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Contact Info

Office: 186 Tremont Street, Room 405
Boston, MA 02111-1003
Phone: (617) 426-1973
Toll Free: (866) 426-1973

York Rite Office Administrator, 
Leon H. Cudworth, Jr.
E: grandsec@mayorkrite.org

Chapter: Grand Secretary, M.E.
Ernest A. Bean
E: grandsec-GRAC@mayorkrite.org

Council Grand Recorder, M.I.
Manual Ferreira III
E: GrandRec@mayorkrite.org

Comandery Em. Grand Recorder, S.K.
Frank J. Kautz II
E: GrandRec-MARI@mayorkrite.org

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Grand High Priest 2024-2026

George L. Herbolsheimer
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Chapter Degrees

Mark Master Mason Degree

The candidate enters as a working Fellow Craft in the "quarries," learning the value of the Key Stone — unique, essential, and irreplaceable in the Temple's construction.

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Past Master Degree

Known as the "secrets of the chair," this degree emphasizes faithfulness to Masonic duty as preparation for presiding over a Lodge.

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Most Excellent Master

Set at the completion of King Solomon's Temple, this degree celebrates the capstone's placement and honors those who have proven themselves complete masters of their craft.

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Royal Arch

The summit of ancient Craft Masonry, this degree reveals the recovery of the Lost Word first introduced in the Third Degree.

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The Founding of American Royal Arch Masonry

How a single Chapter's meetings in 1769 grew, through decades of cross-state cooperation, into the Grand Royal Arch Chapter of the Northern States of America. The Grand Chapter that governs Royal Arch Masonry today.

Learn our Chapter History
  • 1753

    Earliest known record of the Royal Arch Degree conferred in America, at Fredericksburg Lodge, Fredericksburg, Va.

  • 1769-
    1790

    St. Andrew's Chapter, Boston, holds its earliest recorded meetings, conferring the Royal Arch and related degrees; Newburyport's Chapter (later King Cyrus Chapter) begins its own records in 1790.

  • 1792-
    1794

    The Mark Degree is introduced and formally adopted by St. Andrew's, the "Royal Arch Chapter" name is settled on, and correspondence begins between Boston and Newburyport toward reconciling their practices.

  • 1795-
    1797

    The two Chapters unify their degree work; contact with Thomas Smith Webb of Temple Chapter, Albany, leads to a joint push for a Grand Chapter, culminating in a call for delegates to convene in Hartford.

  • 1798

    Delegates from Chapters across the Northern states meet in Hartford, Conn., and formally institute the Grand Royal Arch Chapter of the Northern States of America, establishing State Grand Chapters.

  • 1799-
    1806

    A proposed General Grand Chapter constitution is floated at Providence (1799) but not acted on; a final version is adopted and ratified in 1806, forming the basis of today's Grand Chapter.

Grand Chapter's Exemplification Degree Team

Companions,
The Grand Chapter Exemplification Degree Team, invited members serving under the Grand Lecturers, exemplifies all four Chapter Degrees each December at a Special Grand Chapter Convocation. Chapter officers are encouraged to attend the Team's rehearsals, held on Saturday mornings starting in late October (see the Grand Chapter Calendar for details).

The Team is also available, schedules permitting, to confer degrees at local Chapters, and individual members may assist as well — contact the Grand Secretary for individual help. To invite the Team, send a letter to the Grand Secretary at least two months in advance (shorter notice may sometimes be accommodated). Hosting dinner for the Team is customary but not required, and donations to the William Foster Clark – Bob "Rudy" Homberg Memorial Fund are appreciated.

Learn about our Degree Team