By W Bro Télémaque Argyriou

"Freemasonry had always been part of my family with my father and grandfather being Masons.

Although they never pushed me into joining, I always felt I wanted one day to know more about Freemasonry, and learn what it was all about. However, I had put my focus on my career, and pursuing things on a professional level that never gave me the time to get into Freemasonry.

I moved to the UK ten years ago while working for a bank, being sent here to work on a merger. Five years later, they recalled me to Paris, but the move left me feeling personally and professionally unsatisfied. I resigned from the bank, and moved back to the UK. Since I was starting a new chapter in my life, I thought that this might be the time to deal with the curiosity about Freemasonry that I had always carried.

As I didn't have any contacts with any Freemasons in this country, I started with the UGLE website, and followed the links to express an interest in joining. I was then contacted by Metropolitan Grand Lodge, and they in turn would introduce me to Orion Lodge No 4652.

My first meeting with Orion was a very friendly chat at the pub in August 2015, followed by a one-on-one meeting with the Secretary to understand more about the commitments expected of me. The Lodge invited me to their Christmas do in December, and to meet with them for a drink after their Lodges of Instruction while they were preparing for their Installation meeting in March. Finally, in June 2016, I was initiated. That ceremony is still the most impressive moment to date in my life not only as a Freemason, but in general.

Once I joined the Lodge, I attended as many Lodges of Instruction as I could, as well as the regular meetings, and tried to take as active a role as possible. This was noticed by the senior members of the Lodge, and I soon found myself in the Junior Warden's chair. I felt I needed to put in extra time and dedication to show the Lodge that I took their faith in me seriously, and two years later was installed as Worshipful Master.

Everyone wants their Mastership of their Lodge to be memorable, and mine definitely will be — but not for the right reasons! I planned to use my year in the Master's chair to help the Lodge to continue to reform and adapt to meet the challenges of the 21st Century and beyond, as well as looking forward to initiating the three candidates we had waiting. I was installed in March of this year; within days, the Grand Master suspended all Masonic activity as the country was put into national lockdown.

It has been a very challenging and tough year. At first, we hoped the pandemic would only last a few months, so we were regularly using Zoom to plan for an initiation as soon as we could, but it became clear that it would last longer. However, Orion Lodge has adapted. We use Zoom to have a weekly half hour chat, and the members will often phone each other. We were able to meet in October under the Rule of 6, which was great for the morale of the Lodge, and we will be doing our annual Christmas do over Zoom. The Lodge has also said they will be happy for me to continue as Worshipful Master for another year, and I look forward to putting my agenda as Master into action next year, to help the Lodge continue to thrive and grow."

This article is part of the Arena Magazine, Issue 43 January 2021 edition.
Arena Magazine is the official magazine of the London Freemasons - Metropolitan Grand Lodge and Metropolitan Grand Chapter of London.

Read more articles in the Arena Issue 43.