I think we can all agree that both of the above statements are certainly true.
Given that, why is the focus of almost every Lodge to get the new guys into a Chair, and start pushing them towards becoming Worshipful Master?
Should we not make room for sideliners?
Should we not figure out ways to make those who don’t want to pursue Lodge leadership comfortable on the sidelines?
Do we not need scholars and thinkers, those who contemplate Masonry just as badly as those who lead Masonry?
Are we not doing great harm to our Lodges by pushing men into roles they either do not want or are unsuited for? Are we not also doing harm to these Masons?
Committees, cooking, and others are likewise important roles. we need cleaners, pavers, HVAC guys, etc. Craftsmen. They should be rewarded also for the work they do.
But as for cooks, yes indeed! When a Lodge has a guy who loves to cook, it can be a wonderful addition to the experience. I know of a small handful of Lodges blessed with a man like that, and it certainly drives participation.
And seeing some that wanted to move up the chairs but just couldn't move up over the years.
I probably already told you my long story, but I wanted to join way back in 1989 but everyone I knew said it was just an old building that was rented out.
Well decades later I got online and found one in my District that had a website and a place to contact about the subject (Brother is now with the Architect) and he connected me to our local Lodge WM
When I was first on that *sideline* I told myself I would move up the line and would do whatever it takes and I tend to get determined and never give up.
I know many Lodges are full of many Brothers and it might not be very easy to move up the line and when I went to the Communication last year I saw moving into that Grand line would have been my dream if I would have got to join way back in 1989..........but when I saw that many Brothers from around the State and the fact I will be 65 this month when it comes to doing that I am just glad I got to meet most of them many times even before they got up there.
I always have thought things can happen for a reason for me and I guess even Zoom caught me otherwise most of this may have never happened.
Well right now I am the member at two of my District Lodges and that showed me a few other things about just how things work and what Brothers have been doing for the last 50+ years.
THAT is one thing I will never reach since I am pretty sure I will not be around when I am 115 years old.
But I have always planned ahead (a few Brothers found that out) and am the SW at my home Lodge so I get plenty of JD practice for a couple years at my other Lodge. (which of course would help me assist any new Brothers or some that get stuck there)
I have been planning ahead the last 2 years and watched the WM's and MWGM's and think about just how I will doing my part as the WM next year and since I am in my 19th year at CERN I have a feeling the 47th Problem Of Euclid and Pythagoras of Samos just might be brought up and hopefully I won't put them all to sleep in 2025 but I do know my Lodge will no longer going *Dark* so I will get a couple more months to plan for.
I must say that a certain MW is part of my determination to do what I can in the few years that I can do them and several other Brothers over the last few years.
OK 6am so I better go pretend I have been asleep...........
We have an EA joining us from another jurisdiction. He’s working on proving up as an EA. His next job is to summarize “The Apprentice Book” for the Lodge (great recommendation, MW, I’m enjoying it).
And then we have a FC who’s been away for a while. His job will be to help conduct the FC degree for our EA.
Both of them will help the rest of us practice - it’s important to show the new guys we know our stuff.
I really like the idea of having an EA summarize the Apprentice Book! That will certainly serve to give him a great overview of his Degree! One of the EA's I'm currently mentoring is a voracious reader of everything I suggest to him, he's doing something similar with the Scottish Rite SJ EA Degree Lecture.
I talk about this all the time with other masons. The officer’s line is simply a subsection of Masonry which acts as a leadership training program. Ideally, those who possess the necessary temperament and discipline will self-select and choose to submit themselves to this process for the sake of learning how to lead. Again, in an ideal situation, there would be a progressive line and the man would spend years on this journey leading to the East. But it should not be a requirement of any man. Some will be more drawn to esoteric studies, others to ritual work, others to writing and publishing research, and some will just want some good old fashion brotherhood and fraternity. And that’s ok. There should be enough Masonry for everyone.
The problem with all this: is that we’re desperate. Most lodges I know have a tough time filling even the 7 basic officer positions, let alone a complete line. We don’t force men through the officers chairs because we just love watching people go through it, there’s literally no one else. The senior members are tired. They’ve shuffled through the chairs many times and just want some one new to take their place.
I myself wasn’t particularly interested being an officer, and my mother lodge was in a way better position than most when I joined. But even then, I recall seeing men reluctantly stand for a role or accept a position because they felt they had to since there wasn’t anyone to replace them. I saw a need, and I sought to fill it. I threw myself into that part of Masonry, not because it interested me, but because I felt my brothers needed me.
My journey “through the chairs” was a weird one: I had never actually sat in the chair I was installed in, having instead to fill in for the person in the next chair up the line for one reason or another every single year. It’s only now that I’m the WM of my lodge is there no one else above me to have to fill in for. But it’s never been what I want to do. I want to study. I want to join the Scottish Rite. I want to write about esotericism. But the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.
