There was a great article from J Ray Shute IIs book either "Twilight in the temple." or "soft tolls the bell" Where he warns of the coming collapse of the "club" style of masonry and makes the statement that If freemasonry does not re-find its original purpose and expand its influence on civil society that its growth will cease and ultimately collapse. I'll see if I can't dig it up. If RW bob or MW Bailey will provide me their email addresses ill scan and send it to them.
Grand Lodge adopted the six steps to initiation for new potential candidates, which is fine, but it's putting the weight on the man wanting to join, and alleviates the lodge of responsibility. I've mentioned this before, but it is a partnership. The lodge has a responsibility to make that man's experience a worthy one to keep him around. The MM has the obligation to labor in the quarries of the lodge.
As far as leadership goes, the brothers moving up the line should take due notice of the workings of the lodge, but that is management, not leadership. I am a firm believer that leaders are born, not made. Some men just aren't cut out for leading anything, yet there is no litmus test we can give to find that out, until that person is placed in that role. And by that time, it's too late. Being elected to the east, unless they die, or make egregious mistakes, they are there for the entire year. And in that year, a lot of damage can be done.
I would say that Freemasonry is not only shooting itself in the foot, but the knees, arms, and head, as well. For a Mason to be truly a "Past Master," he should have conferred all three degrees, as well as have been Master of the Lodge. In my Lodge, the current Master delegates degree conferral to the Senior Deacon for First Degree, Junior Warden for the Second, and Senior Warden for the Third. That way, by the time the Brother is installed in the East, he will truly be a Master of the Craft.
And it's not only degree conferral, but lodge management and leadership that makes a Master. Are we making the meetings interesting, informative, and attractive--meetings that Brethren cannot wait to attend and contribute time and effort that others may learn as well? Are we actively mentoring new Masons? Can we define what the meetings are all about? How much of our time are we willing to devote to learning and passing along what we know? How much time are we spending on the "blah blah blah" business, and how much time are we spending on Masonic Education?
As somebody - anonymously, of course - told me: some of those *knights* went on to form the Masonic Society, others authored books, many of them were active in starting the Observant movement...
A great read, and it's timely and on point.thanks for posting
There was a great article from J Ray Shute IIs book either "Twilight in the temple." or "soft tolls the bell" Where he warns of the coming collapse of the "club" style of masonry and makes the statement that If freemasonry does not re-find its original purpose and expand its influence on civil society that its growth will cease and ultimately collapse. I'll see if I can't dig it up. If RW bob or MW Bailey will provide me their email addresses ill scan and send it to them.
He wrote that article about around 1950
Brother Mullis,
I would love to read that. bob6034@hotmail.com
it is in your inbox.
Grand Lodge adopted the six steps to initiation for new potential candidates, which is fine, but it's putting the weight on the man wanting to join, and alleviates the lodge of responsibility. I've mentioned this before, but it is a partnership. The lodge has a responsibility to make that man's experience a worthy one to keep him around. The MM has the obligation to labor in the quarries of the lodge.
As far as leadership goes, the brothers moving up the line should take due notice of the workings of the lodge, but that is management, not leadership. I am a firm believer that leaders are born, not made. Some men just aren't cut out for leading anything, yet there is no litmus test we can give to find that out, until that person is placed in that role. And by that time, it's too late. Being elected to the east, unless they die, or make egregious mistakes, they are there for the entire year. And in that year, a lot of damage can be done.
I would say that Freemasonry is not only shooting itself in the foot, but the knees, arms, and head, as well. For a Mason to be truly a "Past Master," he should have conferred all three degrees, as well as have been Master of the Lodge. In my Lodge, the current Master delegates degree conferral to the Senior Deacon for First Degree, Junior Warden for the Second, and Senior Warden for the Third. That way, by the time the Brother is installed in the East, he will truly be a Master of the Craft.
And it's not only degree conferral, but lodge management and leadership that makes a Master. Are we making the meetings interesting, informative, and attractive--meetings that Brethren cannot wait to attend and contribute time and effort that others may learn as well? Are we actively mentoring new Masons? Can we define what the meetings are all about? How much of our time are we willing to devote to learning and passing along what we know? How much time are we spending on the "blah blah blah" business, and how much time are we spending on Masonic Education?
The opportunities are without limit.
Just my thoughts...
And this was the 21st century "response" to Dwight Smith's original booklets: The Laudable Pursuit by the anonymous group "The Knights of the North".
http://www.knightsofthenorth.com/documents/LaudablePursuitFinal.pdf
As somebody - anonymously, of course - told me: some of those *knights* went on to form the Masonic Society, others authored books, many of them were active in starting the Observant movement...