Most Worshipful Brother Joseph S. Crociata, Grand Master opened the 202nd Annual Communication of the Grand Lodge F.A.A.M., of the District of Columbia at the Scottish Rite Center in Washington, D.C., at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, November 17, 2012.

Attendance:

All of the constituent Lodges, with the exception of one, were represented. 31 Grand Lodge officers, 15 Past Grand Masters, 66 Past Masters, 29 Worshipful Masters or their Proxies, 30 Senior Wardens or their Proxies, 28 Junior Wardens or their Proxies and 10 non-voting Master Masons were in attendance for a total of 209.

Reports:

Reports requiring the attention and or action of the Grand Lodge were presented as follows:

Report of the Grand Master was received as read and referred to the Committee on Jurisprudence for review.

Deputy Grand Master, Grand Secretary, Grand Treasurer and Grand Lecturer presented their several reports in summary form and committee reports, as reflected in the Report Book, were also received.

Membership Statistics:

During 2012 Masonic year there were 40 degree conferring and 2 special lodges operating under the Grand Lodge. 147 Master Masons were raised, 80 affiliated and 16 reinstated, for a total gain of 243. There were 40 withdrawals / transfers, 61 dropped for non-payment of dues, 0 suspended / expelled and 120 passed away for a total loss of 229, resulting in a net gain of 14, leaving a net total membership of 4438 (4,100 men), as of October 1, 2012.

Awards and Presentations:

WB Leslie J. Munro, PM, Potomac Lodge No. 5, was presented with the Grand Lodge Gold Fidelity Medal, at the age of 100.

The Grand Master presented the Valentine Reintzel Medal for Meritorious Service to WB E. J. Whitcomb (35) and RW Bros. Roman Volsky (15), and J. David Moses Rozsa (33) for their services to the Fraternity.

RWB Sheldon I. Rappeport, PM, Grand Lecturer Emeritus, was elected to receive the Distinguished Service Award, and The Honorable David Bryan Sentelle, Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, was elected to receive the Grand Lodge Medal of Freedom at the Third Communication.

Legislation:

15 proposals to make changes to the Grand Lodge Code, as published in the CALL and distributed to the membership 60 days prior to the Annual Communication, came before the Grand Lodge:

Proposal No. 1: To add a requirement to SEC. 68 that at least seven petitioners for a new Lodge must already be members of other lodges in this jurisdiction: Passed

Proposal No. 2:  To codify Miscellaneous Decision 50 as a new Code section and add a substantive change to permit lodge minutes and the names of petitioners or candidates to be communicated to members via means that engender reasonable privacy: Defeated

Proposal No. 3:  To incorporate Decisions 1,3, 4, 6-14, and 18; restructure for clarity; delete content that is addressed in Proposal No. 2 regarding communication methods; change the minimum proficiency standards from merely requiring the penalty of obligation to requiring the entire obligation: Withdrawn

Proposal No. 4: To codify Decisions 1-4 of SEC. 109 by deleting SEC. 109 and re-writing it in its entirety: Passed

Proposal No. 5: To modify SEC. 112 by eliminating the reference to a requirement for twelve months of residence, to make SEC. 112 consistent with SEC. 110 regarding residency and to archive Decision 1 to that Section: Passed as amended

Proposal No. 6: To codify Decisions 1 and 3 into SEC. 113: Passed as amended

Proposal No. 7: To amend Sec. 7 (c) by adding Past elected Grand Lecturers, Deacons, and Stewards to the list of voting members of Grand Lodge, allowing all such officers to cast a single collective vote for each class: Passed

Proposal No. 8: To re-write SEC. 83, incorporating Standing Resolution 21 into the Section and adding several new requirements: Withdrawn

Proposal No. 9: To add a new Section to the Code that would limit simultaneous service as a pillar officer to more than one Lodge: Defeated

Proposal No. 10: To establish time limits for updating the Masonic Code: Passed as amended

Proposal No. 11: To institute and implement a mandatory criminal background check applicable to every petitioner: Withdrawn

Proposal No. 12: To amend SEC. 63 to increase the fees for issuing dispensation for creating new Lodges: Passed

Proposal No. 13: To amend Sec. 64 to increase the fee for issuing a new Lodge charter: Passed

Proposal No. 14: To amend SEC. 101 to increase the fee for conferring the degrees upon a petitioner in our constituent Lodges and to also codify Decision 1 to SEC. 110: Passed

Proposal No. 49: (a hold-over from Special and Semi-Annual Communications of 2012): To codify Miscellaneous Decisions 41 & 45 as a new Code Section: Passed

The Grand Lodge also approved Phase 3 of the Code Revision plan to reorganize the Code into a Topical Blueprint that is much easier to navigate, and placing the original sections of the Code, modified by the Grand Lodge in 2012, in an Appendix of Historical Reference for the purposes of reference and context.

Other Actions Taken by the Grand Lodge:

Approved the 2013 Budget as amended.

Approved the printing of the updated Grand Lodge Cipher.

Adopted the recommendations of the By-Laws Committee to approve the revised By-Laws of William R. Singleton – Hope – Lebanon Lodge No. 7, Harmony Lodge No. 17, Alianza Fraternal Americana Lodge No. 92, and Italia Lodge No. 2001.

Approved the recommendations of the Committee on Recognition and Fraternal Relations to grant recognition to the Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Delaware, and the following Grand Lodges in Brazil:

Grande Oriente do Rio Grande do Sul – Gorgs (established 1893), Grande Oriente do Estado de Mato Grosso (established in 1972), Grande Oriente Paulista (established in 1973).

Approved appointment of representatives of the Grand Lodge to MESH as nominated by the Grand Master and Deputy Grand Master.

Grand Lodge Officers Elected:

The following were elected to serve as Grand Lodge Officers for the year 2013, and are to be installed at the Third Communication of the Grand Lodge on Saturday, December 8th, 2012:

Teko A. Foly (15) …………………………………………………………………………….Grand Master
James T. Feezell (54) ……………………………………………………………Deputy Grand Master
Jeffrey D. Russell (5) ……………………………………………………………Senior Grand Warden
Kenneth D. Fuller (7) ……………………………………………………………Junior Grand Warden
Mansour Hatefi, PGM (5) ………………………………………………………………Grand Secretary
Paul D. Gleason, PGM (47) ……………………………………………………………Grand Treasurer
Christopher H. Mahaney (23) ……………………………………………………  …Grand Lecturer
Roman Volsky (15) ………………………………………………………………Senior Grand Deacon
David Han (10) ……………………………………………………………………Junior Grand Deacon
Charbel T. Fahed (3) …………………………………………………………Senior Grand Steward
Michael D. Nicholas, Sr. (19)………………………………………………..Junior Grand Steward

MWB Theodore M. Kahn, PGM, was re-elected to serve as Grand Lodge Trustee for another three 3- year term (2013-2015).

It was announced that the Annual Grand Lodge Banquet will be held beginning at 6:30 p.m., on December 7th, 2012 at the Renaissance Washington DC Downtown Hotel, 999 9th Street, NW, and the Third Communication of the Grand Lodge and the Installation of the 2013 Grand Master and Grand Lodge Officers will take place on Saturday, December 8th, 2012, at the Scottish Rite Center, 2800 16th Street, NW, in Washington, D.C., beginning at 5:00 p.m.

The full report of the transactions of the 202nd Annual Communication of the Grand Lodge along with the reports presented and or submitted in writing, will be printed in the 2012 Annual Proceedings.