I completely agree with this. With the decline of masonic membership across the nation many lodges have 2,3,4, or 5+ time past masters who want a break from the craft or to do other things.
My lodge started having this problem about 8-10 years ago and fortunately we have brothers stepping up, but we have also had a more disturbing trend of losing our immediate past masters every year.
Brothers placed into the east or wardens chair before they are ready and then all this pressure and ever present "Thats not how I did this as Master" leads to many Brothers leaving the craft.
I am fortunate that my lodge agreed this year and at the difficulty of a couple brothers to give myself and a couple other brothers time to restart the line of officers and for us to mature into the role.
I find this interesting in a couple ways. I was raised in December of 2019 at the age of 19 years old. Im now 32 and Junior Warden. Its taken me this long to find the maturity and responsibility to take upon myself the mantle of leading the lodge. As long as the progression is natural and "right" for the brother our paths will vary widely. The current senior warden at my lodge for instance is my age, and only joined about 5-6 years ago, we have been working together to build a future for our lodge and fortunately with the new growth and the patience of our older brothers we now have a line reformed and a path for our lodge for the next 5 years.
As its said commonly you get what you put in to masonry. Leadership, Esoteric, historical. There is room for every brother.
You are certainly correct that desperation over a lack of manpower is what drives much of the push into the line. But I also see where it can strengthen a vicious cycle. The Lodge lacks manpower, so pushes a guy into a Chair he isn't ready for or doesn't want, that burns him out, so he drops out of Masonry, and the problem grows worse.
That's one of my concerns anyway.
Like you, I too had a very strange trip through the Chairs. The first Lodge I had a Chair in had an extremely strong line, and a lot of Brothers, so I started as Junior Steward, and then was promoted to Senior Steward the next year. Then I moved, so sat on the sidelines for two years because I took awhile to decide what Lodge I wanted to become a part of. From there Senior Deacon, then Senior Warden, but in that role I actually served as Worshipful Master for much of the year because our elected WM had a personal crisis. Then WM in my own right, followed by Secretary.
Whenever I think back on whatever success I may have had leading the Lodge, I attribute a great deal of it to those two years I sat on the sidelines.
So I used to create live content. I valued my “lurkers” more than those that chatted about everything. The lurkers are the people who simply showed up and watched or listened while I did my thing. Much like a sideliner in Lodge they are just there to enjoy the experience and be there for the fellowship. Those are the people a Lodge needs to retain, those are the people the WM needs to make sure the education speaks to. You’ll typically always have your chairs, but you need to have your sidelines to make a truly perfect Lodge.
I think that maybe, a lot of times, those responsible for putting on programs and the like think that the silent Brothers are silent because the content provided doesn't resonate with them. But I think you are certainly correct, just because they are silent, doesn't mean that they don't value it.
You missed one MW. What about the brother that pushes to be in the line, but can't do the work? Should the lodge put him in a chair, in the hopes that he grows into it, or expends the extra effort to learn the ritual? What if he doesn't? Year after year the brother advances up the chairs, yet it's obvious that things aren't getting better and at some point, it will be too late and the lodge is stuck with a problem of their own design. They also don't want to hurt feelings and fix issues, and perhaps partly because no one wants to assume the chair.
Second to becoming Master of my lodge, conferring a degree is the highlight of my masonic journey. No finer privilege than to make a mason, to be forever an indelible part of one man's masonic career. The degrees are a singular event in a man's life and hopefully an impactful one. I personally believe that if you're an officer and a leader of the lodge, it is both your right and your responsibility to confer a degree, hopefully all three at some point in your career. You are only robbing yourself of one of the main responsibilities of masonry - making more masons.
Sorry, my rant took it's usual left turn at albuquerque.
You are 100% correct. We must stop advancing Brothers who aren't able to perform the work. Doing otherwise does nothing but destroy a Lodge. Ultimately it is harmful to the man as well.
I do not wish to diminish masonry, but there is great importance placed in the work of the code and the chairs. I think this is predicted on a false belief that to understand masonry one must toil through both. I also believe that a Lodge's leadership is taxing in this day and age and the need to replace oneself to get out of the line is a primary driver.
Lastly, our society, in the USA, has become a very individual focused one which does not lend itself to group learning.
Take all this and I believe we have been set up on the wrong path of belief. Trading in measurable success through memory work rather than incorporating true exploration.
Opening a lodge takes 10 min and the reason for having to do it is seemingly traditional. Closing is 10 - 15 min so a lodge meeting begins and ends with a ritual that totals 25 min. Some may balk at this statement, but I wager that most brothers tune out or fall asleep during these times what else is there without the "why" explained?
The meeting I'm between is not a fellowship meeting but one of paying the bills. This is, in my experience, drive by the WM and little involvement by the brothers.
This indoctrinates new brothers to not feel involved, which, I think, perpetuate the topic here, Sideliners.
