THE PRESENT ENQUIRY

12 From the outset it was evident to the present Working Group that the constraints under which they had to work — to meet five times and prepare a short paper — required them to consider how they could best serve the General Synod in meeting the expectations voiced in the 1985 debate. There was clearly concern regarding the nature of Masonic oaths; Masonic ritual; and the apparent secrecy surrounding Masonic activities. References were also made to Freemasons forming ‘a mildly sinister Mafia’ and to Masonry being ‘the way people think it is the way to get on’.

13 Fascinating though it might have been to investigate these last allegations, the Working Group had to bear in mind that anxiety had also been expressed that their enquiry should not assume the quality of a witch-hunt. They were even more conscious of the complexity of such an investigation. If there really is a serious concern on the part of the present General Synod that such allegations be pursued effectively, and not judged by bad cases, then a larger Group, working for a longer time, equipped with research assistants, armed with legal advisers and furnished with more substantial evidence than the present Working Group have received, would be the only means of avoiding the General Synod and its agents being made to look extremely foolish. (See Appendix 1)

14 The Working Group have also been very wary of making categorical assertions regarding the actual provenance of initiation texts used by Freemasons. Mr Clark himself acknowledged that they would be ‘a lifetime’s work’; a study which undoubtedly would call for considerable work by those few people who are acknowledged as genuinely expert in the field of comparative religion, none of whom are among the membership of the present Working Group nor in the ranks of the General Synod.

15 As their contribution to informed discussion of the compatibility of Freemasonry with Christianity the Working Group submit to the General Synod a paper which includes:

(a) a brief historical background to modern Freemasonry in England

(b) comments on its constitution and structure

(c) analysis of the nature of the "secrecy" of the organisation

(d) an examination of the rituals of the three Craft Degrees and of the Holy Royal Arch (but see Appendix II)

(e) an exploration of the nature and the extent of Masonic charity.