WILKERSON
COLLEGE LODGE No. 760WILKERSON
COLLEGE LODGE No. 760
CHARTED SEPTEMBER 28, 2002 A.D./6002 A.L.
Wilkerson College held its inaugural session on March 1, 2002 at a rustic camp deep in the backwoods of Granville County, just north of the Masonic Home for Children at Oxford. Sponsored jointly by the Scottish Rite Orient of North Carolina and the Grand Lodge of Ancient, Free and Accepted Masons of North Carolina, the College began with a unified mission: to provide Freemasonry with the best trained Masonic leaders possible. Simply, the goal was to invite deacons from across the state to come together, network, and learn from others about the experience, challenges and opportunities that lodge leadership has to offer.
The College met the first weekend of each month for a period of three months. The inaugural session took place in March 2002, and was held at the Masonic Home for Children. The second session was held in April at the Grand Lodge offices in Raleigh. The third and final session was held in May at the Masonic and Eastern Star Home, Greensboro. Classroom sessions and homework assignments generated numerous impromptu discussions that often ran well into the wee hours of the morning. Participants frequently communicated via e-mail and telephone between sessions discussing ideas and sharing information. Several were able to meet and work on planning projects in-between sessions as well.
As time evolved, it became evident to the participants that they wanted a means of continuing their camaraderie and associations long after their college lives ended. The beginnings of long-term friendships and the thirst for knowledge made it obvious to the participants and faculty that a vehicle for continued Masonic education needed to be organized. The idea of forming a new lodge circulated,; it would be the first in North Carolina in more than nineteen years. Organizers sought support and guidance not only from faculty members, but also from individuals across the state and from within the line of the Grand Lodge. At the final session of the College, participants met formally to discuss the new Lodge and how it should be organized. A suggestion was made to ask H. Lloyd Wilkerson, Past Master and namesake of the College to be the first Master of the Lodge. Furthermore, if chartered, it was decided that the new Lodge would be housed at the Masonic and Eastern Star Home in Greensboro but that it would be a traveling lodge. The goal would be to hold meetings across the State seeking Masonic education and allowing for greater interaction and involvement by brothers statewide. Participating alumni of Wilkerson College agreed to hold an organizational meeting at the Grand Lodge in Raleigh.
On Sunday afternoon, June 2, approximately ten Master Masons met with Grand Secretary Walt Clapp to formally begin organizational proceedings. Illustrious H. Lloyd Wilkerson, Past Sovereign Grand Inspector General, Past Lieutenant Grand Commander and Past Master agreed to serve as the charter master. Prospective members drafted By-Laws and structured the Lodge. District Deputy Grand Master Ray Hall of the 23rd Masonic District examined the officers on their proficiency in opening and closing a lodge as well as their ability to conduct business. The following Saturday, several prospective members met with District Deputy Grand Lecturer Edd Little of the 23rd Masonic District at Millbrook Lodge No. 97 in Raleigh. In a setting similar to a school of instruction, the members demonstrated their proficiency in conferring all three degrees of the Blue Lodge.
A formal presentation was made to Grand Master Jerry Tillett seeking a Petition for Dispensation on June 15, 2002. Grand Master Tillett, after reviewing the petition and seeking counsel from the Board of General Purposes, signed the Petition for Dispensation on Friday, June 28, 2002.
A ceremony instituting a new lodge under dispensation was held at the Cary Masonic Temple in Cary, North Carolina, on Friday evening, July 12, 2002. In excess of one hundred people attended the open ceremony. Deputy Grand Master Charles A. Lewis, Jr., representing the Grand Master, presented Wilkerson College Lodge U. D. with its dispensation and appointed Worshipful Brother H. Lloyd Wilkerson (Semper Fidelis # 680) as Master. Also appointed by the Grand Master were Joseph M. “Morty” Jayson (Cary # 198) as Senior Warden and Brandon E. Scott (Kenly # 257) as Junior Warden. Worshipful Master Wilkerson then appointed the following brothers to their respective stations and places:
Treasurer Dudley H. Sheppard (Gate City #694)
Secretary Todd P. Sutton (Kenly # 257)
Senior Deacon Ron D. Sortino (Semper Fidelis # 680)
Junior Deacon Frank E. Spears (Millbrook # 97)
Senior Steward Robert W. “Boog” Powell (Orient # 395)
Junior Steward Michael S. James (Guilford # 656)
Chaplain Kevin S. Walton (William T. Bain # 231)
Tyler Randall E. Ogburn (Pioneer # 685)
The membership roster as of the presentation of the dispensation consisted of 39 brothers - nineteen more than required by the Code to seek formation.
The first stated communication was held at the Lodge’s home location, the Masonic and Eastern Star Home in Greensboro, on Saturday, August 3, 2002. In attendance were 40 brothers. By now word of the new Lodge and its mission had spread across the State. The Worshipful Master read 20 Petitions for Affiliation – an event thought to be historical in itself. An Investigation Committee was appointed and directed to report its findings on the petitions at the next stated communication in September. To meet the requirements for obtaining a charter before the upcoming Grand Lodge meeting in September, Worshipful Master Wilkerson announced that the Lodge would hold three emergent communications in August. These emergent communications would be for the purpose of conferring Entered Apprentice, Fellowcraft and Master Mason degrees as courtesies to local lodges. These actions would satisfy the requirements of the Code, thereby completing the prerequisites for the Lodge to seek a Charter.
