Our lodge had brought back table lodge in 2019 and it was very successful. We had 40 Masons attend which included 12 past masters of our lodge. It was a big help for us that a brother was willing to step up a cook. That did save expense but we still had a prime rib dinner with all the trimmings, including appetizer and dessert. $40pp for…
Our lodge had brought back table lodge in 2019 and it was very successful. We had 40 Masons attend which included 12 past masters of our lodge. It was a big help for us that a brother was willing to step up a cook. That did save expense but we still had a prime rib dinner with all the trimmings, including appetizer and dessert. $40pp for the ticket and that included a really nice cannon with custom etching of our lodge name and logo. Alcohol was a separate expense for brothers so figure another $20pp. That was separate because not all of our brothers drink but still wanted to participate in toasts. Toasts were all organized. The only thing we didn’t get a chance to confirm was a speaker.
We’ve got another TL planned for December of this year to now coincide with Feast of St John (as it should) and we will have a speaker this time. For those that haven't done a table lodge before, yes, you get more out of it when you plan the nice details and do it right. You can incorporate PM night and I think we also announced the Hiram award recipient. Table lodge has a prescribed series of toasts and has its own ritual, though that varies from state to state. A true Table Lodge is Masons only and not open to non-Masons.
To help signal to our lodge brothers the type of meal we are conducting, we basically use this:
Dinner- occurs before stated meeting and open to all guests, youth group, etc. dress is dark suit or tux.
Festive Board- open to Masons and our invited guests (those men interested in joining our lodge). Has some feel of a table lodge but no ritual or specific toasts, not formal tuxedo dress. No stated meeting as part of the evening. Can be done offsite given the circumstances. Think table lodge-lite
Agape- occurs after a degree conferral. Formal dress, dinner served in roundtable arrangement facing each other. Masons only with Masonic discussion. Think lodge going from labor to refreshment.
I’m not sure this is the appropriate labeling, but we wanted to come up with a system of how we referred to our different types of meals and they were conducted.
Our lodge had brought back table lodge in 2019 and it was very successful. We had 40 Masons attend which included 12 past masters of our lodge. It was a big help for us that a brother was willing to step up a cook. That did save expense but we still had a prime rib dinner with all the trimmings, including appetizer and dessert. $40pp for the ticket and that included a really nice cannon with custom etching of our lodge name and logo. Alcohol was a separate expense for brothers so figure another $20pp. That was separate because not all of our brothers drink but still wanted to participate in toasts. Toasts were all organized. The only thing we didn’t get a chance to confirm was a speaker.
We’ve got another TL planned for December of this year to now coincide with Feast of St John (as it should) and we will have a speaker this time. For those that haven't done a table lodge before, yes, you get more out of it when you plan the nice details and do it right. You can incorporate PM night and I think we also announced the Hiram award recipient. Table lodge has a prescribed series of toasts and has its own ritual, though that varies from state to state. A true Table Lodge is Masons only and not open to non-Masons.
To help signal to our lodge brothers the type of meal we are conducting, we basically use this:
Dinner- occurs before stated meeting and open to all guests, youth group, etc. dress is dark suit or tux.
Festive Board- open to Masons and our invited guests (those men interested in joining our lodge). Has some feel of a table lodge but no ritual or specific toasts, not formal tuxedo dress. No stated meeting as part of the evening. Can be done offsite given the circumstances. Think table lodge-lite
Agape- occurs after a degree conferral. Formal dress, dinner served in roundtable arrangement facing each other. Masons only with Masonic discussion. Think lodge going from labor to refreshment.
Table Lodge- formal dress. Masons only. Ritual, toasts, keynote speaker.
I’m not sure this is the appropriate labeling, but we wanted to come up with a system of how we referred to our different types of meals and they were conducted.