Welcome to St Alphege Chapter

Grand Vice Patron of the Royal Masonic Hospital

Meeting at The Yenton Assembly Rooms,
73-75 Gravelly Hill North, Erdington, Birmingham, West Midlands B23 6BJ.

Third Tuesday in January, March, September and November.

Installation in November.

What is Royal Arch Masonry?

Once thought of as a ‘fourth’ degree, Royal Arch is the continuation of Craft Freemasonry. It is not as some would suggest a completion of the Third Degree, but rather a continuation of our own journey. In the Craft, we are introduced through various allegories to the basic concepts of birth, life and death which invite us to consider each concept either severally or conjointly. In the Third Degree, we are left to consider the ultimate destiny that awaits us.
Craft Masonry is concerned with King Solomon’s Temple at Jerusalem, its building, completion and dedication; but what happened after that? Quite a lot actually; Royal Arch Masonry is set about five hundred years later. Solomon’s Temple had been destroyed by the Babylonians and the people taken into captivity. Some years later they were allowed to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the Temple and the City. The allegory in the Exaltation Ceremony is centred on these events and the candidate makes a number of discoveries which emphasise the centrality of God to man's life and existence and, without transgressing the bounds of religion, lead the candidate to a consideration of the nature of God and his personal relationship with Him, whatever his religion might be. Put another way in the context of the Craft – life after death.
Members of the Royal Arch are called Companions, the reason for which becomes clear during the Exaltation Ceremony and the three lectures that explain the history, symbolism and principles of the Royal Arch.

In England the Royal Arch has four ceremonies: the exaltation ceremony to bring in new members and an installation ceremony for each of the three Principals.
Like Craft Freemasonry, the Royal Arch is open to men of all faiths.