Just as an addict has to WANT to quit before he can, a lodge has to want to survive and grow before it can. As Brother Highland points out, the lodge is the body of men, not the building. The Master wears the Hat and sits in the East for year (maybe longer--more on that), and as such, "Captains" the ship. He is not however, an almight…
Just as an addict has to WANT to quit before he can, a lodge has to want to survive and grow before it can. As Brother Highland points out, the lodge is the body of men, not the building. The Master wears the Hat and sits in the East for year (maybe longer--more on that), and as such, "Captains" the ship. He is not however, an almighty monarch. The Brethren should be willing and able to coach him, guide him, and let their desires be known. WB Geiss points out a lodge he and I joined to help them in recovery. Brother Geiss was the Treasurer and I was the Secretary. The problems we saw were several: previous toxic leadership, infighting among the Brethren, inadequate funds, poor attendance and involvement, lack of direction. Several Brothers from my home lodge joined to help out, but it was too late. That lodge was dead and just hadn't laid down yet. When the Brethren realized the situation, discussions commenced to consolidate, which created further division among the membership. As Secretary, I had to point out that simply surrendering the Charter was not a good idea, which created a whole new argument, based on the lines of, "They (Grand Lodge) can't do that! The (Washington Masonic) Code must be wrong!" Denial, denial, denial... When it came to a vote, Brethren we had not seen in years came to cast a negative ballot. Where were they when the lodge was struggling? How did they help? Two lodges eventually merged to create a new one, strong in membership, and adequately funded. The same situation exists today in another lodge our district, and I have to wonder how long it will be before that lodge too, fades away.
The issues within that lodge wasn’t the brothers that were the home lodge still attempting to keep it afloat, they were pretty much in agreement that a merge had to happen.
The sad part was that after the consolidation the few remaining brothers from that lodge stopped attending their new home. All of the fighting over maintaining a legacy of the old lodge was a waste of time. Ultimately, we ended up with a new name, a new charter, and a big bank account, but none of the old lodge brothers to help or care about the old legacy.
Just as an addict has to WANT to quit before he can, a lodge has to want to survive and grow before it can. As Brother Highland points out, the lodge is the body of men, not the building. The Master wears the Hat and sits in the East for year (maybe longer--more on that), and as such, "Captains" the ship. He is not however, an almighty monarch. The Brethren should be willing and able to coach him, guide him, and let their desires be known. WB Geiss points out a lodge he and I joined to help them in recovery. Brother Geiss was the Treasurer and I was the Secretary. The problems we saw were several: previous toxic leadership, infighting among the Brethren, inadequate funds, poor attendance and involvement, lack of direction. Several Brothers from my home lodge joined to help out, but it was too late. That lodge was dead and just hadn't laid down yet. When the Brethren realized the situation, discussions commenced to consolidate, which created further division among the membership. As Secretary, I had to point out that simply surrendering the Charter was not a good idea, which created a whole new argument, based on the lines of, "They (Grand Lodge) can't do that! The (Washington Masonic) Code must be wrong!" Denial, denial, denial... When it came to a vote, Brethren we had not seen in years came to cast a negative ballot. Where were they when the lodge was struggling? How did they help? Two lodges eventually merged to create a new one, strong in membership, and adequately funded. The same situation exists today in another lodge our district, and I have to wonder how long it will be before that lodge too, fades away.
The issues within that lodge wasn’t the brothers that were the home lodge still attempting to keep it afloat, they were pretty much in agreement that a merge had to happen.
The sad part was that after the consolidation the few remaining brothers from that lodge stopped attending their new home. All of the fighting over maintaining a legacy of the old lodge was a waste of time. Ultimately, we ended up with a new name, a new charter, and a big bank account, but none of the old lodge brothers to help or care about the old legacy.