VIRTUAL REALITIES:
A New Member’s Experience With the Virtual Reunion
by Joann Williams-Hoxha, Content Manager
B
etween grading papers and constant prep work teaching history to high school seniors, Brother Kyle Holz stays busy. But when he gained some extra time as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, he decided to continue his Masonic education and join the Scottish Rite, Northern Masonic Jurisdiction in the fall. the “college for Freemasons,” which matched his love for academia, so it seemed like a logical next step on his Masonic journey. The stage for Freemasonry was set when Brother Holz turned 21, as he aged out of The Order of the Arrow (OA), the National Honor Society of the Boy Scouts of America.
Kyle Holz
“The Order of the Arrow had been a huge part of my life,” Brother Holz recalled. So once he was no longer a part of that brotherhood, he said, “I felt lost, and like I was missing something.”
After he read Dan Brown’s The Lost Symbol in college, it opened up the discussion of Freemasonry with a family friend who was a Mason. He was excited to learn that “there are echoes of the Masonic ritual in the Order of the Arrow rituals.” At that point, Brother Holz said he was sold on becoming a Freemason. “I jumped in head first,” he said. Kyle was raised on November 17, 2016, and was surprised to be among many familiar faces of men within his community.
“I thought you said you were going to a meeting, not watching a movie!” “It was incredible to stand in a room to get initiated and see men who I had respected for my entire life standing in front of me,” he said.
Brother Holz is one of 1,010 new members who joined the Scottish Rite by way of our Virtual Reunions, three online events that took place in October and November 2020. While Kyle said the convenience of the Virtual Reunions was nice, that wasn’t what initially drew him into joining Scottish Rite. As a history teacher, “I like connections to the past,” Brother Holz explained. Having already joined Shriners International and York Rite, Holz said he recognized Scottish Rite as Screenshot of the 4th degree
28
ScottishRiteNMJ.org
The Northern Light
