If we were made Masons, in 1945, in the Jurisdiction of Washington, we would have met with a Lodge Instruction Committee four separate times as we went through the Degrees.
The first meeting would have taken place after the Lodge voted to confer the Degrees on us, but prior to receiving our EA Degree. The next three meetings would have taken place after we received each of the Degrees.
These four meetings would have been in addition to the time we spent with our coach or mentor learning the Posting Lectures.
What was the purpose of these meetings?
To teach us some of the lessons we were exposed to in each of the Degrees. To set us on the path of Masonic learning.
In 1945 Washington’s population was about 2.2 million, and of those approximately 65 Thousand were Freemasons. Today Washington’s population is roughly 7.8 million and it holds approximately 9 thousand Masons.
What ever happened to Lodge Committee’s of Instruction? What ever happened to these meetings that went on in 1945, but don’t now?
I don’t know. Whatever it was, it happened long before I was born.
What I do know is that our drastically falling membership numbers, while our population is drastically increasing are certainly made worse by the fact that we don’t have these Committee’s of Instruction, and we do not hold these meetings so that our candidates can get started off on the right foot.
Let’s chat about it…
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Most likely, you just described the "plague" that is decimating the North American Freemasonry. Whether there was such a committee in other places or not - it's irrelevant. What is relevant is the lack of proper mentoring for the new members across jurisdictions. My own GM in my own jurisdiction mentioned the phenomena several times in different articles and speeches given on occasions.
Even if it is not the only cause for the decline, it definitely is one of the major problems in our Craft. It goes hand in hand with the "watering down" of the Craft's teachings: eliminating the spiritual and intellectual component, transforming the lodges in social/dining clubs doing charitable (?) actions etc.
There is some "Masonic Math" I see out there in the world that makes these kinds of initiatives functionally impossible, even when they worked great in 1940.
You know how, in a group of brothers, a small % will be called to be great at ritual, a different % will be interested in esoterics, and a different % will be passionate about community charity, etc. We all have different interests. Just for the sake of argument, let's say that 10% or less of the craft is really passionate about the ritual & education aspects that this kind of committee work would require. (I'm making that number up but it isn't 90%)
In 1940 with 4 million+ US Masons that 10% was a lot of people in a lot of lodges. Fast forward to 2021, the total number of lodges probably hasn't shrunk substantially, but the membership is 25% of what it was. This not only reduces the number of people who are interested in doing that sort of thing, but *so many lodges means they're also fractured*. You probably have plenty to get it done in a district, and not nearly enough in any single lodge. Hypothetically if Masonic roles fell by 75% you'd expect to see lodge count decline similarly, but that isn't how history has gone. More lodges with fewer members means "the craft gets spread very thin". It's how you get lodges in my area on the east coast with 200 dues paying members but only 6 highly active members and you can't get a new man into a chair. Forget any extra committees, finding people to fill chairs for degree work is the more pressing concern.
It's not just that membership is declining, but this "spread thin" aspect makes it much worse; you can have districts with 15 lodges with 1-2 being truly healthy, *instead of* having a district with only 5 but all fully healthy lodges.
The math suggests what to do but alas of course it's not that simple; you hosted a previous good discussion about consolidations & their difficulty. It seems to me that it's apparent where the craft needs to go but I'm totally at a loss for a good, respectful, and measured way to get from point A to point B.
I wonder what the number of Candidates who petition, but don't finish the degrees is and the number of Masons who demit after 1 year, 3 years, and 5 years after being raised is.
Also, we need to look at the average age of a newly made mason. My generation and younger seem less likely to join masonry then prior generations. We have a great youth body, but how many become Masons? In order to compete for the youth, we have to market to them on social media and other relevant platforms. They need to see value. My generation and younger want to do good in the world and need a good outlet. The key to provide that outlet, while maintaining true to ourselves.
Once you get our attention, you have to keep us engaged. Ritual practices, friendly hangouts, study sessions, or whatever you can do. Don't ignore the new young Mason. He WILL get bored and leave if he doesn't see value. But, if you can make him feel apart of something special, he will stay loyal.
Most lodges I have visited are typically friendly, but they always have cliques. Groups of friends in the lodge who don't mean to, but exclude others. We have to be mindful of this.