If the lodge brothers are not being involved or included because leadership is doing it for them then the lodge is doing a disservice to our brothers. Not all brothers want to talk or overtly participate. A good leader and leadership will work to involve every brother and lose the idea that since they have the title they run the show.
Worshipful Master means worthy of leadership, but it is the brothers lodge and not the WM's. I think leadership looking at their positions as stewards of the lodge and being servant leaders would go a long way in involving the Sideliners in the lodge without the pressure of them entering the line.
It is possible to handle a Lodge's business within a few short minutes, and use all of the rest of the time between opening and closing for meaningful interaction. There is one Lodge in my Jurisdiction that does this exceptionally well.
They will open, handle the business with lightning speed, and then pull chairs into a circle in the middle of the room, then have a very gently guided discussion about some aspect of Freemasonry and how we can relate that teaching to our lives.
It is a superb experience, many Lodges would do very well to emulate it.
One of the keys to it I think is that it is participatory. It sticks with a man because he is a part of it. It also allows for discussion about complex topics, without anyone having to be an expert in the topic, because no one is tasked with doing a presentation.
Not every man is a leader, not every leader wants to lead.
That said, it has been my experience that the only ‘practice’ we do, in turning a good man into a better man is the experience of working their way thru the line. I know, I know, Masonry teaches all kinds of good things, but generally speaking the only time we put those lessons to the test, and evaluate that test, is as a brother moves thru the line toward the east. In that role he is expected to act as a good Mason, and resolve disputes, make compromises and yet move the Lodge forward. All of that requires growth in most men. So, I agree that not all men should lead, but in my opinion, at the moment it is a crucial component in our developmental scheme.
So, if we say that its acceptable that a brother not enter the leadership line, then in fairness to our promise to that man, we need (again in my opinion) begin to develop a program that actively teaches and tests actual moral and ethical development based on Masonic ideals. I think it’s important to stress here, I am not talking about a lecture, that the man sits thru passively. I mean a lesson, a demonstration, a test and an evaluation. Actual practice. Examples might be, training in conflict resolution, training in negotiation, post mortem evaluation of successes and root cause analysis of failure and conflict. I also think, and I know this may not be popular but an active exposure to spiritual issues.
Obviously, there will be men who have no wish to lead or be developed, but I have to ask, why are they here? Should they have gotten thru the west gate? Yes, somewhat to participate in our charitable functions, and that’s great, but our special purpose as Masons is to make the good better. The work of Masons.
Why is there a push to move a new brother into the line? I can attempt to answer that.
1. Depends on the lodge but some have had the same few brothers rotating because there hasn’t been anyone new or that has stayed. SO tempting to launch them into “the line” and it’s the worst plan.
2. There is a bias that having a PM going up the line, means there is a problem. While It CAN mean there is a problem it doesn’t automatically mean it. Comments of retreads are heard during installation season. Originally a Master would preside until a qualified brother could serve. Probably changed when we churned out new Masons in a post WW2 environment.
3. There is a tendency to put the success of a year into the hands of one brother, the WM. The reasoning is that it’s ‘his year’ and he makes all the decisions. We’ll run lodges don’t put all their eggs in one basket. Now why would a new Mason want to be thrust into a line without any real preparation knowing the entire thing would rest on his shoulders alone.
4. Finally, the notion that “the line” starts at JS and progressively goes up from their means that there is a assumption you are now committing to this journey. Who can make a 7 year commitment when they’ve likely received no training.
So what are we to do?
Lodges should move away from the idea one guys runs the whole thing and move to the success based on the group supporting each other. The WM does not have to do everything. Delegate! It’s shows the team supports each other and reduces the stress from the daunting idea of being the WM.
Don’t get so hung up on the line being 7 stations long and don’t presume to automatically move guys up. If you are not training your replacement you’re doing yourself a disservice.
Finally, resist the urge to throw the new guy into the line. Let him get some experience and confidence and show him he will be supported along the way.
You're spot on, of course. The only problem is, getting brothers to work together can be an exercise in frustration. A lodge can have 100+ members, but it's always the same handful of men doing everything. That leads to several problems, first, burn out from the same small group doing all the work. Second, no one wants to shoulder additional responsibilities when their plate is already full. As a leader I hesitate to delegate work to an already overburdened bunch, and the ones not doing anything rarely show up for lodge anyway and you can't depend on them. As a volunteer organization, people aren't required to attend and won't if they feel like they will be picked to head up some project or another. Basically we've grown lazy as a group.
It is probably not a popular thing for me to say, but in my view, we have stopped demanding excellence from our Petitioners, and that has trickled down into the entire structure. If we demand excellence, men will rise to the challenge. If we don't they won't. It is simple human nature in my view.
All true! Burnout is real. We used to see it in our lodge with so many of the WMs right after their successor was installed. I was a new Mason at the time and I hadn’t figured out why…only later to understand that everything was placed into the hands of one man. Our lodge has since changed direction and we haven’t had a PM disengage since then. We also stopped saying “your term” and “your year”. It perpetuates the wrong message. It’s “our year”. But that was a real problem for a long time.
