Monday, September 12, 2022

An Important Message About The Master Mason Association's Facebook Group

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