Masonry is a unique institution that has been a major part of community life in America for over 250 years. The primary purpose of Masonry, more properly, Freemasonry, is to teach, to convey the knowledge of the principles of our institution.
Masons are men who have come together with the expectation that each has a unique quality as a human being, and that through becoming Masons, each will improve his quality of life, and together they can improve the life of their community and the world.
The teachings of Masonry are designed to provide a positive influence on our homes, communities and our nation.
The two types of Masons
There are actually two kinds of Masonry. One we call "operative" and the other "speculative". Operative Masonry can be traced back to the Middle Ages and beyond. Operative Masons formed groups with Lodge structures similar to ours today, and we have officers much like theirs. Men were admitted only after they had served a number of years of apprenticeship. This is the origin of the first or Entered Apprentice Degree. In operative Masonry, Masons actually did the physical labor of building.
When the organization became what is call speculative Masonry, men were accepted into the Craft without being actual builders, that is, they were spiritual builders. Speculative Masonry adopts the terms and concepts of the actual builders, than the actual construction of buildings.
What is the purpose of Freemasonry?
Simply put, the overall purpose of Masonry is to provide a way to help each member become a better person. We do not propose to take a bad man and make him good; rather, our aim is to take the good man and make him better.
We try to to place emphasis on the individual man by:
1. Strengthening his character
2. Improving his moral and spiritual outlook.
3. Broadening his mental horizons.
We try to impress upon the minds of our members the principles of personal responsibility and morality; to give each member an understanding of and feeling for Freemasonry's character; and to have every member put these lessons into practice in his daily life.
We try to build a better world by building better men to work in their own communities. Freemasonry believes in universal peace made possible by teaching its doctrine through the Brotherhood of Man and the Fatherhood of God.