Despite what the National Treasure movies say, the Freemasons do not control the government — at least not any more.

Hillsdale’s Freemason lodge, chartered in January of 1852, was among the first lodges established in Michigan and still operates today.

The Masons have two main focuses in their work,community and morality, said Senior Warden George Thomas. 

“Masonry is to help a good man be a better man,” Thomas said. “And it’s like a lot of things in life, if you don’t put the effort in you’re not getting anything out of it. It helps guide you if you use the knowledge that you obtain.”

Thomas grew up outside Detroit where his father was a Mason and his mother was an Eastern Star member, an organization akin to the Masons but exclusively for women.

“I grew up in a Mason’s family,” Thomas said. “I don’t know why I joined exactly, it wasn’t that anything particularly drew me to it, I was just surrounded by it.”

Despite the moral formation, community aspect, rituals, symbolism, cultural heritage, and Christian prayers, Thomas said Masonry is not a religion. 

“Masonry is based on faith, but it isn’t a church,” he said. “We don’t do church stuff. That’s the individual person’s choice. Masons are from every religion, Muslim, Jewish, everything.”

Bruce Casewell, the lodge’s Worshipful Master, said religion is not discussed in the lodge. Casewell is a former state senator and representative. 

“There are two things we never talked about in the lodge: politics and religion,” Caswell said. “You don’t discuss them. How a man chooses to worship God is his business. It’s not our business. We are not a religion. All we ask is that when you join the lodge is one question, ‘do you believe in God?’ And if you believe in God, we’ll accept you. How you believe in what you believe is your business. No one else’s.” 

Junior Phoebe Vanheyningen, whose family has a history with Masonry, said somebody cannot be both a Mason and a Christian. 

“From my own research and what I know from my family, it is incompatible with Catholicism,” Vanheyningen said. “Any organization that tries to make a religion out of the self is incompatible.” 

One of the important aspects of Masonry though is unity through equality.

“Masonry is about your unity,” Thomas said. “If we’re all one, then there’s no difference between us. We don’t regard you by your worldly wealth. It’s about your internal structure, that’s what you’re measured and valued on.”

From that unity, the Masons are better able to begin moral formation through the three stages of life: Apprentice, Fellowcraft, and Master Mason. 

“It’s reflective of life,” Thomas said.  “In your youth, you’re young and learning; then in your middle age, you’re earning and building; and then in your old age you’ve mastered life and hopefully, you’ve learned something along the way.”

The lodge has a mural of these three steps painted in 1951 by a former Hillsdale College professor in a classical style. The painting depicts three steps with a person from each stage of life ascending the steps. 

In addition to this mural, the same professor painted three more works, Thomas said.

“The next is King Solomon at lunchtime saying a prayer. The last one is the three officers of the lodge. Your Worshipful Master, your Senior and your Junior warden,” Thomas said.

The Worshipful Master is the name for the leader of the Masonic lodge. 

Caswell explained that the fourth mural, depicting a woman reading with an angel holding a scythe behind her, represents our limited time on earth.

Caswell said the lodge raises money for scholarships and helping out their community members. For example, one man who lost his livelihood during the pandemic, was helped to get back on his feet through financial support and brotherhood, Caswell said.

Casewell said the local lodge mostly governors itself with the rules Masons have always had in place.

“Pretty much you follow the state rules that are in place,” Caswell said, “but then you also have your own local bylaws and then you have to go from there. So there’s not a lot of top down direction.”

Caswell, who like Thomas is the son of a Mason and an Eastern Star, said despite the 110 members the lodge has, it has been harder to reach young people.

“I will say, it’s getting harder and harder, in any organization, Kiwanis, Rotary, Lions, Masons, or you name it, to get young people to join,” Caswell said. “Young people don’t seem to be as socially oriented. I think they’re more computered. That kind of thing. It’s just a different world, and it’s not good, it’s not bad, it’s just different.”

Though the state of the Masons has changed today, perhaps not boasting men like George Washington or Benjamin Franklin, there are still 875,000 Masons in the United States.

Even without secret government control, they still try to make an impact in the community.

“Over the years, it’s really become a fraternal organization,” Thomas said. “The number one thing that we really try to do is help with the community.”