month. We take one of the Tuesday nights - the night York Rite meets. We alternate between doing AMD degree work and open dinner and paper presentation meetings at which our families, prospects, etc., are welcome. I know the AMD Council in Bismarck, ND is similar, alternating between Degree meetings and open paper luncheons. The AMDs is this area have several times discussed a simple sharing of research papers, in light of the minimal space Grand AMD has for publication. In Minnesota an AMD meeting is held in conjunction with their annual Chapter/Council meetings (in addition to all of their regular meetings). The AMD in Fargo is doing quite well. We are usually at capacity with a few prospects. We are considering starting up a parallel council to meet with us and allow for expansion. Part of our problem is that the current Emeritus system doesn't allow for taking care of our 'deadwood' of nonattending past sovereigns and out-of-towners. Aggravating that problem is our secretary having some difficulty communicating with grand to get his questions answered. If we could, a lot of us would transfer to Grand Master Council to make room for new members.
Alex M. Conner Council #201 Newport News, Virginia	We meet on the fifth Friday of the month which equates to approximately once a quarter. We and our ladies meet in one of our local lodges, have a covered dish dinner hosted by the Sovereign Master and his lady. We then open the Council and perform what business we need to. After the Council is closed, the ladies and other visitors are invited in and the paper for the quarter is read by the author. Like all things Masonic, the major problem is attendance.
Loch Lomond Council #235 Johnson County, Kansas part of Kansas City	Meets four times per year. Generally, we talk about one of our thirteen degrees, hear a paper, or talk about an interesting place that someone has been. One of our members is the Grand Representative to the Grand Mark Master Lodge of France and told us about going to their Grand Session.
Kit Carson #237 San Diego, California	We meet quarterly. We meet in a Lodge Room and usually have two papers presented, each followed by discussion. We begin at 3:00 PM on a Sunday afternoon, and close about 5:00 PM. We then move to a local restaurant for dinner...frequently joined by our ladies.
Charlie Stroebel Council #247 Rochester, Minnesota	Meets in the spring and fall, with the fall meeting being the annual meeting in Rochester, MN. The spring meeting may vary in location. Meetings feature reading through a degree and presentation of at least one paper which may be original or presented with the permission of the author. It is followed by lunch, attended by members of Charlie Stroebel AMD Council 247 and Knight Masons. Charlie Stroebel Council 247 is one of five AMD councils in Minnesota.
St. Bernard de Clairvaux #256 Indianapolis, Indiana	Meets 3 times per year: 1 Dinner meeting with investiture and installation, black tie. 2 meetings with discussion topics, presentations, or degree exemplification.
Olin S. McDaniel Council #259 Missouri	My AMD Council in Missouri meets quarterly in the evenings. Because of the area we cover, we meet in the Cape Girardeau area every other quarter and in the Farmington (St. Louis) area every other quarter. Our wives are invited and we begin with dinner. Afterwards a paper or talk is presented either by a member or a guest speaker. If the paper or talk is appropriate for all, the wives remain and if not, they dismiss themselves. Afterward the wives are dismissed for a few minutes while a short business meeting is conducted.
Great Lakes Council #273 Wisconsin	Constituted in 1991, we meet 3 times a year generally in the Milwaukee or Madison areas at a restaurant with a private room. There is a meal followed by a program. Ladies are invited.
National Capital Area Council #296 Washington D.C.	Meets when called by the Sovereign Master, sometimes only once a year, sometimes more - usually only conducts business such as membership and bylaws, but on occasion members have read a degree
Britannia Council #303 Los Altos, California	Meets once a quarter, mostly in the manner of a British Lodge. We are usually attired in dinner suits (tuxes) and conduct the business part of the meeting within (!) a Lodge of St. Lawrence the Martyr. We have done the Royal Ark Mariner degree, the St. Lawrence the Martyr degree, and others that I am too new to have participated in. We also have Oxford style debates, and learned papers, presented by Companions or outsiders (after being called down). Afterwards, we adjourn to the refectory to enjoy casual conversation over sherry and cheeses, followed by a festive board at a local restaurant, complete with all of the traditional toasts. I participated in a debate on "Resolved: Masonry is, and ought to be, a religion" which really got things stirred up! We've had Brother Dorothy Howard, a member of Womens' Masonry from Great Britain, give us a talk on how the Order originated, how one joins, and their growth. I've heard papers given on Neo-Platonism, a conjecture on the derivation of the substitute for the Lost Master's Word, and the following papers contained on our web-site: Charity Through Interpersonal Relationships - "This paper will attempt to expand and interpret my thoughts on this subject. My approach is to examine from our ritual some of the references to personal charity and relate it to my years of experiences and the profound influence these words have on me. I assert that one reason for our decline in membership can be traced to uncharitable remarks from one brother to another brother. These remarks turn off many who were ready to contribute. This research is based on my Masonic relationships which began in 1946 and spread to two jurisdictions. I have received many inputs from brothers who have come from other Lodges, so I hope that no one takes these comments personally." The History & Ritual of "The Toast" - "In the ritual of modern dining however, one could almost say there is a legitimate third element when we discover that the "accompanying" drink is almost always considered and kept very separate, existing in most cases in a world and culture all its own and totally outside the meal itself."
North Atlanta Council #313 Georgia	Meets locally twice as year and also at a statewide meeting normally held in July. At our regular meetings, we confer the Royal Ark Mariner degree on any new members and usually have a normal business meeting. At the annual statewide meeting, our Council confers the Royal Ark Mariner degree and the Red Branch of Erie. The Sovereign Master may call meetings for practice or any other purpose. We had a special meeting in April just for the purpose of fellowship. We invited the members and their families for a free dinner and entertainment. It turned out to be a great event which we will probably do annually.
Solomon #364 Northern Neck, Virginia	We meet on the 5th Tuesday in Tappahannock for dinner, a short business meeting, and usually one or two papers. We have a 5th meeting during Dec for the sole purpose of elections. We have less than our full compliment of 27 but we still should average about a paper and a half per meeting in order for everyone to meet our requirement of a paper every three years. If our pace of papers doesn't pick up, we're going to lose a few for lack of contributions....
Perfect Ashlar Council northern Virginia	Always meets 4 times a year - Research papers always presented, but many are "light research"
Clarence O'Neil Council north eastern Ohio	Meets quarterly. Meetings are always on a Sunday afternoon. Ladies attend the gatherings with their husbands. While the men are in meeting the ladies, go shopping, gossip or whatever. The council meets at 3:00pm, Opens, enough business to read the minutes, petitions if necessary, pay any bills. Research papers on any Masonic subject are presented by the members, One paper is required every 5 years as minimum for membership. Meetings end around 4:30pm. The men and ladies join together at a local restaurant for dinner together. I should have mention we visit various Masonic Temples each time.
Kansas	Most meet 3 to 4 times a year. What they do varies with each one (I belong to 3 and there are 6 now in Kansas) degree work in different forms; one reads a degree and every one talks about how to do it & what they think it means, another tries to put on at least one different degree each meeting, one looks into the history of any craft degree, etc
Melrose St. John Rosemead, California	Meets quarterly on Sunday afternoon. Lunch with the ladies first, then meeting. We have degrees occasionally, but will always have a research paper presented.
Michigan	4 AMD Councils in Michigan - Thistle & Rose, Crusader, Ionic, Marcellus -- We all follow a fairly equal format. Dinner with the ladies (every meeting for Crusader & Ionic - special occasions for T&R and Marcellus). Followed by a paper presentations (sometimes a special program in place of a paper) and a quick business meeting without the Ladies. They meet quarterly.