Julian Rees was initiated in the Kirby Lodge No. 2818 in London in 1968, was Master in 1976/77 and again at the centenary of the Lodge in 1999/2000.
He is a holder of the silver matchbox*** award of the Emulation Lodge of Improvement, and has also served there on the Precepting Committee.
He was Master of the German-speaking Pilgrim Lodge No. 238 in 1978/79.
He was a regular contributor to the quarterly magazine Freemasonry Today since its founding in 1997 and from 2003 to 2007 he was Deputy and News Editor.
In 2003 he delivered the prestigious Wendel K Walker Memorial Lecture in New York, entitled Through Ritual to Enlightenment.
He was one of the founding members of The Cornerstone Society, serving as Secretary for a number of years, and has lectured to lodges in this country, in USA and continental Europe.
He has been honoured by the Institut Maçonnique de France with the Ordre Maçonnique de Lafayette.
He is a Past Junior Grand Deacon of the United Grand Lodge of England.
He is the author of Making Light – a Handbook for Freemasons, and The Stairway of Freemasonry – 30 Short Talks and Questions.
His two latest works So You Want To Be a Freemason? and The Tracing Boards of the Three Degrees in Craft Freemasonry Explained will be published in 2009.
Since the takeover of Freemasonry Today Julian Rees now writes for The Square magazine. His next book Ornaments Furniture and Jewels is due to be published by Lewis Masonic end 2012 or early 2013. Since the abandonment by UGLE of the spiritual dimension in Freemasonry, announced by the Deputy Grand Master in September 2011, Julian Rees has resigned from UGLE and joined the International Order of Co-Freemasonry Le Droit Humain.
***An Emulation Silver Matchbox is awarded to a Brother who works a Masonic Ceremony according to Emulation Ritual without prompt or correction