Useful links:
Sponsor MasonicSoftware.com
We have had numerous requests for information about The
National Sojourners; therefore, we have made this organiza-tion the text of this
month’s Short Talk. We would like to acknowledge the work of Ihe Sojourners
Bridge of Light com-mittee, particularly John Henderson, for preparing the text
for this Short Talk.
We are all familiar with the term “Sojourning Mason”, but
did you know that a formal, recognized Masonic organization named “National
Sojourners” actually exists?
The group had its beginning over 90 years ago in August
1898 in the Philippines, upon the arrival there of a North Dakota Regiment of
Volunteer Infantry. The Grand Lodge of North Dakota had granted this Regiment a
dispensation for a field lodge and it conducted its first meeting upon its
arrival.
Meetings were held regularly thereafter—once even while
under hostile fire at the Culi Culi Church with the officers of the lodge
wearing sidearms while bullets splattered through the roof!
Early in 1900, the North Dakota Regiment of Volunteer
Infantry left the Philippines, taking with it the Field Dispensation. The
American Masons who were left behind quickly filled this Masonic void by forming
the first informal “Sojourners Club.” In 1901, these “Sojourners” provided the
impetus, funds and paraphernalia to charter Manila Lodge under the Grand Lodge
of California, and the “Sojourners Club,” was temporarily disbanded. One of the
original members of the informal “Sojourners Club”, Surgeon Captain Harry Eugene
Stafford, was Charter Master of Manila Lodge No. 342, Grand Lodge of California
(later Manila Lodge No. I) and, in 1913, became the first Grand Master of the
newlycreated Grand Lodge of the Philippines.
The Philippine “Sojourner Club” resurfaced in 1907, open to
Masons who were not members of local lodges, and soon had nearly 200 members
from every State and Territory of the United States and eight foreign countries.
As time went by, most of the Philippine Sojourners scattered throughout the
United States. A group of these Masonic military officers, meeting in Chicago,
Illinois in 1917, recognized the highly transient life of Master Mason military
Officers and formally organized the “Chicago Sojourners Club.” Additional Clubs
quickly formed at army posts and naval bases around the nation and overseas. In
1927, the word “Club” was dropped and the National Sojourners were incor-porated
in 1931 as a formal part of the Masonic Fraternity.
Since its inception, the purpose of the National Sojourners
has steadfastly been to affirm the unique responsibilities military officers
have to their brothers-in-arms, the Masonic Fraternity, and to our Nation. Thus,
National Sojourners to this day organize commissioned officers and warrant
officers of the uniformed services of the United States (past and present), who
are recognized Master Masons, into chapters to actively provide good fellowship
among its members, to assist those who may be overtaken by adversity or
affliction, to cultivate Masonic ideals, to support patriotic activities in
Masonry and to develop true patriotism and Americanism throughout the nation.
National Sojourners, Inc., formally brings together Masonic leaders of the
uniformed services of the United States into a united effort to further the
National Defense, and work to oppose any influence calculated to weaken our
National Security.
Members of National Sojourners are reminded of their
primary obligations to the symbolic lodges and the Grand Lodges under which they
work. The organization’s “Bridge of Light” program provides the bridge for
Sojourners to cross more easily into active participation in local symbolic
lodges and appendant body activities. By this “bridge,” many military Master
Masons have become affiliated with local lodges, and many have become leaders of
the fraternity.
National Sojourners willingly and proudly assist local
Masonic authorities through presentations which reinforce and promote patriotism
and Americanism, both with the fraternity and the community. Its Heros of ‘76
members, (an invitational organization within the National Sojourners Inc.),
attired in colorful Revolutionary War uniforms, provide “Toast To The Flag”,
“Building The Flag”, “Historic Flags, “Service Flags”, flag donations, flag
raisings and numerous other patriotic programs for the benefit of Masonic and
community gatherings.
Heroes of ‘76, are composed of selected, worthy members of
National Sojourners who have been recognized for outstanding service to the
fraternity. Heroes of ‘76 Camps (named after prominent American heroes and
battles) have been organized in nearly all of the Chapters. These Heroes of ‘76
Camps form an enjoyable part of the Chapter activities and provide colorful
patriotic groups for Masonic and community programs.
In 1976, The Declaration of Independence Bicentennial Year,
National Sojourners acquired that part of Brother George Washington’s “River
Farm” known as “Collingwood”. A new head-quarters was established on this
historic property, and a reknowned Library and Museum of Americanism has since
been created that daily serves the Masonic fraternity and a public constituency.
This Headquarters, Library and Museum on Americanism now
forms part of a Masonicallyimportant triangle in our Nations’s Capital area; The
George Washington Monument to the east in the city of Washington, D.C.; the
George Washington Masonic National Memorial on “Shooters Hill” to the west of
Alexandria, Virginia and the National Sojourners Headquarters, Collingwood
Library and Museum on Americanism to the south on the Potomac River near Mount
Vernon.
National Sojourners, Inc., now organized in some 150
chapters in 44 states, Germany and Panama, is an important, highly visible and
integral part of the fraternity of Freemasons that cements the ties that bind
military Master Masons closer together for the good of all. It has ever
championed the Masonic principles that political, economic and social problems
are subsidiary to and separate from a steadfast belief in God as the Supreme
Architect of the Universe. National Sojourners maintain that God must motivate
man if present day problems are to be solved and urges active participation of
all patriotic Americans in maintaining that government for which our forefathers
fought.
National Sojourners remember that George Washington
once said:
“When we assumed the soldier we did not lay aside the
citizen!”
Here’s to the red of it—
There’s not a thread of it,
No, nor a shred of it
In all the spread of it
From foot to head.
But heroes bled for it,
Faced steel and lead for it,
Precious blood shed for it,
Bathing it Red!
Here’s to the white of it—
Thrilled by the sight of it,
Who knows the right of it,
But feels the might of it
Through day and night?
Womanhood’s care tor it
Made manhood dare for it,
Purity’s prayer for it
Keeps it so white!
Here’s to the blue of it—
Beauteous view of it,
Heavenly hue of it,
Star-spangled dew of it
Constant and true;
Diadems gleam for it,
States stand supreme for it,
Liberty’s beam for it
Brightens the blue!
Here’s to the whole of it—
Stars, stripes and pole of it,
Body and soul of it,
0, and the roll of it,
Sun shining through;
Hearts in accord for it,
Swear by the sword for it,
Thanking the Lord for it,
Red White and Blue!