The Grand Orient of the United States of America : A Modern Masonic Experiment ?
However , Richard Ehrlich was a keen supporter of Jeff ’ s innovative internet presence :
‘ My personal view is that the internet presence was impressive ten years ago [ 2009 ] because of the efforts of Brother Peace . I constantly got calls from around the world with invitations to various events . One that was most interesting to me was from a Syrian Rebel in 2011 that asked me to consecrate a lodge in Damascus after the fall of Assad . I guess he was a little too optimistic …’
Indeed , much of GOUSAs business was dealt with via the internet , as John Slifko states ‘… the Executive Board never physically met . All of our meetings were online …’ So , it could be said that the GOUSA hierarchy appeared to be more of an internet group , emailing each other , discussing their plans and ideas on forums and blogs and creating websites for lodges that may or may not have existed . This was an attempt to create an image of a vibrant and successful organization which , in reality had relatively few members that were spread thinly over a large geographical area . Apart from Halcyon , Euclid met regularly , Intrepid may have only met occasionally and Sirius was a loose collective of the expelled Atlanta based Masons that also met occasionally . However , the Benjamin Franklin and Praxis Lodges that joined the organization a little later , certainly met regularly and the leading Masons involved in those lodges wanted a more proactive role in GOUSA . According to Ehrlich , Spinoza still meets
49 as an occasional working lodge and , like many of the lodges that operated under GOUSA , is made up of a group of close friends that also meets socially . Euclid also still meets as an isolated lodge , as does Vulcan Lodge , which was the old Regulus Lodge . According to Jeff Peace however , the Grand Orient did meet for the annual installation of the Grand Master , using specially ordered regalia and celebrating in the pomp , ceremony and festivities of a usual Grand Lodge , albeit smaller and having the added appeal of being like a reunion of like-minded friends that only saw each other once a year .
The End
According to Peavy , David Cooksey was first to jump ship around 2008 after a falling out with Jeff Peace , taking Regulus Lodge with him . Peavy , still Grand Master and without a lodge , then became adopted by both Sirius Lodge and Lodge Intrepid . Cooksey continued to be active as an independent Mason in the Birmingham area , forming the Vulcan Lodge with a small band of Masons and continued to lock horns with Ed King online . He died in 2012 . Peavy shed some light on the growing tensions within the organization , especially between Slifko and Peace ; after obtaining the Charter from GOdF , Slifko began to be accused of ‘ trying to turn it [ GOU- SA ] into co-masonry ’:
‘ Once John came back with the patent from Paris , he and I spoke a lot about needed changes in the