EDITORIAL – Welcome to Arena Online

Dear Brethren,

How has your Summer been? I hope you are rested and recharged, well, and have taken time to spend with loved ones.

The Masonic year also has an ebb and flow, and as we gently head into Autumn, our year starts anew with vigour.

In 2025, I also feel an injection of new enthusiasm. Not only are many lodges thriving with new members, many of those members are younger, too. That’s not to say our Fraternity doesn’t have older enthusiastic members (I am delighted to say that in this job I have met plenty!) Rather, it fills me with pride that the Craft has something to offer to younger men too. I have had many conversations this year with Brethren across many lodges who agree with me that – since Covid in particular – many men have found themselves isolated from their traditional friend groups, working at home and not meeting people at work, seeking both new interests and points of view. London is an extraordinary city – but it is also a place a man can be lonely with eight million other people…

They find that Masonry fills that gap – and offers structure, consistency and true friendship too. And then they find that our ban on religion and politics creates a surprisingly comfortable place of acceptance, too. It’s almost as if our forebears planned it that way. . .

I think this is why our membership numbers are starting to increase. I think it’s why we’re seeing four-way and even more-way Initiations. And it’s a great pleasure for anyone who wants to see our hobby thrive.

I hope Arena keeps you connected with many of these activities. By way of housekeeping, let me remind you that Arena now also has an App for your smartphone which includes all the usual Arena articles, latest news stories as they happen, to keep you connected to all things Met and links to Masonic resources, all in one place.

You can download the app at:

For those without smartphones, everything we publish will always be available online at https://www.londonmasons.org.uk/arena.

Please do feel free to get in touch with me directly if you have any feedback on Arena or the App – I always welcome your comments.

And as ever, let me invite you to contribute. You can always contact me with news about your Lodge or Chapter at       a     nd I also regularly ask for comments and feedback on the London Masons Facebook group.

If you would like to write for Arena, we have a growing team, and you will be made very welcome – again please contact me at the email above.

Sincerely, fraternally, and always inquisitively,

Nick Saalfeld
Editor

 

ARENA ISSUE 58 CREDITS

 

Founding Editor: Bryan Green

Director of Communications: Omaid Hiwaizi

Editor: Nick Saalfeld

Deputy Editor: Richard Cavanagh

Assistant Editors: Simon Bennett, David McKenna

Design: Omaid Hiwaizi

Contributors: Simon Bennett, Morris Bentley, Richard Cavanagh, Matt Gibbs, Clive Goodman, Christopher Hayward, Andrew Imber, Trevor Koschalka, Stephen Lovelock, Shahab Mossavat, Jason Pearson, Alan Peters, Dan Reed, Tony Shepherd, Simone Sodini, Ron Wainer, Bryan Wakely, Mark Wooldridge, Bogdan Zaha.

Photography: Daren Lewis, Simon Greaves

Video: Eddy Kirk, Ian Bozic

To contact the Editor with features or letters for future editions, please email  

To learn more about Freemasonry, please visit www.londonmasons.org

Special thanks to the Library and Museum of Freemasonry

All Arena materials are © Metropolitan Grand Lodge / Metropolitan Grand Chapter. All rights reserved.

For editorial matters, please contact the Editor.

Comment and articles reflect the writers’ own personal views. The Metropolitan Grand Lodge and the Metropolitan Grand Chapter, as well as the United Grand Lodge of England may not subscribe to, or agree with, those views.

The publishers cannot be held responsible for loss or damage to any unsolicited manuscripts or photographs.


This article is part of the Arena Magazine Issue 58 – Summer 2025 edition.
Arena Magazine is the official online magazine of the London Freemasons – Metropolitan Grand Lodge and Metropolitan Grand Chapter of London.

Read more articles in Arena Issue 58 here.

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