That's just my thoughts on the matter. Have a great day!
My Lodge is currently "investing" in the Lodge by purchasing Life Memberships for all who are members in good standing. The life membership stays with the Lodge, even if the member transfers outside the jurisdiction. All that is required is for the member to be paid up, effective 1 July (today). Even with that--and I should note here that dues are DUE 1 January of the current year--we have several members who are not current--not members in good standing. What better incentive could there be than a Life Membership? Yet, we still have Master Masons who steadfastly refuse to pay current dues until they receive the dunning letter in September, NINE months after they are due. Try doing that in your local union!
Also, since we have been shut down for the past nearly a year and a half, we haven't been able to do any degree work. Coaches have been trying to keep in contact with protégés, offering encouragement and Masonic study to boost flagging interest, with some degree (no pun intended) of success, but just last night, we lost an EA who stated that he "is no longer interested." *I* think he found the work to be a little more than he expected. Oh, well...
Would a Lodge Committee of Instruction have helped? I don't know. Perhaps. I do know that my protégé and I meet face-to-face at least once a week. We talk about any number of things, and even discuss Masonry on occasion. We will confer his Second Degree just as soon as we can form a degree team.
If you can tell me where to find some material on a Lodge Committee of Instruction, I will see what I can put together. In the meantime, talk with new Masons, answer questions, socialize with them, keep them interested!
- Masonry is different things to different people.
No. Masonry is Masonry. People may join for various reason, but Masonry itself shouldn't change. As others have pointed out, there are plenty of other organizations available to fulfill different things for different people. But Masonry should never adapt itself to fit those other competing needs. Things like charitable work, socializing and fellowship, etc, all organically are part of Masonry, but isn't what defines it.
- You get out of masonry what you put into it.
I hate this. It infers that the onus of investing oneself into Masonry is the brother's obligation, and relieves any burden on the lodge to reciprocate. It is just as much the responsibility of the lodge to provide "good and wholesome instruction" as it is for the brother to listen, absorb and learn, as well as pass along their own learning to the next.
- We can do it cheaper than X amount a contractor is charging for the upkeep of the building.
Ugh. Our lodge is having to spend tens of thousands of dollars because the building was originally built by the brothers, and the workmanship was...not the best. The windows leak because of poor framing, the bathrooms stink because of poor design, the furnace while brand new is so inefficient because of how the ducting works, etc etc etc.
This one also irritating in that occasionally we'd hear the "we can do it ourselves" cry, but then nothing gets done, because no one actually wants to do the work.
Sorry, another rant, completely off topic, but I'm not a subscriber, so...
Most likely, you just described the "plague" that is decimating the North American Freemasonry. Whether there was such a committee in other places or not - it's irrelevant. What is relevant is the lack of proper mentoring for the new members across jurisdictions. My own GM in my own jurisdiction mentioned the phenomena several times in different articles and speeches given on occasions.
Even if it is not the only cause for the decline, it definitely is one of the major problems in our Craft. It goes hand in hand with the "watering down" of the Craft's teachings: eliminating the spiritual and intellectual component, transforming the lodges in social/dining clubs doing charitable (?) actions etc.
There is some "Masonic Math" I see out there in the world that makes these kinds of initiatives functionally impossible, even when they worked great in 1940.
You know how, in a group of brothers, a small % will be called to be great at ritual, a different % will be interested in esoterics, and a different % will be passionate about community charity, etc. We all have different interests. Just for the sake of argument, let's say that 10% or less of the craft is really passionate about the ritual & education aspects that this kind of committee work would require. (I'm making that number up but it isn't 90%)
In 1940 with 4 million+ US Masons that 10% was a lot of people in a lot of lodges. Fast forward to 2021, the total number of lodges probably hasn't shrunk substantially, but the membership is 25% of what it was. This not only reduces the number of people who are interested in doing that sort of thing, but *so many lodges means they're also fractured*. You probably have plenty to get it done in a district, and not nearly enough in any single lodge. Hypothetically if Masonic roles fell by 75% you'd expect to see lodge count decline similarly, but that isn't how history has gone. More lodges with fewer members means "the craft gets spread very thin". It's how you get lodges in my area on the east coast with 200 dues paying members but only 6 highly active members and you can't get a new man into a chair. Forget any extra committees, finding people to fill chairs for degree work is the more pressing concern.
