Public Awareness - Audio

"It's about time!" When said forcefully, this familiar phrase means that an action is about to be taken, addressing a situation in need of correction. Sometimes the words are said softly … 

Series introduction 

In a three-part, online audio series, Richard E. Fletcher, PGM VT, former Executive Secretary of the Masonic Information Center calls for action on the tough issues facing Freemasons today. Fletcher reports on the work of the Masonic Public Awareness Task Force whose findings challenge Masons to take personal and fraternal responsibility for clarifying Masonic identity within the context of the 21st Century. 

Part One: 10 minutes. 

In Part One, Richard E. Fletcher, PGM VT, tracks Masonic membership figures since 1925 and asserts a twofold reason for loss of Masonic public awareness. 

Listen to Part 1

Part Two: 12 minutes. 

Part Two focuses on the history of Freemasonry and its evolution from guilds in seventeenth-century Scotland to a worldwide fraternal organization. Fletcher tells of the fraternity's historic values and how Victorian ideals, accentuating patronage and ritual, supplanted Masonic values of enlightened thinking and dynamic discourse. According to the Task Force, Masonry for the 21st century must offer a fraternal opportunity for a principled way of life that is observable in the lodge and in the community. 

Listen to Part 2 

Part Three: 10 minutes. 

Part Three provides a straightforward approach to planning and implementing Freemasonry for the 21st Century. Fletcher uses the analogy of the "Rough Ashlar" that hides the natural beauty within an unpolished stone. He reports the committee's confidence in Masonry's ability to mine its current resources among its membership and lodges to justify the public's interest in the fraternity, whose identity is based in education, good works, and self-improvement.

Listen to Part 3

 

Technical Notes:

You can download the above files by right clicking the above links and selecting "Save Link As " or "Save FIle As" (depending on your browser).  These files are about 10-12 MB in size.

You can listen to the files online if your browser has a plug-in, such as Quick Time, to play MP3 files (many do). We are looking at embedded players but have not yet made a decision on which one to use.