We as Masons by generally hold on to the past, it’s our culture but it is also one of our weaknesses. By the time a lodge starts having to make a decision between merging, closing or consolidating into a new lodge the Brothers that are still there are the ones that in many cases have bitter feelings and often times bring those bitter fe…
We as Masons by generally hold on to the past, it’s our culture but it is also one of our weaknesses. By the time a lodge starts having to make a decision between merging, closing or consolidating into a new lodge the Brothers that are still there are the ones that in many cases have bitter feelings and often times bring those bitter feelings into an merged or consolidated lodge.
It is my opinion that if a lodge is that close to closing that the best and most responsible thing to do is to turn in their charter and the brothers that remain choose which lodge to affiliate with. Any property that is owned should be offered first to local lodges so that the local Masonic community can still use and enjoy it within geographical areas. Finally real estate.....this is the tough part... many lodges that cannot continue still own real estate if that real estate, a serious look should be taken as to what happens to funds from that property. Should it just go into the Grand Lodge account, should it go to the charitable arm of the GL, should proceeds be shared among local lodges to help them continue to be viable etc
Letting a charter get turned in back to GL is about the worst thing that can happen, IMO, especially if the failing lodge owns real estate. The sale of that property can benefit another local lodge much more than it can Grand Lodge (although GL might disagree). The sale of the old building netted our lodge a very hefty nest egg, one that is providing (and will continue to provide) capital to maintain our current building, a building that has some major issues that is going to require tens of thousands of dollars to fix.
The bitterness and hard feelings from the brothers of the old lodge will still be there regardless of what happens. Honestly it's an indictment of the poorly guarded west gate of years past.
I think a lot of brothers will agree that consolidating is the hard choice, but the right choice, in a lot of situations -- but IN THE ABSTRACT.
When it comes time to have those principles applied to their lodge -- when for example you observe a repeating WM, an unhealthy line, dwindling ranks, etc -- I find there are always "extenuating circumstances" that make it not the right decision for THAT lodge at THAT moment.
Here is where we may need some proactive leadership from our Grand Lines. What needs to happen....needs to happen. Good counsel needs to get whispered sometimes. That's just such a personal & difficult thing to do...a lot of times it doesn't get done, and it's easier to let lodges decay and get 5% worse per year.
We as Masons by generally hold on to the past, it’s our culture but it is also one of our weaknesses. By the time a lodge starts having to make a decision between merging, closing or consolidating into a new lodge the Brothers that are still there are the ones that in many cases have bitter feelings and often times bring those bitter feelings into an merged or consolidated lodge.
It is my opinion that if a lodge is that close to closing that the best and most responsible thing to do is to turn in their charter and the brothers that remain choose which lodge to affiliate with. Any property that is owned should be offered first to local lodges so that the local Masonic community can still use and enjoy it within geographical areas. Finally real estate.....this is the tough part... many lodges that cannot continue still own real estate if that real estate, a serious look should be taken as to what happens to funds from that property. Should it just go into the Grand Lodge account, should it go to the charitable arm of the GL, should proceeds be shared among local lodges to help them continue to be viable etc
Letting a charter get turned in back to GL is about the worst thing that can happen, IMO, especially if the failing lodge owns real estate. The sale of that property can benefit another local lodge much more than it can Grand Lodge (although GL might disagree). The sale of the old building netted our lodge a very hefty nest egg, one that is providing (and will continue to provide) capital to maintain our current building, a building that has some major issues that is going to require tens of thousands of dollars to fix.
The bitterness and hard feelings from the brothers of the old lodge will still be there regardless of what happens. Honestly it's an indictment of the poorly guarded west gate of years past.
I think a lot of brothers will agree that consolidating is the hard choice, but the right choice, in a lot of situations -- but IN THE ABSTRACT.
When it comes time to have those principles applied to their lodge -- when for example you observe a repeating WM, an unhealthy line, dwindling ranks, etc -- I find there are always "extenuating circumstances" that make it not the right decision for THAT lodge at THAT moment.
Here is where we may need some proactive leadership from our Grand Lines. What needs to happen....needs to happen. Good counsel needs to get whispered sometimes. That's just such a personal & difficult thing to do...a lot of times it doesn't get done, and it's easier to let lodges decay and get 5% worse per year.