A second Stated Communication was held on September 7 at Millbrook Lodge No. 97 in Raleigh. Right Worshipful William L. Mills III, Past Deputy Grand Master, made the first Masonic Education presentation. Brother Mills’ presentation was entitled, “The Power to Destroy: A Call to Restore the Masonic Model for Social Welfare.” Other agenda items included the report of the investigating committee on the petitions for affiliation. Because of a Code restriction the vote on each applicant had an effective date of affiliation “as of the date of charter” for the Lodge. The attendees voted and approved the twenty petitions. This brought the active membership to a total of 59 members.
Code requirements stipulated that all lodges under dispensation must cease work 20 days prior to the convening of the Grand Lodge meeting and that all property of the Lodge must be turned over to the Grand Secretary pending review of the request for charter. This was done on September 11, 2002, at which time the formal Petition for Charter was presented to Grand Master Tillett for consideration. On September 27, 2002, the Lodge went before the Committee on Charters and Dispensations. Upon reviewing the material submitted, they voted to recommend to the Grand Master and the Grand Lodge that the petition be accepted and the charter be granted along with the number designation of 760.
On September 28, 2002, the recommendations of the Committee were read to the delegates of the Grand Lodge. An overwhelming majority approved this recommendation and Wilkerson College Lodge No. 760 was granted its Charter.
The Lodge met for the first time after it’s official Charter on October 5, 2002 at Blackmer Lodge No. 127 in Mt. Gilead, North Carolina. Worshipful Master H. Lloyd Wilkerson presented the Masonic Education session on the “History of Military Lodges in Freemasonry”.
The Stated Communication for November was held at the Masonic and Eastern Star Home. After the close of the November meeting, the Lodge participated in the 23rd District’s School of Instruction held at Stokesdale Lodge No. 428. Because the installation ceremony for Grand Master Elect Charles A. Lewis, Jr., was scheduled on December 4th (the next Stated Communication of the Lodge), a decision was made to request a Dispensation from the Grand Lodge to allow the Lodge to meet in Wilmington for its December meeting. Therefore, the annual meeting of the Lodge was delayed by default to the January 2003 meeting as Code regulations do not allow for elections or annual communications to be held at any location other than the “home” Lodge location.
The December meeting was held at Orient Lodge No. 395 in Wilmington. Brother Morty Jayson presided at this meeting due to W\ B\ Wilkerson’s conflict with pre-installation activities. Worshipful Brother Oscar Bass, Jr., DDGL of the 31st District and a Past Master of Westgate Lodge No. 738 in Charlotte, presented the Lodge with a set of custom carved Columns for the Wardens. M\ W\ Rick Moore, Past Grand Master introduced W\ B\ Bass to the Lodge and assisted in the presentation. Following the meeting the Lodge traveled to the Scottish Rite auditorium where Worshipful Master H. Lloyd Wilkerson was asked by Most Worshipful Lewis to sit in the East as Honorary Master of the Installation Ceremony. This was truly an historic event for members of Wilkerson College Lodge No. 760 as several of its members were installed as Grand Lodge Officers:
Grand Master Charles A. Lewis, Jr.
Deputy Grand Master Leonard Y. Safrit, Jr.
Junior Grand Warden Gene Tart Jernigan
Grand Stewart William L. Dill
Grand Tyler Robert W. “Boog” Powell
Grand Orator James E. Vann
Several other Lodge members were appointed to various Grand Lodge Committees and even more participated in the installation ceremony.
The January 2003 meeting was held at the Masonic Temple in Greensboro, NC. The following individuals were elected and /or appointed as officers for the ensuing year:
Master H. Lloyd Wilkerson (Semper Fidelis # 680)
Senior Warden Joseph M. “Morty” Jayson (Cary # 198)
Junior Warder Brandon E. Scott (Kenly # 257)
Treasurer Dudley H. Sheppard (Gate City # 694)
Asst. Treasurer Carl R. Hall (Greensboro # 76)
Secretary Daniel G. Bishop (Lafayette # 83)
Asst. Secretary Larry B. Thompson (Blackmer Lodge # 127)
Senior Deacon Ronald D. Sortino (Semper Fidelis # 680)
Junior Deacon Frank E. Spears (Millbrook # 97)
Senior Steward Robert W. "Boog" Powell (Orient # 395)
Junior Steward Michael S. James (Guilford # 656)
Chaplain Agusta Ed Lawing (Catawba # 217)
Tyler Kevin S. Walton (William T. Bain # 231)
The Grand Master, Most Worshipful Charles A. Lewis, Jr., presented the Lodge with its Charter and officiated over the ceremony of constituting and consecrating a new Lodge. He then installed Worshipful Brother H. Lloyd Wilkerson as Master. Most Worshipful William H. Simpson, PGM was the Installing Marshall. Due to schedule conflicts M\ W\ Lewis had to leave the ceremony and M\ W\ Simpson continued the installation of officers with DDGM Carl R. Hall serving as Marshall. The ceremony was held in an open venue with more than one hundred people in attendance.
Wilkerson College Lodge No. 760 began 2003 with an esteemed membership whose experience would be the envy of any Lodge anywhere in the world. In addition to the original seventeen Wilkerson College participants who are members and now Deacons or Wardens in their home Lodges, Wilkerson College Lodge is privileged to have in its membership one Grand Master; five Past Grand Masters; one Deputy Grand Master; one Past Deputy Grand Master; one Junior Grand Warden, one Grand Steward; one Grand Tyler; four District Deputy Grand Masters; one District Deputy Grand Lecturer; four Past District Deputy Grand Masters; three Past District Deputy Grand Lecturers; one Master; ten others who are Past Masters, and four certified lecturers!
