SAN JUAN SHRINE CLUB HOW TO BE A SHRINER


Home Helping Children How to be a Shriner Up Coming Events Officers New Members Adventure Advertising Breakfast Christmas Party IHOP Fund Raiser Parades Potentates Visit Shrine Park	What is a Shriner? What kind of organization attracts truck drivers, dentists, contractors, heads of state, movie stars, generals, clergymen and accountants? What is the Shrine? Someone might answer: “Oh yeah, Shriners are those guys who always have those parades with the wild costumes and funny little cars.” Another might think of Shrine circuses and Shrine clowns. The fellow next to him might interject, “No, Shriners are the guys who wear those funny hats — like flowerpots — and have those big conventions.” “I don’t know about that,” a passerby might add. “But I do know my little girl was born with club feet and now they are straight, and she can walk like anyone else, thanks to Shriners Hospitals for Children." “She can walk?” questions still another. “I thought the Shriners ran those fantastic burn hospitals. I’ve read stories about them saving kids with burns on 90 percent of their bodies.” All those people are right. Each has experienced an aspect of Shrinedom. What they cannot experience, unless they are Shriners, is the camaraderie, deep friendships, good fellowship and great times shared by all Shriners. What they may not know is that all Shriners share a Masonic heritage: Each is a Master Mason in the Freemasonry Fraternity. Historically, Masons had to become members of the York or Scottish Rite Bodies before becoming a Noble of the Shrine. However, at the Imperial Council Session in July 2000, an amendment to Shrine law changed that requirement, allowing Master Masons to become Shriners directly. There are nearly 500,000 Shriners now. They gather in Temples, or chapters, throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico and the Republic of Panama. There are 22 Shriners Hospitals for Children — 18 orthopaedic hospitals, three burn hospitals, and one hospital that provides orthopaedic, burn and spinal cord injury care. These hospitals have cured or substantially helped more than 700,000 children — at no cost to parent or child — since the first Shriners Hospital opened in 1922. There are over 411,000 Shriners worldwide. In order to become a Shriner, a man must first be a Mason. The fraternity of Freemasonry is the oldest, largest and most widely known fraternity in the world. It dates back hundreds of years to the time when stonemasons and other craftsmen gathered in shelter houses or lodges. Over the years, formal Masonic lodges emerged, with members bound together not by trade, but by their own desire to be fraternal brothers. The basic unit of Masonry is the Blue Lodge, where members earn the first three Masonic Degrees known as the Entered Apprentice, Fellow Craft and Master Mason. There is no higher degree than that of Master Mason (the Third Degree). After he becomes a Master Mason, he can belong to many other organizations which have their roots in Masonry and which have Blue Lodge Masonry as a prerequisite. Only when a man has achieved the status of Master Mason can he petition to become a Noble of the Shrine of North America. If you are NOT a Mason and are a male at least 21 years of age, believe in God and wish to join Freemasonry, please visit the website of San Juan Lodge No 25 for more information.

What is a Shriner? What kind of organization attracts truck drivers, dentists, contractors, heads of state, movie stars, generals, clergymen and accountants? What is the Shrine?

Someone might answer: “Oh yeah, Shriners are those guys who always have those parades with the wild costumes and funny little cars.” Another might think of Shrine circuses and Shrine clowns. The fellow next to him might interject, “No, Shriners are the guys who wear those funny hats — like flowerpots — and have those big conventions.”

“I don’t know about that,” a passerby might add. “But I do know my little girl was born with club feet and now they are straight, and she can walk like anyone else, thanks to Shriners Hospitals for Children."

“She can walk?” questions still another. “I thought the Shriners ran those fantastic burn hospitals. I’ve read stories about them saving kids with burns on 90 percent of their bodies.”

All those people are right. Each has experienced an aspect of Shrinedom. What they cannot experience, unless they are Shriners, is the camaraderie, deep friendships, good fellowship and great times shared by all Shriners. What they may not know is that all Shriners share a Masonic heritage: Each is a Master Mason in the Freemasonry Fraternity.

Historically, Masons had to become members of the York or Scottish Rite Bodies before becoming a Noble of the Shrine. However, at the Imperial Council Session in July 2000, an amendment to Shrine law changed that requirement, allowing Master Masons to become Shriners directly.

There are nearly 500,000 Shriners now. They gather in Temples, or chapters, throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico and the Republic of Panama. There are 22 Shriners Hospitals for Children — 18 orthopaedic hospitals, three burn hospitals, and one hospital that provides orthopaedic, burn and spinal cord injury care. These hospitals have cured or substantially helped more than 700,000 children — at no cost to parent or child — since the first Shriners Hospital opened in 1922.

There are over 411,000 Shriners worldwide. In order to become a Shriner, a man must first be a Mason. The fraternity of Freemasonry is the oldest, largest and most widely known fraternity in the world. It dates back hundreds of years to the time when stonemasons and other craftsmen gathered in shelter houses or lodges. Over the years, formal Masonic lodges emerged, with members bound together not by trade, but by their own desire to be fraternal brothers.

The basic unit of Masonry is the Blue Lodge, where members earn the first three Masonic Degrees known as the Entered Apprentice, Fellow Craft and Master Mason. There is no higher degree than that of Master Mason (the Third Degree).

After he becomes a Master Mason, he can belong to many other organizations which have their roots in Masonry and which have Blue Lodge Masonry as a prerequisite. Only when a man has achieved the status of Master Mason can he petition to become a Noble of the Shrine of North America.

If you are NOT a Mason and are a male at least 21 years of age, believe in God and wish to join Freemasonry, please visit the website of San Juan Lodge No 25 for more information.