The North Carolina Mason

November/December 2016 The North Carolina Mason Page 5 Building a stronger Foundation Let's go to work! By A. Gene Cobb Jr. Grand Master When I was growing up in Roanoke Rapids, we lived in a small, two-bed- room house on Williams Street. My father worked at the local paper mill. My mother was a clerk at a jewelry store on Roanoke Avenue. Before we started going to school, my younger brother and I would always take our father's lunchbox to him before he went to the mill. He would receive it with a proud look on his face and say, "Let's go to work!" In March of 1991, my dad died at age 55. My mother followed him in May of 2016. During that time in between and since, I have often reflected on the smiles, love, joy, and happiness they gave their family and community and wondered, what if we practiced Masonry that way? On September 24, the Grand Lodge of North Carolina elected its officers for the ensuing year. Your gracious affirmation of all of us is an honor and privilege that we receive with humble confidence, and we are ready to go to work. Having served directly in the Grand Lodge with Bryant Web- ster, Doug Caudle, Dalton Mayo, Dewey Preslar, Bob Gresham, Lew Ledford, Billy Dill, Dan Rice, Dave Cash, Gene Jerni- gan, Leonard Safrit, Charles Lewis, Charles Ingram, and Bill Simp- son, I am extremely grateful for their pres- ence in all of our lives. Every other past grand master has helped shape who we are today because when it was time, they went to work. Now it is our time to go to work. Our goals this year are simple. First, in recognition of the longest serving grand master in our history, William Richardson Davie, our district deputy grand masters and I will be working this year with lodges to help them in five distinct areas of excellence: education, patrio- tism, philanthropy, membership, and assimilation into our various communities. e Lion and Pillar Lodge of Excellence award for lodges will hope- fully one day be respected as much as the Montfort Medal is for our members. Second, all of us understand the importance of faith, hope, and charity. As a United Methodist pastor by vocation, I be- lieve God made every human be- ing good. As a Mason, I believe we are acting according to the will and pleasure of God whenever the high- est thoughts, the greatest achievements, and the most noble deeds directs us concerning our purity of life and rectitude of conduct. I will never feel bad about asking anyone to do what we promised on our knees at the altar to do. Count on it. ird, as we take up our working tools for the year ahead, we give thanks to the Supreme Archi- tect of the Universe for the blessings of those who have gone to work with a smile and sense of duty and purpose. I'll say more about them later, but for now let's go to work! God made every human being good CHAPEL HILL — Arnold Gene Cobb Jr., currently of Sanford, was in- stalled as the 164 th grand master of the Grand Lodge of Ancient, Free and Ac- cepted Masons of North Carolina on December 3. is follows his election at our Annual Communication Septem- ber 24. He was appointed to the Grand Lodge line in 2008 by Grand Master- Elect Dan Rice. Gene Cobb was born in Halifax County, North Carolina, July 9,1958, the eldest son of A. G. Cobb and Joyce Cobb (both deceased). He was a three- letter athlete (basketball, baseball, and football) in high school who graduated third in his class. In 1972, he earned his Eagle Scout and was named to the Order of the Arrow in the Boy Scouts of America. Cobb is married to Brenda King of Paris, Mississippi. Dear to him were his years at Uni- versity of North Carolina Chapel Hill where he earned a bachelor of arts in religion in 1979. ere, he was var- sity basketball statistician 1977–1979 for Coach Dean E. Smith. He later added degrees at Duke Divinity School in Durham (Masters of Divinity 1983) and Hood eological Seminary in 2008. Cobb has been lead pastor at St. Luke United Methodist Church in Sanford, since 2009. He has previously pastored in Durham, Louisburg, Wilson, Mount Gilead, and Norlina, as well as Nash, Edgecombe, and Alamance counties. He has also served on state and district United Methodist committees. He was on faculty at Duke University and Lou- isburg College, and he is cur- rently assistant professor in the Doctor of Ministry Program at Hood eological Seminary. Hood presented him their Distinguished Service Award for Teaching in 2015. He has Cobb installed as new grand master worked on many community organizations across the state. Grand Master Cobb was initiated February 16, 1993, passed March 16, 1993, and raised a Master Mason April 6, 1993 in Blackmer 127 in Mt. Gilead. He served as mas- ter there in 1995. He is also a member and past master (1999) of Royal White Hart 2 in Halifax. He is a chartering member of Whitestone 771 in Greensboro and Lux Libertas UD in Chapel Hill. Cobb has been on the Grand Lodge's Masonic Education Committee and Committee on Masonic Jurisprudence as well as the boards of both our Masonic Homes. He was grand chaplain in 2004. He is a mem- ber of the Shrine, York and Scottish Rites, and Eastern Star. He is the recipient of many Ma- sonic honors. Grand Master A. Gene Cobb Jr.

• Cover