On June 19th, 2020 a statue of Past Grand Commander Albert Pike was toppled from its pedestal in Washington, D.C.

The statue celebrated Pike’s humanitarian successes and his leadership of the Scottish Rite of Freemasonry. The statue was gifted to the people of the United States in 1901. Even though the Scottish Rite no longer had any ownership rights to the sculpture, this Supreme Council has repeatedly voiced its strong support for any governmental decision to remove the statue, because we recognized that its existence could be a concern among some citizens.

We can never condone unlawful acts; otherwise the foundation of our society would crumble. However, the statue has belonged to the people since we gave it to them more than a hundred years ago. Our prayer is that the removal of the statue can be at least a small step toward healing our nation’s wounds.

As Scottish Rite Masons, we prefer to step forward with our fellow citizens, consistent with the Scottish Rite Creed: Human progress is our cause, liberty of thought our supreme wish, freedom of conscience our mission, and the guarantee of equal rights to all people everywhere our ultimate goal.

James D. Cole, 33°
Sovereign Grand Commander

Monday, June 22, 2020

Greetings my Brethren!

I hope all of you are doing well, and your significant others are doing well also.

Here is where I stand on the future with closer of our buildings and meetings. First: We must follow Federal, State, County, and City laws. Second: Our Grand Master has put out an edict on meetings and it must be followed. Third: Common sense.

With these in mind, after June 30^th, 2020 every Valley in Oregon, with the approval of the Personal Representative and his advisory group may decide if they will meet, rent, etc. There is always an exception, Portland is the exception in this case; because of the population and also that I live in the Portland area. (Lucky Portland, huh) Our leadership elsewhere knows how things are going in each of their communities, so I am leaving it up to them to make these important decisions.

This is being posted to the Orient Blog-site but your Valley’s should also use methods of communicating with their membership at this time as well.

Thank you for your leadership and God bless you all!

Gary Kuney, 33°
Grand Chamberlain &
S.G.I.G. in Oregon

Oregon_Grand_Masters_Edict_COVID_March-27-2020

Executive Order No. 20-12 eo_20-12

For Masonic Edutainment

Br. Michael Robinson, 32°, KCCH, presents a paper by Br. Wallace McCamant titled Benjamin Franklin, The Mason

Michael Robinson_Benjamin Franklin

The Tyler’s Place Podcast

Art de Hoyos and Maynard Edwards discuss how the fraternity has handled pandemics of the past.

Notice of Scottish Rite event postponement and cancellations

Greetings Brothers,

I hope this message finds you and your loved ones safe and healthy.

Due to concerns for you and our members health and safety, and in order to take preemptive preventative measures in accordance with local, state and federal health officials recommendations, effective tonight at midnight, all Scottish Rite buildings, meetings, get-togethers, and rentals, are to be canceled, postponed or closed until further notice.

I know in some cases this will cause hardship, but our Brothers and their Families safety and health is important. The Portland area Schools are being closed for an extended Spring Break and other similar groups have taken the same cautionary steps for health reasons. The Grand Lodge of Oregon is also planning to recommend suspending Masonic activities in general until the end of the month and the Grand Lodge of Washington has already done so.

As this is an evolving situation we will keep you informed but for the time being there will not be any exceptions to this emergency precautionary measure.

God bless all of you and your love ones!

Fraternally,

Illustrious Brother Gary Kuney, 33°
Grand Chamberlain & S.G.I.G. in Oregon

You can click here to see what the Center for Disease Control has offered as some basic guidelines you and your families can follow to stay well informed.

Greetings Brethren,

I hope this email finds you and your loved ones safe and healthy.

Due to concerns for you and our members health and safety, and in order to take preemptive preventative measures in accordance with local, state and federal health officials recommendations, effective tonight at midnight, all Scottish Rite buildings, meetings, get-togethers, and rentals, are to be canceled, postponed or closed until further notice.

I know in some cases this will cause hardship, but our Brothers and their Families safety and health is important. The Portland area Schools are being closed for an extended Spring Break and other similar groups have taken the same cautionary steps for health reasons. The Grand Lodge of Oregon is also planning to recommend suspending Masonic activities in general until the end of the month and the Grand Lodge of Washington has already done so.

As this is an evolving situation we will keep you informed but for the time being there will not be any exceptions to this emergency precautionary measure.

God bless all of you and your love ones!

Fraternally,

Illustrious Brother Gary Kuney, 33°
Grand Chamberlain & S.G.I.G. in Oregon