Five Points of Fellowship
Living the five points of fellowship is vital.
The five points of fellowship are how you demonstrate that you are truly a Master Mason. They form the basis for the fellowship or fraternity that is Freemasonry. In sum, the five points demand empathy, compassion and understanding, demonstrated by action.
They require you as a Freemason to be there when needed by your brothers. You are to be a person that can be turned to for assistance and guidance and be trusted to treat calls for assistance with both confidence and loving respect. In addition, you are expected to be alert to others needs even before there is a request and offer assistance without being asked.
The five points of fellowship are the key to how you prove you are a Master Mason.
You must know how the symbols that represent these points are presented to other Master Masons in order to prove yourself to be a Master Mason. However, how those symbols are to be presented is not the subject of this paper.
I want you to not only think about how the points are to be presented symbolically, but why practicing them in your daily life is the best way to prove to yourself, your family and others that you are truly a Master Mason. working and traveling as such.
Consider how you can use them for your personal growth. This is why our ancient brethren made them the key to how we define the fellowship that is Freemasonry
Fellowship is the foundation of Freemasonry.
Fellowship is defined by Merriam Webster as companionship and company, a definition that goes back to the 12th century.
A second definition is community of interest, activity, feeling, or experience and a third is fraternity and brotherhood. Together they define Freemasonry.
Our ancient charges cite brotherly love as being “the Foundation and Capstone, the Cement and Glory of this Ancient Fraternity”. It is that cement which Master Masons use their trowel to spread. Therefore, fellowship is one of the most basic and important concepts in freemasonry.
How the points of fellowship fit together.
In his 1828 original dictionary Webster defines a “point” as a single part of a complicated question or of a whole. Consider each point of fellowship as a step that you must master sequentially to attain the rank of Master Mason, not only symbolically, but in your life.
The first point of fellowship
The first point of fellowship requires you to never hesitate to go out of your way to be of assistance to a brother that needs your assistance.
This is the first and most basic of all of the points of fellowship. Since the earliest beginnings of Guilds, one of the core values of being a member was that you or your widow or orphaned children could look to your fellow Guild members for assistance when needed. This benefit was vital in the period before there was a government safety net. Freemasonry continues that historic purpose.
Note that you are expected to go on foot and out of your way to be of assistance. Therefore, your willingness to assist cannot be limited to dropping a few coins in the hat when it’s passed. We have charitable foundations and we donate liberally to them, but this point of fellowship demands a personal involvement that goes beyond that. It may be visiting Brothers in distress or joining with your fellow Masons to be physically helpful. It is the first step in directly building fellowship.
The basis of the second point of fellowship
The second point begins with prayer. Prayer is important in freemasonry. Freemasonry is not a religion. But. it encourages you to practice religious values, even if you choose not to be part of a formal religion. We do not knowingly admit Atheists into the Fraternity.
Freemasons are told to always remember that whenever their own wisdom and strength proves inadequate, they can gain access to an unlimited supply of both through the power of prayer.
The second point
The second point of fellowship requires that anytime you turn to the Deity in prayer you are to remember your brothers’ needs. If you are asking God for wisdom and strength, you are to remember others that also need that wisdom and strength.
There are two reasons for this demand. First, of course, is that asking God for assistance for your brothers is a traditional form of intercessory prayer. That is likely what our ancient brothers had in mind. You are to seek to benefit your brothers every time you seek to benefit yourself through prayer. It exemplifies the core value of unselfishness.
It has a second benefit you should consider. If every time you approach the Deity with a need of your own you think of some need that your brothers, family members or others have, you will gain an increased sense of empathy and willingness to be of personal assistance to those brothers or family members. Prayer then becomes a key step in building a sense of brotherhood and motivating you to be an integral part of that fellowship.
The third point
The third point goes to trust. You must be trustworthy to be part of a brotherhood built on trust and you want your fellowship to be with people you trust.
