Brethren,
I'm writing to you today to provide some clarifications
regarding our Master Mason Association's Facebook group. When the MMA's Facebook
group was established in October 2015 we were still part of the old 24th Masonic
District until the Great Masonic Redistricting in 2017 which resulted in the
merger of the 24th and 25th Masonic Districts into the new 21st Masonic
District. Prior to the group's launch some new rules were established for those
who wish to join and participate, it was decided that our group would be visible
publicly meaning that it could be found in a search on Facebook, Google, Bing,
Yahoo! and other search engines but the content of the group itself was to
remain private due to the fact that many of the discussions being posted are
considered to be Masonic in nature.
Brethren who wish to join would
be required to verify their membership not only as a Florida Mason but as a
Brother in a lodge in the 21st Masonic District and/or are a current or past
Grand Master or a Grand Line officer of the Most Worshipful Grand Lodge of Free
and Accepted Masons of Florida by answering the two mandatory questions set
forth by the group's administrators...
Question 1 - Are you a member
in Good Standing at a lodge in the 21st Masonic District, under the jurisdiction
of the Most Worshipful Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of Florida? or a
current Grand Officer of the Florida Grand Lodge? If yes then proceed to
Question 2 if No then unfortunately we cannot accept your request.
Question
2 - What is the name and number of the lodge you belong to in the 21st
Masonic District? or if you are a Grand Line Officer what is your current
position?
If both questions are answered properly then the next step
is a post on the MMA's Facebook page by the administrator asking if any Brother
can vouch for the Brother in questions asking to join the group and if there is
at least one person who can vouch then they are accepted into joining the
group.
If one or both of the questions are not properly answered then
the administrator reviewing the request will reject it and ask that the Brother
please resubmit a join request with the missing information.
Unfortunately,
in recent days there have been requests by Brothers both in-district and
out-of-district who have requested to join and for one reason or another those
requests were rejected and instead of resubmitting the missing information as
requested they lashed out at me personally by sending private messages via
Facebook chastising me and screaming, "I have no right to reject their request"
etc...
Brothers,
I do not dictate or establish the rules of the Master Mason Association
and by my outlined duties as the volunteer IT Administrator and Social Media
Manager, I serve at the pleasure of the President, Executive Board and
Membership of the Master Mason Association of the 21st Masonic District, Inc.
and must follow those established rules. I absolutely
DO NOT TAKE PLEASURE in rejecting any
requests that I receive, if your request has been rejected please follow the
instructions that you will receive from me or another Facebook administrator,
please do not lash out at us, we're not trying to hurt you or prevent you from
having access to the MMA's social media, we are attempting to protect the
integrity and security of the group from cowans and eavesdroppers ears.
If
you have any further questions or concerns that you wish to discuss, please
contact me via email at
office@21stmasonicdistrict.com
and I will be glad to speak to you via email or by phone.
Fraternally,
Bro.
Rick Schwarz, IT Administrator and Social Media Manager, 21st Masonic District
