Doing Degrees, Sharing The Load
We Don't Have To Do Everything Ourselves
In Washington we have some large Lodges that can very easily put together teams to confer all of the Degrees. We also have some Lodges so small that they could not confer any Degree without a great deal of assistance. Most of our Lodges fall somewhere in the middle. Large enough to confer the Degrees as needed, but frequently needing some outside assistance to do so.
I imagine that other Grand Lodges are much the same in composition.
If our goal in conferring Degrees is, as it should be, to provide the very best experience for the candidate possible, it seems to me that there might be a better way to go about this for our smaller Lodges.
Instead of Lodges #1, #2, and #3 all trying to confer each of the Degrees, and struggling to do so, perhaps it would be better if Lodge #1 focused on conferring the Entered Apprentice Degree, Lodge #2 focused on conferring the Fellowcraft Degree, and Lodge #3 focused on the Master Mason Degree.
The Degree team from each handling the conferral of the Degree it specializes in for all three of the Lodges.
Theoretically, if a group of Lodges adopted this model, each Degree team would have 2/3rds more practice time than if it were trying to confer all the Degrees, and would have similar increases in its experience level with the Degree it was tasked to perform.
This would, with time, serve to improve the quality of Degree that the team could perform, which would improve the candidate’s experience.
It would also lessen the stress on the Lodge and its members, as it would then only be responsible for conferring one Degree instead of three. Members would have less to learn, and be able to spend more time perfecting those parts.
Giving our candidates the very best Degree experience possible must be our overriding goal, and if our Lodge membership is small, we could well achieve that goal by dividing the work with our neighboring Lodges.
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I think this is a great idea. Perhaps though, a District Degree Team could be another conversation. I could see a District Degree Team strengthening the bonds between the lodges of the District. Either way, providing the candidate/brother with the best possible experiences and at the same time showing the bonds of brotherly love and friendship, it’s better for all of Freemasonry.
Ever since I've been a Mason District 7 has organized Degree Days every year or two where the District Lodges partner to confer degrees. Usually it's been two degrees but on rare occasions we've done all three. To be clear, these have not been one day conferrals where candidates become Master Masons in a few hours. (However, there was that one time when a past master opened the "fast lane" for a Brother who was passed to Fellowcraft a couple hours after his initiation. I conferred the Fellowcraft degree that day and was assured that no harm was done to the candidate). Rather, we look at who is is waiting for degrees at the various Lodges and organize around that. This certainly spreads the load and it creates a great experience where the candidates see first hand the impact of Brothers from various lodges working together, all while strengthening relationships across the District.