Wednesday, September 10, 2008

GATE CITY ORGANIZING ROCK SPRINGS PRESBYTERIAN CORNERSTONE REDEDICATION

Location:

Rock Spring Presbyterian Church
1824 Piedmont Avenue
Atlanta GA 30324
US

When: Sun. Sep. 14, 2008 at 10:30


Please join us on Sunday, September 14, 2008 at Rock Spring Presbyterian Church for a rededication of the cornerstone. The church has undergone an extensive renovation, and this will be a special day for the congregation.

The church service will begin at 10:55 AM, with reserved seating for all Freemasons in attendance. The rededication ceremony, by Most Worshipful Grand Master Ted C. Collins, will follow the service. Wives and families are most welcome.

Gate City II will hold a catered lunch following the service.

Program:
10:30AM: Masons gather in fellowship hall
10:50AM: Process into the church
10:55AM: Church service
12:00PM: Rededication
12:30PM: Lunch


W.B. C. David Johnston and Gate City Lodge
No. 2 are at the forefront in a planned rededication
of the cornerstone of Rock Springs Presbyterian
Church on Sunday, September 14, 2008. It is hoped
that Most Worshipful Grand Master Ted C. Collins,
assisted by other Grand Lodge officers, will be
present to perform the ceremony after the regular
worship service that day.

Rock Spring Presbyterian Church is one of the
oldest congregations in Atlanta, having started in
1870. The current building was built in the early
1920s and the cornerstone laid by MWGM Joe P.
Bowdoin in 1922 (AL 5922). The church has recent-
ly undergone a $2,400,000 renovation, so it is entire-
ly appropriate that the current Grand Master should
rededicate the Cornerstone on behalf of the Masons
of Georgia.

The Service that Sunday will be a normal Morning
Worship service, commencing at 10:55 and conclud-
ing about noon. While plans are still tentative, it is
expected that a section in the front of the pews will
be reserved for Masons. Gate City expects to have at
many members present and in regalia, several mem-
bers of the Church who are Masons (in other
Lodges) will likely participate, and we will invite
other Lodges in the area. Arrangements will be made
for all the Masons present to congregate before and
then march in together just prior to the start of the
service.

Following the Service the Congregation will pro-
ceed outside to the front where the cornerstone is
located (the northeast corner faces onto Piedmont
Avenue, adjacent to the Cemetery). The Minister
will introduce the Grand Master who will then per-
form the Rededication. Afterwards Gate City Lodge
will host a luncheon in the Church Fellowship Hall
for the Congregation and all Masons and visitors.
More details will be available as the day approach-
es, but every member of Gate City Lodge should
plan to be at Rock Springs Presbyterian Church on
September 14.

GATE CITY TO HOLD GACHIP EVENT

Address:

Rock Spring Presbyterian Church
1824 Piedmont Avenue
Atlanta GA 30324

Date/Time:

Saturday, September 13, 2008 @ 10:00 am

The weekend of September 13-14, 2008, will be a
momentous one for Gate City Lodge No. 2. On the
day before the rededication of the cornerstone of
Rock Springs Presbyterian Church (see accompany-
ing article), the Lodge will hold a GACHIP event at
the Church in conjunction with their annual Kids
Day Out Preschool Program.

The CHIPS program will be from 10:00 until 4:00,
at the Church, 1824 Piedmont Road. A lot of volun-
teers from Gate City will be needed.
The Church and our Lodge are doing wonderful
things and will have a great weekend.

On September 13, 2008, Gate City Lodge No. 2 will hold a
GACHIP event at Rock Springs Presbyterian
Church. GACHIP (GeorgiA CHild Identification
Program), sponsored by the Grand Lodge of Geor-
gia, is part of MASONICHIP, an initiative of North
American Freemason's Grand Lodges, that generates
"completed packs" of various identifying items of
children for parents or guardians. MASONICHIP is
recognized by the National Center for Missing &
Exploited Children (NCMEC) and received a special
Award of Commendation from the NCMEC in Feb-
ruary 2007.

GACHIP addresses the alarming fact that over
1,000,000 children are reported missing in the Unit-
ed States each year, according to the National Center
for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC). On
average, a child is reported missing every 43
seconds.

At GACHIP events, Masons provide the equip-
ment, volunteers, and materials necessary to gener-
ate identifying items of children in "completed
packs" (not kits to be filled out at home) to be taken
home for safe keeping. In the event the child is miss-
ing, the GACHIP pack can aid law enforcement in
recovery and identification. All the identifying items
in the pack are provided at no cost to the general
public.

Georgia Freemasons have been conducting child
identification programs for a number of years and
are proud to offer this expanded program called
GACHIP. The previous program consisted of a sin-
gle photo and fingerprinting. The new program adds
a short video interview and a dental imprint called
Toothprints. Toothprints is a technique developed by
David Tesini, a Massachusetts children's Dentist and
incorporated into CHIP by Dr. David Harte, a Mas-
sachusetts Freemason. These additions make CHIP
the most comprehensive children?s ID program
available.

Gate City Lodge is proud to work with other
Georgia Lodges to bring this wonderful program to
the families of our state for the protection of all of
our children.