Everyday Lessons in Masonry • Brotherly Love in Action
Sometimes the greatest barrier to becoming a Mason is not a lack of desire—it is simply getting through the door.
There is a man somewhere in Indiana right now who wants to become a Mason.
He has heard about the Fraternity from a father, a neighbor, a coworker. He believes in what it stands for. He is a good man, by any measure. But he is also blind. Or deaf. Or confined to a wheelchair. Or facing a degenerative condition that makes the floor work of a traditional degree ceremony impossible to complete in the way it was designed.
He wonders whether the door is open to him.
In Indiana, it is. It has been since 1963. And the Lodge that opens it is Bartimaeus Lodge U.D.
A Lodge Unlike Any Other
Bartimaeus Lodge Under Dispensation exists for one purpose: to confer the degrees of Freemasonry on men with special physical needs. We are made up of members from across the entire state, drawn from lodges in every corner of Indiana, so that when a Lodge calls on us, we can send brothers who are nearby. We coordinate with the candidate’s home Lodge. We work alongside their officers and their brothers. And we make sure that every man — regardless of his physical limitations — receives every right, light, and benefit that every Mason before him has received.
We do not change the ritual. The Grand Lodge gives us dispensation to adapt the floor work — to seat a candidate at the altar rather than kneel him, to prepare him from the waist up when circumstance requires it, to move through the work in a way that honors both the ceremony and the man. The Craft remains intact. The dignity of the degree remains intact. Only the accommodation changes.
We are named after the blind man described in the Gospel of Mark — Bartimaeus, who called out from the roadside and was not turned away. That name is not just a label. It is our mandate.
How It Began
The original proposal for a special-purpose Lodge in Indiana was made during World War I by Past Grand Master Elmer F. Gay. The idea took root slowly. For decades, Indiana’s rules on physical requirements were inconsistent — a patchwork of rulings and exceptions that left individual lodges uncertain and good men without a clear path forward.
That changed in 1961, when Indiana made history. New legislation passed at the Grand Lodge Annual Communication, authorizing the creation of Occasional Lodges U.D. for several specific purposes — one of which was to confer degrees upon physically disabled candidates of other Lodges when directed by the Grand Master. It was prepared in the Jurisprudence Committee, adopted without dissent, and set into motion almost immediately.
One year later, Past Grand Master John H. Jefferson was commissioned as a Special Deputy to assist in forming the first Occasional Lodge. On November 28, 1962, Bartimaeus Lodge U.D. was set to work in Indianapolis by Grand Master Jack F. Hewson, with one carefully selected Mason from each Lodge in Marion County on its original roster. William R. Halcomb, Past Master of Millersville Lodge No. 126, was appointed its first Worshipful Master.
Its first degree was conferred on January 28, 1963 — upon Gayle E. Griffith, a totally blind candidate of Greenwood Lodge No. 514.
Those who were there said they never forgot it.
How It Works
When a Lodge has a candidate with special physical needs, they notify the Grand Lodge. The Grand Lodge appoints two of our members as Special Deputies to meet with the candidate and assess his needs. We submit a written report with recommendations — specific accommodations, deviations from the floor work, anything that will ensure the comfort and safety of the candidate while preserving the integrity of the ceremony.
The Grand Master reviews our report and issues approval that guides how we proceed.
We have three ways of conferring the degrees: Observation, Assist, and Full Form. Every candidate is different. Every situation calls for a different approach. In the Entered Apprentice and Fellow Craft degrees, Bartimaeus furnishes the Senior Steward and Senior Deacon. In the Master Mason degree, we also provide the three R’s. The home Lodge remains central to the work — these are their brothers, their degrees, their moments. We are there to make sure nothing is missing.
Our primary concern, in every case, is the safety and welfare of the candidate.
What Others Have Noticed
Indiana did not build Bartimaeus Lodge quietly. Over more than six decades, word has traveled.
Other Masonic jurisdictions — both domestic and international — have taken notice of what Indiana created and have reached out to learn from it. They want to understand how the Lodge is structured, how the special deputy process works, how degrees are adapted without compromising the ritual, and how the relationship with the Grand Lodge is maintained year over year. Indiana is, as far as we know, the only jurisdiction in the world with a Lodge designed specifically for this purpose. When others come looking for a model, they find us.
That is not a reason for pride. It is a reason for responsibility.
What Indiana built in 1962 matters — not just to the men who have received their degrees through Bartimaeus, but to the broader Masonic world that is still working out how to answer the same question: Is the door open to every good man?
We have been answering that question, one degree at a time, for over sixty years.
A Call to Your Lodge — and to You
Bartimaeus Lodge is capped at one hundred members, with no more than three from any one Lodge. We have open spots. And I want to be straightforward: we need brothers who will show up.
Affiliation with Bartimaeus is not ceremonial. When you submit a petition, you are making a commitment. You attend meetings and degrees within a reasonable distance. You carry out candidate interviews promptly when appointed as a Special Deputy. You do the work — because a man’s journey into Masonry depends on your promptness. The start of his experience begins with you.
This is not a membership for a resume. It is a membership for men who want to put the obligation they took into daily practice.
If your Lodge has a candidate with special physical needs and you are not sure where to turn, contact the Grand Lodge. They will contact us. That is how this works — and it works because brothers across this state have chosen to make it work, year after year, under the renewed dispensation of each incoming Grand Master.
More than sixty years ago, Indiana decided that no good man should be turned away from this Fraternity because the floor work was not built for him. They built something to fix that. They have been building ever since.
The work continues. The door is still open.
We are still the ones who answer when it knocks.
Interested in Freemasonry? If you would like to learn more about becoming a Mason or finding a Lodge in Indiana, visit Follow Me to Freemasonry.
Monty Thurman is a Past Master and Officer of Bartimaeus Lodge U.D. To learn more about Bartimaeus Lodge or to petition for affiliation, contact the Grand Lodge of Indiana.