Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of North Carolina and Jurisdiction, Inc.
Office Holiday Schedule
Thanksgiving
Office Closed November November 27 -28, 2024
(Office will re-open December 3, 2024)
Christmas/New Year
Office Closed December 23, 2024 – January 6, 2025
(Office will re-open January 7, 2025)
The 24th Most Worshipful Grand Master
Hon. Daniel L. "DT" Thompson, KYGCH, 33°
Welcome to the official webpage for the Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of North Carolina and Jurisdiction, Inc. We stand on the shoulders of like-minded men who acknowledged and advocated that brotherly love, relief and truth were character traits that formed the foundation for a productive, relevant and service filled life.
The Grand Lodge of North Carolina, Free and Accepted Ancient York Masons was organized under the National Compact, March 1, 1870 in the city of Wilmington, NC with the following officers: James Walker Hood, Most Worshipful Grand Master; Edward R. Dudley, Right Worshipful Deputy Grand Master; George B. Willis, Right Worshipful Grand Senior Warden; Hezekiah Reed, Right Worshipful Grand Junior Warden; Olive M. Roane, Right Worshipful Grand Treasurer; J.J. Sawyer, Right Worshipful Grand Secretary and A.J. Henderson, Right Worshipful Grand Tyler.
James W. Hood, Stewart Ellison, G.H. White, Elijah Lane, E.R. Dudley, R.E. Clements, W.F. Debnam, M.M. Peace and J.T. Howe, were the corporators of the Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Ancient Masons of North Carolina under the leadership of
Grand Master James H. Young whose incorporation was ratified by the General Assembly of North Carolina on the 9th day of March 1897.
Under the leadership of Grand Master George C. Carnes, a unanimous vote was taken in the city of Wilmington, NC on the 9th day of December 1958, at the Grand Lodge Session to merge the Prince Hall Grand Lodge Free and Accepted Masons of North Carolina, Inc. and the Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Ancient Masons of North Carolina, and on the 10th day of June 1959, the name of the surviving organization was The Prince Hall Grand Lodge Free and Accepted Masons of North Carolina, Inc.
On the 26th day of June 1999, the name of the Grand Lodge was changed to The Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of North Carolina and Jurisdiction, Inc. under the leadership of Most Worshipful Grand Master Marvin D. Chambers.
T.E.A.M.
The Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of North Carolina and Jurisdiction, Inc. utilizes a TEAM philosophy to accomplish a STAND methodology.
Transparency
Transparency offers a clear, honest assessment about what’s going on.
Leadership serves membership. This relationship requires positive communication. Positive communication is honest and open. Leadership has an obligation to address all issues, regardless of the comfort level. Leadership doesn’t get to pick and choose what subjects to address and what subjects to ignore. Leadership maintains open lines of communication when it provides membership monthly and quarterly information in conjunction with venues that allow the sharing of information.
Education
The beautiful thing about learning is that nobody can take it away from you.
―B.B. King
Freemasonry is a progressive art. An institution organized and structured to make good men, better men, we only maximize our talents and achieve our full potential by the continuous development of our mind. Recognition may be withdrawn, titles can stripped, but that what you learn can never be taken away.
Accountability
A body of men holding themselves accountable to nobody ought not to be trusted by anybody.
— Thomas Paine
Leadership is accountable to membership. Membership is accountable to the order. Our order is accountable to our community. There is nothing positive about the mindset of “Do as I say, not as I do!” Freemasonry established the penalties of incur, branded and ostracized. There are not two sets of penalties, one for leaders and one for members, we meet on the level, act by the plumb and part on the square.
Motivation
“Whatever you do, do it so well that the living, the dead and the yet unborn could not have done it better.”
Dr. Benjamin E. Mays
We have an obligation to those whose shoulders we stand upon. We have a duty to those members who we serve. We have a responsibility to the Prince Hall Masons of tomorrow to leave them an institution that is respected and relevant.
S.T.A.N.D.
Support Causes. Teach Truths. Accountability. Never Forget. Devotion.
The Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of North Carolina and Jurisdiction, Inc. supports projects and programs designed to improve the quality of life of the citizens of our communities. The MWPHGLNC has an endowment fund at the North Carolina Central University (Prince Hall Masons of North Carolina Endowment Fund), a Memorandum of Agreement and Understanding with the Alzheimer’s Association and is a partner of Caregiving While Black. Additionally we present thirty-seven (37) $1,000 academic awards annually; $128,000 since 2019.
The Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of North Carolina and Jurisdiction, Inc. advocates the presentation and teaching of the truth. A well-informed organization has the potential to be relevant to our communities, country and society. We must understand the difference between data, information and intelligence.
Data. Information. Intelligence. Oftentimes confused by people, these very different terms can not be used interchangeably but have a tight connection between each other. The order goes like this: Data is collected, then assembled into information, and only then handed to a human analyst to analyze and transform it into intelligence.
They all have the same importance – collect the wrong data and you get meaningless information or give the wrong context to the information and you get – guess what – worthless intelligence, or even worse, intelligence that leads you to irrelevant or even catastrophic decisions.
(Source: https://socradar.io/the-difference-between-data-information-and-intelligence/
Then the LORD said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?” “I don’t know,” he replied. “Am I my brother’s keeper?”
– Genesis 4:9
We are all leaders!!! Whehter you are elected, appointed or a member, you have a sphere of influence. We all are accountable to someone!!! We all have a responsibility!!! Our accountability and responsibility can be summed up with the acronym LDRSHIP
Loyalty – Be true!
Duty – Do the right thing!
Respect – You must command your own self-respect before you earn the respect of others
Selfless Service – It’s not about you! – It’s bigger than you!
Honor – Your actions bring credit or discredit upon your family name and the order!
Integrity – Nobody can take your integrity; you have to give it away!
Personal Courage – What do you stand for?
We have a rich history! The rolls of our membership, past and present, contains the names of men who have contributed to every sector of this country and state. Bishop James Walker Hood, George Henry White, Dr. L.B. Capehart, Dr. James E. Shepherd, Clark S. Brown, Bishop Hebert Bell Shaw, William A. Clement, William C. Parker, Ulis N. Dawson, Nathaniel Johnson, Marvin D. Chambers, Milton F. Fitch Jr., James Benson Dudley, Henry P. Cheatham, Bishop Thomas Lomax, R. Kelly Bryant and Robert M.L. Walker.
The Prince Hall Masons of North Carolina are devoted to Godly Principles. The primary three principles are brotherly love, relief and truth. We understand brotherly love when we view the relationship between Johnathan and David. The story of David and Jonathan is one of great friendship. Jonathan went to great lengths to protect David from his father Saul, and David looked after Jonathan’s children long after he was dead. Great friends do those kinds of things for each other. (Wikipedia)
We understand relief as taught by our founder Prince Hall in his address of 1792 where he stated, “Another thing a Mason ought to observe, is that he should lend his helping hand to a brother in distress, and relieve him; this we may do various ways—for we may sometimes help him to a cup of cold water, and it may be better to him than a cup of wine. Good advice may be sometimes better than feeding his body, helping him to some lawful employment, better than giving him money; so defending his case and standing by him when wrongfully accused, may be better than clothing him; better to save a brother’s house when on fire, than to give him one. Thus much may suffice.”
The third principle is truth. We will quote Winston Churchill, “The truth is incontrovertible. Malice may attack it, ignorance may deride it, but in the end, there it is.”
News and Events
2024 MWPHGLNC Raffle Winners
Grand Prize:
Christopher Curry (Ticket #59496)
Second Prize:
- Cardell Pinkney (Ticket #57739)
- Emily Lewis (Ticket #57856)
Thirdd Prize:
- Rhonda Childress (Ticket #18281)
- Susan A. Fuss (Ticket #35542)
- Ned Highsmith (Ticket #41814)
- Christoper Curry (Ticket #59478)
- Jonathan Jackson (Ticket #09184)
- Charles L. Mitchell (Ticket #01368)