Any you have a real valid point about shouldering additional responsibilities with a limited group of brothers. I’m not claiming to have all the answers but I will share what our lodge did about 7 years ago. We started cutting back the number of events that we did. Oh the sacred cows! You know, those events that we accumulate because someone did it once years ago and we kept doing it because the last guy kept doing it. We simply didn’t have the manpower for all these events. In fact, it forced us to decide what was really important and it turns out many of these things we’d accumulated along the way were not important enough for more guys to volunteer for.
We still have work to do in this area of mobilizing our brothers to help because we’re a volunteer group. But it’s more manageable now. Perfect? No. Better? Yes.
>>>Originally a Master would preside until a qualified brother could serve. Probably changed when >>>we churned out new Masons in a post WW2 environment.
I have long thought that this is a model that we must adopt in order to help Freemasonry thrive. I've never understood why we would move a qualified man who is doing a superb job in the East out in order to move a less qualified, less effective man in. It just doesn't make sense to me.
I know this might also be a quite unpopular statement to make, but I personally think there was a large generation of men that were brought into the lodge who shouldn't be there. No one guarding the west gate and the floodgates were wide open. Men who didn't understand masonry, who quite frankly were assholes. Not all, but a significant portion. Enough to drive good men away. Set in ruts, unable to change, resistant to new ideas and thinks just learning the ritual is the end all be all of masonry because that's all they ever knew.
A great book to read that I recommend is “Autopsy of a Deceased Church”. I know we aren’t a religion but we have many things in common with an organization of volunteers. Freemasonry isn’t the only organization that struggles. This book offers some very interesting insights and solutions that can parallel for our lodges.
I must say I'm surprised and pleased with the response this has. After reading all their has been written so far, I will put in my two cents.
I believe this is a universal problem in every jurisdiction in the US and Canada.
I understand not every brother that joins wants a leadership position or has the temperament to lead.
By temperament I refer to keeping himself calm when things don't go as he had hoped. We all or should learn from mistakes we have made and try to find a better way to do something.
I didn't join until after I retired for a couple of reasons. The first was as a young man fresh out of the Navy I asked a member of my church how to join and he said "you have to be asked", the second I had s service business and was on call 24/7 and couldn't commit to being a productive member.
My journey was somewhat different I started as the JS then the JW and SW moved so I sat as SD, JW,SW then WM each being one year terms. I consider myself lucky having been in a leadership position most of my adult life, I enjoyed the challenge of doing the work. In the three years I learned the EA lecture, charge and degree. That worked out great for me because my second night as WM I had three EAs to initiate
The problem as I see it is a lack of educating a brother every step of the way starting from JS to WM. We have schools of instruction for all three degrees for the work, but not the running of a well governed lodge.
I know of three lodges that turned in their charter because the same seven men were burned out changing chairs ever year or two.
In any origination you need to change leadership to stay fresh and open to new ways of doing things. Yes sometimes change doesn't always work out for the better but it gives you something to work out and work for the common good.
Sometimes I think Masonry would be better off restricting lodge membership to 50 members. They could meet in the same building or stand alone, but the small lodge would have to work together to survive. Isn't that what we all want in the long run?
Every organization has an hierarchy of positions. Business traditionaly has five or up to seven levels or more. They are all paid positions and the lively hood of the participant depends on their performance. Some businesses have been experimenting to give followers more resonsibilty and have tried reducing the levels of control to two and even one with some success. It is usually based on some incentive(s) for the participant. The common reply in business when you ask someone to do somthing is "what is in it for me?" Remember that to be a "leader" you must have a number of "followers" and you should inform them whats in it for them.
Following is an important activity. As a follower you have responsibilies and actions. Leaders are few but followers are many and success depends on how well this works. Followers cannot stand back and leave it up to the leaders to do everything.
Masonry does not pay monetory wages, but all masons know what our wages are. However the more basic benefits of masonic service are not so well articulated to our members when seeking masonic related help. When recruting new officers and others to serve, remember that they are all volunteers but we still should focus on informing them what is in it for them. It would be useful to have a chart of "opportunities for all the Officer, Committe and other positions available in the Lodge and given to new masons as soon as the are Initiatedas Entered Apprentces or at the latest raised as Master Masons. Some lodges have such lists or surveys requesting members to indicate their interests and where they would likw to serve. It is the non- enthusiatic reponders that the current officers need to work with, not the enthusistic jump right in members. There is a task that every member can be involved in at given times. Other commentators have listed positions in the Lodge so I will not repaet them. My closing comment is that every candidate should be clearly informed that if they join Freemasonary they are signing uo to "work". Everyone needs to play a part.
Committees, cooking, and others are likewise important roles. we need cleaners, pavers, HVAC guys, etc. Craftsmen. They should be rewarded also for the work they do.
And scholars I think.
