Charter and By-laws

Vocabulary · 6

Charter (warrant of constitution)

The published instrument by which a Grand Lodge authorizes a particular Lodge to exist. Named officers, named brethren, a named place of meeting. Without the charter, the meeting may be of Masons, but it is not a Lodge, and its work is not Masonic work.

Dispensation

The published interim authority granted by the Grand Master before a charter is issued. A Lodge under dispensation (U.D.) may meet, confer degrees, and conduct ordinary business, but it does not yet have a vote in Grand Lodge and its acts must be confirmed when the charter is granted.

By-laws

The Lodge's own published rules: meeting nights, dues, the order of officers, internal procedure. They are adopted by the Lodge, approved by the Grand Lodge, and on file with the Grand Secretary. They bind the Lodge until they are amended in the published form.

Subordinate to the Code

A Lodge's by-laws cannot contradict the Grand Lodge Code (or its Constitution). Where a by-law and the Code conflict, the Code controls. Pound calls this the keystone of Masonic legality. Without it, the system of Grand Lodges would dissolve into a federation of local sovereignties.

Arrest of charter

The published power of the Grand Master (and ultimately the Grand Lodge) to suspend a chartered Lodge by physically taking up the charter and closing the Lodge while a serious irregularity is investigated. The arrest is a temporary measure; revocation is a separate, more solemn act.

Revocation

The published final act of the Grand Lodge by which a charter is taken away and the Lodge ceases to exist. The brethren are not unmade (they remain Masons elsewhere), but the Lodge as a body dissolves and its property reverts to the Grand Lodge.

Practice questions · 5

1. What is the published instrument by which a Grand Lodge authorizes a particular Lodge to exist?

   • a. A by-law
   • b. A charter (warrant of constitution) ✓
   • c. A dispensation
   • d. A summons

2. What is a Lodge "under dispensation"?

   • a. A Lodge that has lost its charter
   • b. A new Lodge meeting on interim authority from the Grand Master, before a charter is granted ✓
   • c. A Lodge whose officers have not been installed
   • d. A Lodge holding a special communication

3. Where, in published practice, are a Lodge's by-laws filed for record?

   • a. With the Senior Warden
   • b. With the Grand Secretary ✓
   • c. With the District Deputy only
   • d. Nowhere; they are recited from memory

4. When a Lodge's by-law and the Grand Lodge Code conflict, which controls?

   • a. The by-law, since the Lodge is closer to the matter
   • b. The Code, since a Lodge's by-laws are subordinate ✓
   • c. Whichever was adopted later
   • d. The matter is referred to the District Deputy

5. What is meant by arrest of a charter?

   • a. Criminal charges against an officer
   • b. Suspension of the Lodge by the Grand Master while a serious matter is investigated ✓
   • c. Permanent revocation of the warrant
   • d. A vote of censure by the Lodge itself