I have been thinking how better to introduce the members of the Church to the issues surrounding church history and Masonry. One of the biggest issues here is that most Latter-days Saints know next to nothing about the subject and neither do their leaders.
One of the ideas is to restore the third floor lodge room of the the Masonic lodge building in Nauvoo to the way it would have appeared in Joseph Smith’s day. To that end I have been in contact with the Grand Lodge of Illinois who have told me that there are several sets of lodge furnishings, alters podiums, columns, candle holders and other such items from lodges that have closed in the area which could be made available to restore the lodge room.
- 1. It restores the room as it would have appeared in the 1840’s. Which give us the opportunity to discuss Freemasonry and it role in the Nauvoo community of the period.
- 2. It provides a gentle way to introduce and deal with the subject of Freemasonry’s role in Church history. Members would at least have the opportunity to see what a lodge room looks like what is similar and what is different from the temple. In this way when the topic of Masonry come up it is not a complete unknown.
- 3. It extends the hand of fellowship to communities in the Nauvoo area and give them a role in the restoration of Nauvoo.
- 4. It counters the idea that we are somehow hiding part of our past.
- 5. It provides good publicity both to Nauvoo Restoration, Inc. and to the Grand Lodge of Illinois
Diagram of possible layout of lodge room
Please feel free to share your comments with me at gkearney@gmail.com.
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