St Laurence is a freemasons’ lodge in the Masonic Province of Essex and is warranted under the United Grand Lodge of England. It was founded in 1935 and has always met in the town of Upminster, Essex in the London Borough of Havering on the East side of London.
We are a progressive and active lodge with a full programme of events for the coming year and beyond. Our regular meetings for 2012 currently include ceremonies for the initiation of four new candidates and also the progression of a number of brethren, some of whom will have the benefit of continuing their masonic advancement, in part, at other lodges associated with St Laurence as indicated below under the Programme for 2012.
We also have a number of social events planned for the year including golf competitons, a family funday with six a side football and a charity ball with dining and dancing until the small hours. See the Coming Soon page under events for more details.
All in all, quite a full programme …… so why not join us?
New members
We welcome new members who should be decent and trustworthy men, of at least 21 years of age, who are willing to get involved and who are able to afford the dues and charitable donations. Freemasons must also have a belief in a ‘Supreme Being’.
To learn who can become a freemason, how to become a freemason and how to join us at St Laurence, please see the Join Us page or use the contact form to email the Secretary of the Lodge. We, as is typical of most freemasons, always like talking about freemasonry and our lodge.
Explore our site and if you would like to find out more about freemasons and our lodge and how to become a freemason and join us, then please do make contact.
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The magazine, Freemasonry Today, is an official publication from the United Grand Lodge of England, packed with information, articles and stories. It is available online without charge and is well worth looking at if you are interested in freemasonry.
Programme for 2012
Our next meeting (following our Installation meeting on Saturday the 14th January 2012) is on the 10th March, when we will be initiating 2 candidates and also passing another brother. On the 14th March we are having an “away day” when one of our brethren will be raised in a Maldon Lodge where the Worshipful Master is also a member of St Laurence. On the 26th May we have a “special” meeting when the candidate for initiation is a minister in the Pentecostal Church and we have arranged for a number of Grand Officers to take the principal offices. There is another away day on the 7th July when a brother will be raised in the Incorporated Society of Musicians’ Lodge in London. The 13th of October sees us doing a double 2nd and a 1st at “home” and we will also greet a joining member at this meeting. On the 10th November we are again at home carrying out a raising and a passing ceremony and there is an away day to Walthamstow planned for the 1st December to raise another of our brethren.
Our membership
As a Lodge, we are old enough to have traditions which we enjoy and young enough not to be swamped by them. The Lodge’s founders were a ‘mixed bunch’ but of course that is not unusual in a freemasons’ lodge. Some worked in the City, some were local tradesmen (a jeweller, a newsagent.) One was the Rector of St Laurence Church in Upminster while one was a publican, also in Upminster, Essex.
The membership of the Lodge is a similar mix today. Our ages range from about 30 to 90 and we have brethren in the building trades but also those who are printers, people in insurance, an accountant (who is not in the least boring), a baker, an author, a training man, people in computing and office equipment, a book binder, retired folk and so on. Some are company directors and others would say that they were ‘working men.’ Our members generally live in and around South East Essex– in Romford, Hornchurch and Upminster (within the Borough of Havering), Grays, Southend, Chelmsford, Billericay, Witham and Basildon. Some live as far as Clacton and even Suffolk.
Equality
Whatever we are, we are all equal as Brothers. External rank and fortune is not in the least important to a freemason or freemasonry and neither are religious choices, colour, creed or sexual preference. All suitable men can be assured of a warm welcome at St Laurence Lodge.
Publications
See our publications page. We have published our own masonic ritual book and a handbook on the management of the lodge.
Both these are available on CD or DVD so that other lodges can produce their own ritual or lodge management book, customised to their own uses, thus saving the labour of typing it all out. We also publish a number of masonic plays and entertainments for Freemasons. The masonic plays are written to enable participation by members of your Lodge for the enjoyment of your own members or as a production to entertain visitors and other Lodges. These masonic plays can also be made available on CD or DVD.
Tour our site
If you would like a tour of our site, an overview can be accessed here. It is best viewed full page and there is sound so please turn your speakers on.
When and where
We meet four times a year on a Saturday at the Upminster Masonic Hall, in Deyncourt Gardens, Upminster, Essex, which is conveniently accessed by road and rail. There is plenty of parking at the Upminster Masonic Hall should you wish to drive there. Many other lodges also meet at this masonic hall including Sibelius Lodge No 9448.
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Approval of this website by the United Grand Lodge of England
is currently being sought by St Laurence Lodge No 5511.
