Welcome to William G. Hill Lodge No. 218!

As part of the oldest fraternity in the world, our Lodge is proud to be apart of and support the Grand Lodge of North Carolina AF&AM, its charitable work, and the work of all recognized Masons all over the world.

At the heart of our fraternity is an initiation system rich with allegory and symbolism, moral lessons, and a methodology for living a spiritually and intellectually rewarding life of service to our families, the fraternity, and our local communities.

All Masonic Lodges have a little different character. William G Hill is a family-friendly and social lodge that encourages active participation in gatherings and activities. Our overall membership is about a hundred Masons. With historically 25-30 members actively participating in lodge activities. In addition to regular planned social outings, we have several annual events:

• A free community Easter egg hunt and lunch held on lodge grounds
• Participation in the Pig Jig (a masonic whole hog BBQ competition)
• A Winter Formal and silent auction benefiting the Lodge and our charities.
• Feast of the Saints John- A masonic dinner, part ritual, part education, and a good time.
• Annual First Responders Thank You Breakfast- We serve breakfast to our front-line first responders as a way of thanking them for their service to our communities.

We incorporate masonic education in esoteric, historical, or intellectual presentations and discussions in most meetings. We take pride in our degree work and encourage members to learn and perform new roles in the ritual work of initiating new masons.

We have been designated as a Lion and Pillar Lodge of Excellence from the Grand Lodge of North Carolina AF&AM annually since the Award's inception in 2016. We have further achieved the platinum distinction since its addition to the Award in 2019.

Our Lodge Officer Line is a seven-year progression from Jr Steward culminating in a year as Worshipful Master. Each of the seven line officers' roles offers its own lessons. Our leadership line generally consists of newer Master Masons interested in leadership opportunities. Each year, leaders are expected to take on more responsibility and are given more autonomy to pursue their own Lodge initiatives. Support and mentoring from our long-time members and Past Masters (previously in charge of the Lodge) offer a wealth of experience masonically, professionally, and personally. In the 3rd or 4th year of leadership (Jr or Sr Deacon), officers are encouraged to attend Wilkerson College (a Grand Lodge-level leadership program). This helps prepare them for success as an elected officer (Jr and Sr Warden and Worshipful Master). Tiller and Chaplin are appointed annually by the Worshipful Master and are not generally part of our Lodge's leadership progression. Secretary and Treasurer are elected officers and typically serve multiple annual terms, allowing more continuity from year to year.

Membership is open to all men of exceptional character, regardless of race, ethnicity, particular religion, or orientation. If you want to learn more about Freemasonry in general or are interested in membership in our fraternity, it is best to contact us directly. A large part of masonry is about person-to-person connection, and we would be pleased to talk to you about it. An excellent online resource is the Grand Lodge webpage: https://www.grandlodge-nc.org/about-freemasonry. We also recommend Freemasonry for Dummies; there is a wealth of accurate information about the craft in this book, and it provides spoiler alerts for those interested in the craft who do not want to take away from their Masonic initiation experience with too much fore-knowledge