From Deseret News archives:
A Mormon Mason: New grand master is the first in a century who is LDS
Cook, a Salt Lake criminal defense attorney and Brigham Young University law school graduate, is believed to be the first member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to be elected grand master in Utah in nearly a century, overseeing the activities of several lodges around the state and looking to make the group more open to public understanding.
During a recent tour of the Masonic Temple in downtown Salt Lake City following his installation in February, Cook said there are definite misconceptions about Freemasonry in Utah, particularly among Latter-day Saints, "but there's also some reality there as well."
Church founder Joseph Smith and his brother, Hyrum, were members of the Masonic lodge in Nauvoo, Ill., in the early 1840s, and historians have written in detail about the role of fellow Masons in the murder of the two men in June 1844. Smith's successor, President Brigham Young, and the three succeeding presidents of the church all were made Masons in the Nauvoo Lodge, as were many who presided in church hierarchy during and following Joseph Smith's death.
Whether or not that was the case, religious tension within the organization escalated to the point that, in 1925, "the Utah Grand Lodge Code precluded any Mormon ... totally from any relationship whatsoever" with Masonry in Utah, according to author Mervin Hogan's 1978 book, "The Origin and Growth of Utah Masonry and Its Conflict With Mormonism."
That provision of the code remained in force until 1984, when it was rescinded.
Recent comments
As an active member and Past Master of the Blue Lodge, and as the...
Seattle Mason | Dec. 1, 2009 at 11:55 p.m.
Have been a Mormon for 46yrs. and a Master Mason 32deg. for over 30yrs.
Anonymous | Oct. 23, 2009 at 10:18 a.m.
Congratulations, Bro. Glen, I'm a LDS and a Freemasonry, no problem...
R. Renner | May 2, 2009 at 6:49 p.m.
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