But as for cooks, yes indeed! When a Lodge has a guy who loves to cook, it can be a wonderful addition to the experience. I know of a small handful of Lodges blessed with a man like that, and it certainly drives participation.
"Give the brethren a chance to do something, anything, no matter how small or unimportant. A brother convinced that he is helpful is enthusiastic."
Theodore Roosevelt
I remember that *sideline*
And seeing some that wanted to move up the chairs but just couldn't move up over the years.
I probably already told you my long story, but I wanted to join way back in 1989 but everyone I knew said it was just an old building that was rented out.
Well decades later I got online and found one in my District that had a website and a place to contact about the subject (Brother is now with the Architect) and he connected me to our local Lodge WM
When I was first on that *sideline* I told myself I would move up the line and would do whatever it takes and I tend to get determined and never give up.
I know many Lodges are full of many Brothers and it might not be very easy to move up the line and when I went to the Communication last year I saw moving into that Grand line would have been my dream if I would have got to join way back in 1989..........but when I saw that many Brothers from around the State and the fact I will be 65 this month when it comes to doing that I am just glad I got to meet most of them many times even before they got up there.
I always have thought things can happen for a reason for me and I guess even Zoom caught me otherwise most of this may have never happened.
Well right now I am the member at two of my District Lodges and that showed me a few other things about just how things work and what Brothers have been doing for the last 50+ years.
THAT is one thing I will never reach since I am pretty sure I will not be around when I am 115 years old.
But I have always planned ahead (a few Brothers found that out) and am the SW at my home Lodge so I get plenty of JD practice for a couple years at my other Lodge. (which of course would help me assist any new Brothers or some that get stuck there)
I have been planning ahead the last 2 years and watched the WM's and MWGM's and think about just how I will doing my part as the WM next year and since I am in my 19th year at CERN I have a feeling the 47th Problem Of Euclid and Pythagoras of Samos just might be brought up and hopefully I won't put them all to sleep in 2025 but I do know my Lodge will no longer going *Dark* so I will get a couple more months to plan for.
I must say that a certain MW is part of my determination to do what I can in the few years that I can do them and several other Brothers over the last few years.
OK 6am so I better go pretend I have been asleep...........
I know that you are going to have a great year in the East!
We have an EA joining us from another jurisdiction. He’s working on proving up as an EA. His next job is to summarize “The Apprentice Book” for the Lodge (great recommendation, MW, I’m enjoying it).
And then we have a FC who’s been away for a while. His job will be to help conduct the FC degree for our EA.
Both of them will help the rest of us practice - it’s important to show the new guys we know our stuff.
Plenty to do on the sidelines!
I really like the idea of having an EA summarize the Apprentice Book! That will certainly serve to give him a great overview of his Degree! One of the EA's I'm currently mentoring is a voracious reader of everything I suggest to him, he's doing something similar with the Scottish Rite SJ EA Degree Lecture.
I talk about this all the time with other masons. The officer’s line is simply a subsection of Masonry which acts as a leadership training program. Ideally, those who possess the necessary temperament and discipline will self-select and choose to submit themselves to this process for the sake of learning how to lead. Again, in an ideal situation, there would be a progressive line and the man would spend years on this journey leading to the East. But it should not be a requirement of any man. Some will be more drawn to esoteric studies, others to ritual work, others to writing and publishing research, and some will just want some good old fashion brotherhood and fraternity. And that’s ok. There should be enough Masonry for everyone.
The problem with all this: is that we’re desperate. Most lodges I know have a tough time filling even the 7 basic officer positions, let alone a complete line. We don’t force men through the officers chairs because we just love watching people go through it, there’s literally no one else. The senior members are tired. They’ve shuffled through the chairs many times and just want some one new to take their place.
I myself wasn’t particularly interested being an officer, and my mother lodge was in a way better position than most when I joined. But even then, I recall seeing men reluctantly stand for a role or accept a position because they felt they had to since there wasn’t anyone to replace them. I saw a need, and I sought to fill it. I threw myself into that part of Masonry, not because it interested me, but because I felt my brothers needed me.
My journey “through the chairs” was a weird one: I had never actually sat in the chair I was installed in, having instead to fill in for the person in the next chair up the line for one reason or another every single year. It’s only now that I’m the WM of my lodge is there no one else above me to have to fill in for. But it’s never been what I want to do. I want to study. I want to join the Scottish Rite. I want to write about esotericism. But the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.
I completely agree with this. With the decline of masonic membership across the nation many lodges have 2,3,4, or 5+ time past masters who want a break from the craft or to do other things.
My lodge started having this problem about 8-10 years ago and fortunately we have brothers stepping up, but we have also had a more disturbing trend of losing our immediate past masters every year.
Brothers placed into the east or wardens chair before they are ready and then all this pressure and ever present "Thats not how I did this as Master" leads to many Brothers leaving the craft.