Requirements of the third point
The third point of fellowship requires that whenever a brother informs you he is telling you something in confidence, you have an obligation to keep that confidence (with some narrow exceptions).
This goes to two core values important to any sense of fellowship. First, how can you be of assistance to your brothers, if they cannot share what their needs are with you in confidence?. Secondly, few things undermine a sense of brotherhood as fast as gossip and broken confidences.
The fourth and fifth points and how they relate to each other.
The fourth and fifth points of fellowship are very closely related. The fourth sets out an obligation to be willing to help and the fifth describes how you are to go about giving that help.
The fourth point of fellowship
The fourth is an admonition to assist brothers who are fallen. I distinguish this from those who are in distress by considering a fallen brother as one who is in distress through some failing of his own. Rather than be willing to assist such a brother, human nature would have you give thanks you are not like him. He made his own bed so he can lie in it. As a Freemason, however, to ascend this step you must be willing to assist that brother. Note this point of fellowship is worded in terms of a willingness to stretch out our hands and be of assistance. There may be little you can do until you are allowed to be of assistance. So, your obligation is to let the brother know you are willing to be of assistance when that assistance is welcome and will be of value.
The fifth point
This point of fellowship requires you to whisper good counsel to help your brother reform and warn him of approaching danger. Warding off approaching danger goes beyond the literal sense of an oncoming train. It includes behavior that is leading him down a path which is dangerous to his Masonic progress. You are to warn him before he does something that destroys his Masonic career. This is reiterated in the Charge you received as a Master Mason.
However, it is very clear you are to do that in the most tender manner and only if you are endeavoring to aid in his reformation. Faultfinding, in and of itself, has no part in fellowship. There are few things more detrimental to fellowship then unhelpful faultfinding. Our Ancient Charges make it clear that is not a permissible activity for Freemasons. It is fitting that this step is reserved for those who have mastered the previous ones.
Conclusion
This discussion of the five points is based on a key foundational principle of masonicmentor.com that your mind is not a vessel to be filled, but rather, a flame to be kindled . Hopefully, these observations about the five points of fellowship will kindle your flame and get you to thinking about them in your own way. Then make them a part of your daily life, so they perform the function for you that our ancient brethren designed for them, when they informed you that they are the only way you can gain the final step in your understanding that allows you to prove that you are “Not Just a man, but a Mason”tm.
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do you release the five points of fellowship before carrying on with the raising ??
Will reply by email
I believe if an EA or FC is deemed worthy and with consent from the master of the lodge…yes
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I am seeking an alternative choreography of the FPOF that observes the 2m prescription. Any thoughts?
Given social distancing being a best practice in the current environment, do we still do FPOF given its inherent intimacy?
Is there a 2m social distancing form?
The 2nd D specifically stresses candidates progress in the liberal arts & sciences. Not recognising what we’ve all been thru and learnt since the advent of Covid runs contrary to our principles; not just on the science side but also in failing to choreograph something contemporary.
Are we comfortable asking brothers to engage in added risk while specifically saying “I’ve got your back”?
Great question, hopefully each Grand Lodge is setting standards and procedures they deem appropriate for their jurisdiction that must be followed. Taking everyone’s temperature, having participants wear masks, even gloves seems wise. Once this is “over” participants will be able to see each degree “as it should be done”, so to me the important thing is to provide a meaningful experience without subjecting them to undue risk. Also, I think we have to be understanding of candidates and Brothers that are uncomfortable and allow them to delay their participation until they can do so without fear. The degree of risk varies widely from location to location, so a “one size fits all” solution doesn’t best to me. As you mentioned, we should be able to discuss this in our Lodges without emotion and based on the best science available to us, and come to a reasonable compromise between “this is the way we have always done it” and refusing to go forward with degrees without some reasonable modifications. Hope that helps.
There’s definately a great deal to learn about this issue. I like all the points you’ve made.
Thanks for taking the time to comment. I appreciate it very much and am happy you found this article thought provoking. You are right that there is no end to what there is to learn about the 5 Points.