Welcome to Stowe Lodge’s website, which we hope you will find informative and if you are interested in joining the Lodge please contact our Secretary, Jason Raikes at stowelodge9002@gmail.com.
About Stowe Lodge
Like the School itself, we are a relatively young Lodge being founded in 1981 by a number of senior Old Stoic Freemasons. The seniority of our founders is important as they established the ethos of the Lodge to be very much in line with that of the School; so we like to maintain our standards but we do so with a sense of style and fun. This means our dinners can have a lively atmosphere! They were also keen that we maintain our contact with the School, and therefore every August we meet at the School, and dine there afterwards usually with the Headmaster as our guest. As befits the charitable aspect of Freemasonry, the Lodge provides a bursary for pupils who without the benefit of our financial assistance might otherwise have to leave the School; this latter activity being organised confidentially in conjunction with the School.
Our members come from all different types of professions; we have people involved in horse racing, law, property, medicine, banking, art and general business, and their ages range from their twenties up to their nineties. In addition to meeting at the School, we also meet three times a year in the evening at 10 Duke Street St. James’s (just down the road from Fortnum & Mason) and we dine afterwards at one of the St. James’s based private members clubs.
So who is able to join? As the Lodge is a member of the Public School Lodges’ Council, along with a number of other Lodges connected with the great Public Schools, we only accept male Old Stoics who have to be over 21 years old. An exception can be made for sons of Masons and in this case, the prospective candidate needs only to be over 18 years old.
About Freemasonry
It is one of the world’s largest and oldest non-religious and non-political, fraternal and charitable organisations. It has approximately six million members globally with around 250,000 of these being in England and Wales. No one really knows when it actually started but it is believed that Lodges started to appear in London around the mid-1500s. In addition, the United Grand Lodge of England, which is our governing body, was established in 1717. So it is safe to say that Freemasonry has a long history!
At the heart of Freemasonry are three fundamental principles, which it seeks to promote and reinforce:
- Friendship
- Charity
- Integrity
Friendship in that we promote tolerance, respect for the opinion of others and for behaving with kindness and understanding to all. Charity in that it is deeply ingrained in Masons to act with care and to contribute to the well-being of others and to society as a whole. In this context, after the National Lottery, Freemasonry is the largest contributor to charitable causes in the UK giving approximately £40m annually. Integrity is very highly valued and we strive for honesty and high moral standards in every aspect of our lives.
Masons join clubs or what we term Lodges. A Lodge is a group of men who meet periodically to undertake Masonic business. It is by undertaking Masonic business that the three fundamental principles are applied. To do this, each Lodge meeting consists of two parts; the first part is where we are taught moral principles, gain self-knowledge and deal with the administrative matters of the Lodge and the second part consists of a meal, usually a dinner.
So that put simply is Freemasonry. So why, you might ask, has Freemasonry persisted for hundreds of years with millions of members, if at first glance it appears to be slightly anachronistic and a bit dry?
Answering this can be a bit tricky as every Mason takes something different from Freemasonry. That said, many value the ability to meet like-minded individuals from all walks of life, others find it helps them become more confident and assured, others find it attractive to know that wherever they are in the world they are usually not too far away from a Lodge which they can visit, and some, as in the case of many of the members of Stowe Lodge, like it because it allows them to maintain contact with something they hold dear and the friends they made there. To find out what Stowe Lodge members value about Freemasonry and the Lodge in particular we asked them and below are some of the comments we received:
Friendship
“Since joining, I have met some fantastic people of all ages. These people will without doubt be friends for life and without Freemasonry I would have never come into contact with them. I also like the fact that the Lodge likes to enjoy itself and whenever we get together, whether this is at a meeting or for drinks in the City, we always end up having great fun!”
“All my friends have shared good times with me but it is my Masonic friends who have been the most constant in supporting me in difficulties. Through Freemasonry I meet an ever growing number of amazing people who have never let me down, always give me a warm welcome, are generous of spirit and are genuinely concerned for my welfare – there are not many other walks of life where you can find that!”
Charity
“One of the things I had not realised is the amount of money Freemasonry donates to charity, which is many tens of millions every year; an example of which is the donation of £30,000 to help the communities in Cumbria deal with the recent floods (in 2016). I was also surprised to find out how much charitable work is done by individual Masons and the range of this. For instance, every weekend hundreds of Masons free up their time to take out mentally disabled and disadvantaged children for a day’s fishing. This small act not only provides the children with a day out in the countryside, but helps them to develop their confidence, meet new challenges and allows them to experience something that may otherwise have been unavailable to them. For many of the children, this small act of charity is a life changing experience.”
“The fact that the Lodge provides a bursary to help Stoics whose parents are in financial difficulties remain at the School was a major cause of my initial interest in joining the Lodge. Freemasonry promotes charity and it is very gratifying to know that through our assistance we are able to help Stoics continue to fulfil their potential, who otherwise may have to leave the School. Stowe gave me so much and I like it that I am now able to give something back.”
Integrity
“In the three years since I joined, I have developed more as an individual due to being a Mason than if I would on my own. It has been one of the best decisions I have made and I thoroughly recommend others to consider joining.”
“This can mean different things to different people but at the heart of it is a desire to know one’s self, nurture a solid moral code and to conduct oneself accordingly. In this context, I find the values of Freemasonry are a constant source of help and guidance to me in this ever changing world.”
Summary
A summary of what our members get out of Masonry and Stowe Lodge cannot be better stated than how one of our members puts it:
“This, in short, is what I get out of Freemasonry; the pleasure of charitable giving, the opportunity to improve myself as a person and to have a positive effect on others, and in being a member of a band of brothers whom I will support, and who will support me, through thick and thin.”