I am fortunate that my lodge agreed this year and at the difficulty of a couple brothers to give myself and a couple other brothers time to restart the line of officers and for us to mature into the role.
I find this interesting in a couple ways. I was raised in December of 2019 at the age of 19 years old. Im now 32 and Junior Warden. Its taken me this long to find the maturity and responsibility to take upon myself the mantle of leading the lodge. As long as the progression is natural and "right" for the brother our paths will vary widely. The current senior warden at my lodge for instance is my age, and only joined about 5-6 years ago, we have been working together to build a future for our lodge and fortunately with the new growth and the patience of our older brothers we now have a line reformed and a path for our lodge for the next 5 years.
As its said commonly you get what you put in to masonry. Leadership, Esoteric, historical. There is room for every brother.
>>>As its said commonly you get what you put in to masonry. Leadership, Esoteric, historical. >>>There is room for every brother.
It took me a long time to truly understand the meaning of this phrase, but I've certainly found it to be 100% correct.
Congratulations on the success turning around your Lodge! That is awesome!
You are certainly correct that desperation over a lack of manpower is what drives much of the push into the line. But I also see where it can strengthen a vicious cycle. The Lodge lacks manpower, so pushes a guy into a Chair he isn't ready for or doesn't want, that burns him out, so he drops out of Masonry, and the problem grows worse.
That's one of my concerns anyway.
Like you, I too had a very strange trip through the Chairs. The first Lodge I had a Chair in had an extremely strong line, and a lot of Brothers, so I started as Junior Steward, and then was promoted to Senior Steward the next year. Then I moved, so sat on the sidelines for two years because I took awhile to decide what Lodge I wanted to become a part of. From there Senior Deacon, then Senior Warden, but in that role I actually served as Worshipful Master for much of the year because our elected WM had a personal crisis. Then WM in my own right, followed by Secretary.
Whenever I think back on whatever success I may have had leading the Lodge, I attribute a great deal of it to those two years I sat on the sidelines.
Amen
So I used to create live content. I valued my “lurkers” more than those that chatted about everything. The lurkers are the people who simply showed up and watched or listened while I did my thing. Much like a sideliner in Lodge they are just there to enjoy the experience and be there for the fellowship. Those are the people a Lodge needs to retain, those are the people the WM needs to make sure the education speaks to. You’ll typically always have your chairs, but you need to have your sidelines to make a truly perfect Lodge.
I think that maybe, a lot of times, those responsible for putting on programs and the like think that the silent Brothers are silent because the content provided doesn't resonate with them. But I think you are certainly correct, just because they are silent, doesn't mean that they don't value it.
You missed one MW. What about the brother that pushes to be in the line, but can't do the work? Should the lodge put him in a chair, in the hopes that he grows into it, or expends the extra effort to learn the ritual? What if he doesn't? Year after year the brother advances up the chairs, yet it's obvious that things aren't getting better and at some point, it will be too late and the lodge is stuck with a problem of their own design. They also don't want to hurt feelings and fix issues, and perhaps partly because no one wants to assume the chair.
Second to becoming Master of my lodge, conferring a degree is the highlight of my masonic journey. No finer privilege than to make a mason, to be forever an indelible part of one man's masonic career. The degrees are a singular event in a man's life and hopefully an impactful one. I personally believe that if you're an officer and a leader of the lodge, it is both your right and your responsibility to confer a degree, hopefully all three at some point in your career. You are only robbing yourself of one of the main responsibilities of masonry - making more masons.
Sorry, my rant took it's usual left turn at albuquerque.
You are 100% correct. We must stop advancing Brothers who aren't able to perform the work. Doing otherwise does nothing but destroy a Lodge. Ultimately it is harmful to the man as well.
I do not wish to diminish masonry, but there is great importance placed in the work of the code and the chairs. I think this is predicted on a false belief that to understand masonry one must toil through both. I also believe that a Lodge's leadership is taxing in this day and age and the need to replace oneself to get out of the line is a primary driver.
Lastly, our society, in the USA, has become a very individual focused one which does not lend itself to group learning.
Take all this and I believe we have been set up on the wrong path of belief. Trading in measurable success through memory work rather than incorporating true exploration.
Opening a lodge takes 10 min and the reason for having to do it is seemingly traditional. Closing is 10 - 15 min so a lodge meeting begins and ends with a ritual that totals 25 min. Some may balk at this statement, but I wager that most brothers tune out or fall asleep during these times what else is there without the "why" explained?
The meeting I'm between is not a fellowship meeting but one of paying the bills. This is, in my experience, drive by the WM and little involvement by the brothers.
This indoctrinates new brothers to not feel involved, which, I think, perpetuate the topic here, Sideliners.
If the lodge brothers are not being involved or included because leadership is doing it for them then the lodge is doing a disservice to our brothers. Not all brothers want to talk or overtly participate. A good leader and leadership will work to involve every brother and lose the idea that since they have the title they run the show.