It's not just that membership is declining, but this "spread thin" aspect makes it much worse; you can have districts with 15 lodges with 1-2 being truly healthy, *instead of* having a district with only 5 but all fully healthy lodges.
The math suggests what to do but alas of course it's not that simple; you hosted a previous good discussion about consolidations & their difficulty. It seems to me that it's apparent where the craft needs to go but I'm totally at a loss for a good, respectful, and measured way to get from point A to point B.
I wonder what the number of Candidates who petition, but don't finish the degrees is and the number of Masons who demit after 1 year, 3 years, and 5 years after being raised is.
Also, we need to look at the average age of a newly made mason. My generation and younger seem less likely to join masonry then prior generations. We have a great youth body, but how many become Masons? In order to compete for the youth, we have to market to them on social media and other relevant platforms. They need to see value. My generation and younger want to do good in the world and need a good outlet. The key to provide that outlet, while maintaining true to ourselves.
Once you get our attention, you have to keep us engaged. Ritual practices, friendly hangouts, study sessions, or whatever you can do. Don't ignore the new young Mason. He WILL get bored and leave if he doesn't see value. But, if you can make him feel apart of something special, he will stay loyal.
Most lodges I have visited are typically friendly, but they always have cliques. Groups of friends in the lodge who don't mean to, but exclude others. We have to be mindful of this.
That's just my thoughts on the matter. Have a great day!
My Lodge is currently "investing" in the Lodge by purchasing Life Memberships for all who are members in good standing. The life membership stays with the Lodge, even if the member transfers outside the jurisdiction. All that is required is for the member to be paid up, effective 1 July (today). Even with that--and I should note here that dues are DUE 1 January of the current year--we have several members who are not current--not members in good standing. What better incentive could there be than a Life Membership? Yet, we still have Master Masons who steadfastly refuse to pay current dues until they receive the dunning letter in September, NINE months after they are due. Try doing that in your local union!
Also, since we have been shut down for the past nearly a year and a half, we haven't been able to do any degree work. Coaches have been trying to keep in contact with protégés, offering encouragement and Masonic study to boost flagging interest, with some degree (no pun intended) of success, but just last night, we lost an EA who stated that he "is no longer interested." *I* think he found the work to be a little more than he expected. Oh, well...
Would a Lodge Committee of Instruction have helped? I don't know. Perhaps. I do know that my protégé and I meet face-to-face at least once a week. We talk about any number of things, and even discuss Masonry on occasion. We will confer his Second Degree just as soon as we can form a degree team.
If you can tell me where to find some material on a Lodge Committee of Instruction, I will see what I can put together. In the meantime, talk with new Masons, answer questions, socialize with them, keep them interested!
A few of the comments I've heard over the years:
- Masonry is different things to different people.
No. Masonry is Masonry. People may join for various reason, but Masonry itself shouldn't change. As others have pointed out, there are plenty of other organizations available to fulfill different things for different people. But Masonry should never adapt itself to fit those other competing needs. Things like charitable work, socializing and fellowship, etc, all organically are part of Masonry, but isn't what defines it.
- You get out of masonry what you put into it.
I hate this. It infers that the onus of investing oneself into Masonry is the brother's obligation, and relieves any burden on the lodge to reciprocate. It is just as much the responsibility of the lodge to provide "good and wholesome instruction" as it is for the brother to listen, absorb and learn, as well as pass along their own learning to the next.
- We can do it cheaper than X amount a contractor is charging for the upkeep of the building.
Ugh. Our lodge is having to spend tens of thousands of dollars because the building was originally built by the brothers, and the workmanship was...not the best. The windows leak because of poor framing, the bathrooms stink because of poor design, the furnace while brand new is so inefficient because of how the ducting works, etc etc etc.
This one also irritating in that occasionally we'd hear the "we can do it ourselves" cry, but then nothing gets done, because no one actually wants to do the work.
Sorry, another rant, completely off topic, but I'm not a subscriber, so...