George D. Barrier

George D. (Don) Barrier, PM

Brother Don Barrier is a Past Master of Derita Lodge No. 715 and Wilkerson College Lodge No. 760, Musician for Sophia Lodge No. 764, Charter Member of Knights of Solomon Lodge NO. 764, past Co-Chairman of the Grand Lodge ad-hoc Masonic Music Committee, past member of the Grand Lodge Committee on Masonic Education, instructor at Wilkerson College, lecturer for the Grand Lodge Restoration lecture series, and was a guest speaker for the 2016 Masonic Restoration Foundation Symposium in Asheville, North Carolina.

Don is an Eagle Scout. Don graduated with a BS in engineering from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and holds an Engineering Managers Certificate from the Belk College of Business at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. He is a past member of Sigma Xi Research Society and the Order of the Engineer honor society. Don currently practices as a forensic foundation, geotechnical, and environmental engineer in Charlotte. He is the lead Urban Search and Rescue Structures Specialist and instructor for the Charlotte Fire Depart, North Carolina Task Force 3, and the North Carolina Office of Emergency Management. Don is an instructor for Federal Emergency Management Agency's Urban Search and Rescue National Response System. Don also volunteers as a Trauma Survivors Network peer visitor providing peer-to-peer support to recovering adult patients at Atrium Health’s Carolinas Medical Center.

Available Programs:

1) The "Bahnson" Manual Odes as Ritual: A tyled nuts and bolts "how to" approach to incorporating the odes called for in the "Bahnson" Manual into your lodge ritual. I will cover when and how to incorporate the odes into your ritual and how to sing and the melodies of each of the tunes, most of which are old familiar. (30min)

2) Hidden in Plain Sight: The story of our North Carolina Masonic musical heritage, hidden in plain sight within the "Bahnson" Manual is told, including interesting anecdotes about and origins of the odes in the "Bahnson" Manual, their tunes and lyrics. (30min)

3) The Power of Ritual: Learn the deep reaching, profound and possibly life changing effect ritual and more specifically Masonic ritual can have on the initiate, and you. (30min)

4) Music and Ritual: An introduction to ritual and music's integral place with ritual. Examples of ancient and modern ritual and their importance on society, and you, are explored and the role music plays within ritual is revealed. (30min)

5) Inner Chamber: Creating a Sacred Space in your Lodge Room.

6) Our Masonic Ritual, enlightenment ritual or just an old routine?

7) Masonic Ritual and the Brain from a layman's perspective.