Worshipful Master means worthy of leadership, but it is the brothers lodge and not the WM's. I think leadership looking at their positions as stewards of the lodge and being servant leaders would go a long way in involving the Sideliners in the lodge without the pressure of them entering the line.
It is possible to handle a Lodge's business within a few short minutes, and use all of the rest of the time between opening and closing for meaningful interaction. There is one Lodge in my Jurisdiction that does this exceptionally well.
They will open, handle the business with lightning speed, and then pull chairs into a circle in the middle of the room, then have a very gently guided discussion about some aspect of Freemasonry and how we can relate that teaching to our lives.
It is a superb experience, many Lodges would do very well to emulate it.
One of the keys to it I think is that it is participatory. It sticks with a man because he is a part of it. It also allows for discussion about complex topics, without anyone having to be an expert in the topic, because no one is tasked with doing a presentation.
Not every man is a leader, not every leader wants to lead.
That said, it has been my experience that the only ‘practice’ we do, in turning a good man into a better man is the experience of working their way thru the line. I know, I know, Masonry teaches all kinds of good things, but generally speaking the only time we put those lessons to the test, and evaluate that test, is as a brother moves thru the line toward the east. In that role he is expected to act as a good Mason, and resolve disputes, make compromises and yet move the Lodge forward. All of that requires growth in most men. So, I agree that not all men should lead, but in my opinion, at the moment it is a crucial component in our developmental scheme.
So, if we say that its acceptable that a brother not enter the leadership line, then in fairness to our promise to that man, we need (again in my opinion) begin to develop a program that actively teaches and tests actual moral and ethical development based on Masonic ideals. I think it’s important to stress here, I am not talking about a lecture, that the man sits thru passively. I mean a lesson, a demonstration, a test and an evaluation. Actual practice. Examples might be, training in conflict resolution, training in negotiation, post mortem evaluation of successes and root cause analysis of failure and conflict. I also think, and I know this may not be popular but an active exposure to spiritual issues.
Obviously, there will be men who have no wish to lead or be developed, but I have to ask, why are they here? Should they have gotten thru the west gate? Yes, somewhat to participate in our charitable functions, and that’s great, but our special purpose as Masons is to make the good better. The work of Masons.
Thank you for this VW Brother. I've never quite thought of it in that way, but have been contemplating your words since reading them yesterday.
Why is there a push to move a new brother into the line? I can attempt to answer that.
1. Depends on the lodge but some have had the same few brothers rotating because there hasn’t been anyone new or that has stayed. SO tempting to launch them into “the line” and it’s the worst plan.
2. There is a bias that having a PM going up the line, means there is a problem. While It CAN mean there is a problem it doesn’t automatically mean it. Comments of retreads are heard during installation season. Originally a Master would preside until a qualified brother could serve. Probably changed when we churned out new Masons in a post WW2 environment.
3. There is a tendency to put the success of a year into the hands of one brother, the WM. The reasoning is that it’s ‘his year’ and he makes all the decisions. We’ll run lodges don’t put all their eggs in one basket. Now why would a new Mason want to be thrust into a line without any real preparation knowing the entire thing would rest on his shoulders alone.
4. Finally, the notion that “the line” starts at JS and progressively goes up from their means that there is a assumption you are now committing to this journey. Who can make a 7 year commitment when they’ve likely received no training.
So what are we to do?
Lodges should move away from the idea one guys runs the whole thing and move to the success based on the group supporting each other. The WM does not have to do everything. Delegate! It’s shows the team supports each other and reduces the stress from the daunting idea of being the WM.
Don’t get so hung up on the line being 7 stations long and don’t presume to automatically move guys up. If you are not training your replacement you’re doing yourself a disservice.
Finally, resist the urge to throw the new guy into the line. Let him get some experience and confidence and show him he will be supported along the way.
You're spot on, of course. The only problem is, getting brothers to work together can be an exercise in frustration. A lodge can have 100+ members, but it's always the same handful of men doing everything. That leads to several problems, first, burn out from the same small group doing all the work. Second, no one wants to shoulder additional responsibilities when their plate is already full. As a leader I hesitate to delegate work to an already overburdened bunch, and the ones not doing anything rarely show up for lodge anyway and you can't depend on them. As a volunteer organization, people aren't required to attend and won't if they feel like they will be picked to head up some project or another. Basically we've grown lazy as a group.
It is probably not a popular thing for me to say, but in my view, we have stopped demanding excellence from our Petitioners, and that has trickled down into the entire structure. If we demand excellence, men will rise to the challenge. If we don't they won't. It is simple human nature in my view.
All true! Burnout is real. We used to see it in our lodge with so many of the WMs right after their successor was installed. I was a new Mason at the time and I hadn’t figured out why…only later to understand that everything was placed into the hands of one man. Our lodge has since changed direction and we haven’t had a PM disengage since then. We also stopped saying “your term” and “your year”. It perpetuates the wrong message. It’s “our year”. But that was a real problem for a long time.
