CMC - CHAPTER 14 - RESEARCH LODGES - Section 814.000
CHAPTER 14
RESEARCH LODGES
§814.000. RESEARCH LODGES.
Research Lodges are a special classification of Constituent Lodge with authority to conduct research, hold discussions, gather and preserve Masonic information, maintain a library, supply papers or speakers at the request of other Lodges, and conduct a program of general service to the Craft in the field of Masonic education and information. Research Lodges shall be subject to all provisions of this Code applicable to Constituent Lodges, except as follows:
A. The word “Research” shall be included in the name of the Lodge;
B. Membership:
1. Shall consist exclusively of Master Masons in good standing of Constituent Lodges or of Lodges under the jurisdiction of Grand Lodges recognized by this Grand Lodge;
2. Shall cease if a member loses such status; and
3. May be voluntarily severed at any time by resignation;
No member of a Research Lodge shall, by reason of that membership alone, be considered a member of a Constituent Lodge for any purpose of this Code.
C. Only Master Masons in good standing of a Constituent Lodge shall hold office and vote;
D. Grand Lodges recognized by this Grand Lodge, their Lodges and Masonic Organizations in this or any other Jurisdiction, composed exclusively of Master Masons under the jurisdiction of this Grand Lodge or any other Grand Lodge recognized by this Grand Lodge, may become “Subscribing Members,” entitled only to receive bulletins and publications;
E. Receipts for dues must accompany a Petition for Dispensation, but no Demit or Request for Demit shall be received or issued by a Research Lodge;
F. The provisions of this Code requiring certain recommendations, notifications and certificates from an Inspector dealing with qualifications of officers and membership in a Lodge seeking a Dispensation or Charter shall be deemed complied with if an Inspector designated by the Grand Master certifies to the standing of the petitioners, the provision for a suitable Lodge room and the qualification of the officers for their duties. The Dispensation and Charter shall be issued without charge;
G. A member may be the Master, a Warden or the Secretary of a Research Lodge at the same time as he is the Master, a Warden or the Secretary of one or more other Lodges. The provisions of this Code dealing with the qualifications of Master, Senior Warden, Junior Warden and Senior Deacon shall not apply to the officers of Research Lodges. When the Master-elect or a Warden-elect or a Senior Deacon appointed is not a Past Master of a Constituent Lodge, before he can be installed he must produce a certificate from the Inspector of the district in which the Research Lodge is situated certifying to the proficiency of such officer in the opening and closing ceremonies;
H. They shall not:
1. Confer degrees,
2. Be liable for the relief of a member, his wife, widow or orphan, and a member of a Research Lodge shall not be eligible for admission to the Masonic Homes of California unless he is a member in good standing in a Constituent Lodge, or
3. Be entitled to representation in Grand Lodge or any vote therein;
I. Research Lodges shall be exempt from the contributions levied by Grand Lodge on Lodges, and applicants for membership in Research Lodges shall be exempt from the contributions levied by Grand Lodge on applicants;
J. No officer or former officer of a Research Lodge shall, by reason of that position alone, be a member of Grand Lodge. Sections of this Code dealing with the title of Past Master shall not be applicable to one who has served as Master of a Research Lodge only, and the Master of a Research Lodge shall not, upon death or completion of his term of office, by reason of that fact alone, become or be known as or designated as a Past Master, and shall possess none of the rights, powers or privileges of a Past Master of a Lodge;
K. Their Stated Meetings shall be held at least once quarterly. All business shall be done in a Lodge of Entered Apprentice Masons. However, at the discretion of the Master, all business may be done in a Lodge of Fellow Craft Masons or in a Lodge of Master Masons with at least 30 days written notice to each of its members. By a vote of its members, the Lodge may change the place, date and time of a Stated or Special Meeting to something other than what is fixed in its Charter or Bylaws.
The meeting place must be safe and suitable for a tiled Lodge meeting in this Jurisdiction as determined by the Inspector of the district in which the Research Lodge is situated. Business may be transacted immediately following the opening of any Stated Meeting. Members shall be given notice of any change to the place, date and time of Stated Meetings. At a Stated Meeting, the Lodge may be called up to receive papers in a Lodge of Fellow Craft or Master Masons;
L. The forms of Petition for Dispensation, Petition for Charter, Charter and Uniform Code of Bylaws shall be adopted insofar as the provisions may be applicable to such Lodges;
M. They shall have no judicial powers;
N. The giving of notice of receipt of applications for membership and the referral of applications for membership to a committee of three for investigation and report thereon provided for elsewhere in this Code are dispensed with, and applications for membership may be voted on at the same Stated Meeting at which they are submitted and read;
O. Suspension of a member for non-payment of dues shall not affect his membership in any other Lodge;
P. They shall be chartered only by name and without a Lodge number;
Q. They shall be exempt from the minimum annual dues requirement imposed by this Code; and
R. They may provide complimentary memberships to Junior Wardens, Senior Wardens or Masters of a Constituent Lodge.
[Amended: 2010; 2014; 2015, 2016.] [Source: Section 20090 of the 1991 California Masonic Code.]