Any you have a real valid point about shouldering additional responsibilities with a limited group of brothers. I’m not claiming to have all the answers but I will share what our lodge did about 7 years ago. We started cutting back the number of events that we did. Oh the sacred cows! You know, those events that we accumulate because someone did it once years ago and we kept doing it because the last guy kept doing it. We simply didn’t have the manpower for all these events. In fact, it forced us to decide what was really important and it turns out many of these things we’d accumulated along the way were not important enough for more guys to volunteer for.
We still have work to do in this area of mobilizing our brothers to help because we’re a volunteer group. But it’s more manageable now. Perfect? No. Better? Yes.
>>>Originally a Master would preside until a qualified brother could serve. Probably changed when >>>we churned out new Masons in a post WW2 environment.
I have long thought that this is a model that we must adopt in order to help Freemasonry thrive. I've never understood why we would move a qualified man who is doing a superb job in the East out in order to move a less qualified, less effective man in. It just doesn't make sense to me.
I know this might also be a quite unpopular statement to make, but I personally think there was a large generation of men that were brought into the lodge who shouldn't be there. No one guarding the west gate and the floodgates were wide open. Men who didn't understand masonry, who quite frankly were assholes. Not all, but a significant portion. Enough to drive good men away. Set in ruts, unable to change, resistant to new ideas and thinks just learning the ritual is the end all be all of masonry because that's all they ever knew.
A great book to read that I recommend is “Autopsy of a Deceased Church”. I know we aren’t a religion but we have many things in common with an organization of volunteers. Freemasonry isn’t the only organization that struggles. This book offers some very interesting insights and solutions that can parallel for our lodges.
Thank you for this recommendation! I appreciate it.
Read it after the presentation at the LLR last year. Wonderful book and sheds light on many similar parallels.
I must say I'm surprised and pleased with the response this has. After reading all their has been written so far, I will put in my two cents.
I believe this is a universal problem in every jurisdiction in the US and Canada.
I understand not every brother that joins wants a leadership position or has the temperament to lead.
By temperament I refer to keeping himself calm when things don't go as he had hoped. We all or should learn from mistakes we have made and try to find a better way to do something.
I didn't join until after I retired for a couple of reasons. The first was as a young man fresh out of the Navy I asked a member of my church how to join and he said "you have to be asked", the second I had s service business and was on call 24/7 and couldn't commit to being a productive member.
My journey was somewhat different I started as the JS then the JW and SW moved so I sat as SD, JW,SW then WM each being one year terms. I consider myself lucky having been in a leadership position most of my adult life, I enjoyed the challenge of doing the work. In the three years I learned the EA lecture, charge and degree. That worked out great for me because my second night as WM I had three EAs to initiate
The problem as I see it is a lack of educating a brother every step of the way starting from JS to WM. We have schools of instruction for all three degrees for the work, but not the running of a well governed lodge.
I know of three lodges that turned in their charter because the same seven men were burned out changing chairs ever year or two.
In any origination you need to change leadership to stay fresh and open to new ways of doing things. Yes sometimes change doesn't always work out for the better but it gives you something to work out and work for the common good.
Sometimes I think Masonry would be better off restricting lodge membership to 50 members. They could meet in the same building or stand alone, but the small lodge would have to work together to survive. Isn't that what we all want in the long run?
Every organization has an hierarchy of positions. Business traditionaly has five or up to seven levels or more. They are all paid positions and the lively hood of the participant depends on their performance. Some businesses have been experimenting to give followers more resonsibilty and have tried reducing the levels of control to two and even one with some success. It is usually based on some incentive(s) for the participant. The common reply in business when you ask someone to do somthing is "what is in it for me?" Remember that to be a "leader" you must have a number of "followers" and you should inform them whats in it for them.
Following is an important activity. As a follower you have responsibilies and actions. Leaders are few but followers are many and success depends on how well this works. Followers cannot stand back and leave it up to the leaders to do everything.
Masonry does not pay monetory wages, but all masons know what our wages are. However the more basic benefits of masonic service are not so well articulated to our members when seeking masonic related help. When recruting new officers and others to serve, remember that they are all volunteers but we still should focus on informing them what is in it for them. It would be useful to have a chart of "opportunities for all the Officer, Committe and other positions available in the Lodge and given to new masons as soon as the are Initiatedas Entered Apprentces or at the latest raised as Master Masons. Some lodges have such lists or surveys requesting members to indicate their interests and where they would likw to serve. It is the non- enthusiatic reponders that the current officers need to work with, not the enthusistic jump right in members. There is a task that every member can be involved in at given times. Other commentators have listed positions in the Lodge so I will not repaet them. My closing comment is that every candidate should be clearly informed that if they join Freemasonary they are signing uo to "work". Everyone needs to play a part.
This could be a good topic for a paper !
Great harm indeed. Seen Brothers go through the chairs that should be strong enough to know they shouldn't.