Is that enough to truly spread the cement of brotherly love?
One of the Grand Lodges we are meeting this week is composed entirely of constituent Lodges that meet every week. Should our Lodges be meeting every week?
Fraternal greetings and Happy Holidays! Silverdale Lodge No. 311 meets every Monday for degree practice, fellowship, planning meeting and our stated communication is on the 1st Monday of the Month. I like that we meet weekly which helps spread the cement that unites us as a Lodge and as Brothers.
Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
I have proposed 4 get together a month but only 1 would be considered a meeting. One stated meeting to plan the other 3 activities. One fellowship lodge where degree work festive board and education takes place. One public outreach event such as a charity drive or building dedication. One out of lodge party such as a sporting event picnic fishing trip or similar bonding activity.
In my fantasy Masonic Hall, there is one monthly meeting of lodge, one for Royal Arch, one for a research lodge or study group, and one for conviviality, like a Grotto.
The superfluous appendant bodies’ schedules make infrequent lodge nights sound appealing.
1st and 3rd Thursday for us (Longview #263, come visit!).
As part of our bylaw review, some want to change this to one stated for business and one more Masonic meeting.
I’m opposed: if there’s just one stated, some members will only show up once a month, if that often. It’s a signal that we have something to offer once a month at most.
It makes more sense to control the agenda so each meeting has Masonic education, as discussed on Emeth and elsewhere.
Our new WM is doing just this. And more - we’ve just started meeting on off weeks to practice degree work.
Peninsular 95 meets 2nd and 4th Thursday, only the first is the Stated Communication.
The 2nd is open to what we want or need to accomplish. January's will be our Annual Chili Cook-Off with the Rainbow Assembly. Others times its a Degree.
Pretty much the core of the Lodge are all Scottish Rite and will see each on the 1st and 3rd Monday. Also quiet a few are in a Lodge of Education that meets on the 2nd Monday.
Quite a few are deeply involved in Rainbows, so there are 2nd and 4th Thursday.
Kennewick lodge #153 meets the 1st and 3rd Wednesday for stated meetings and then the 2nd and 4th for degree work and practices as needed. I doubt we'd get any more attendees if we met weekly. Many brothers do not even n make the meetings we have scheduled. I've noticed the number of brothers attending tends to be dropping. We have good educational material but attendance is still low.
Our meeting cadence may seem unconventional at first blush, but it seems to be a good balance. We meet formally every month on the 3rd Friday. Odd months is our stated communication (6/yr), even months we call a special communication (6/yr) - and we do not go dark. December we conduct our Table Lodge/Feast of St John. This accomplishes a few things for us:
*puts less strain on our annual budget. We do Masonic education at every stated meeting and sometimes we are bringing in Masonic speakers from out of state.
*reduces the time we spend business. Sorry, the business stuff is necessary but boring. We move through this as quick as possible.
*slows down the petitioning and balloting process. This is intentional. Guys usually wait 6 months or more to petition.
*slows down the degree advancement, also intentional. We end up only doing 4 or 5 conferrals in a calendar, meaning it may take a brother potentially more than a year to advance through all 3 degrees. We are all okay with that and we put a lot into making our conferral an excellent experience.
We also have a social function every month. This next year we plan to rotate functions around dining out at a local restaurant, a group activity (guys night out) and what we call Festive Board at the lodge which we invite guests to as part of our six steps. Our Festive Board includes a tour of the lodge, discussion about Freemasonry and our lodge.
August we have our lodge camping trip. We also invite guests as part of the six steps.
So basically there are at least TWO functions per month: one formal, one social. This is also a good balance for us because we like to keep the Masonic meetings focused on Freemasonry, Masonic education and discussion. Social nights are much more laid back.
Between officer meetings, ritual practice, work party, hall board meeting - it that can mean two more times per month.
Fraternal greetings and Happy Holidays! Silverdale Lodge No. 311 meets every Monday for degree practice, fellowship, planning meeting and our stated communication is on the 1st Monday of the Month. I like that we meet weekly which helps spread the cement that unites us as a Lodge and as Brothers.
Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
I have proposed 4 get together a month but only 1 would be considered a meeting. One stated meeting to plan the other 3 activities. One fellowship lodge where degree work festive board and education takes place. One public outreach event such as a charity drive or building dedication. One out of lodge party such as a sporting event picnic fishing trip or similar bonding activity.
In my fantasy Masonic Hall, there is one monthly meeting of lodge, one for Royal Arch, one for a research lodge or study group, and one for conviviality, like a Grotto.
The superfluous appendant bodies’ schedules make infrequent lodge nights sound appealing.
1st and 3rd Thursday for us (Longview #263, come visit!).
As part of our bylaw review, some want to change this to one stated for business and one more Masonic meeting.
I’m opposed: if there’s just one stated, some members will only show up once a month, if that often. It’s a signal that we have something to offer once a month at most.
It makes more sense to control the agenda so each meeting has Masonic education, as discussed on Emeth and elsewhere.
Our new WM is doing just this. And more - we’ve just started meeting on off weeks to practice degree work.
Betcha we end up improving the Lodge experience!
Peninsular 95 meets 2nd and 4th Thursday, only the first is the Stated Communication.
The 2nd is open to what we want or need to accomplish. January's will be our Annual Chili Cook-Off with the Rainbow Assembly. Others times its a Degree.
Pretty much the core of the Lodge are all Scottish Rite and will see each on the 1st and 3rd Monday. Also quiet a few are in a Lodge of Education that meets on the 2nd Monday.
Quite a few are deeply involved in Rainbows, so there are 2nd and 4th Thursday.
Kennewick lodge #153 meets the 1st and 3rd Wednesday for stated meetings and then the 2nd and 4th for degree work and practices as needed. I doubt we'd get any more attendees if we met weekly. Many brothers do not even n make the meetings we have scheduled. I've noticed the number of brothers attending tends to be dropping. We have good educational material but attendance is still low.
POJPJ98 holds weekly practice and mentorship nights in addition to our stated and special communications.
Our meeting cadence may seem unconventional at first blush, but it seems to be a good balance. We meet formally every month on the 3rd Friday. Odd months is our stated communication (6/yr), even months we call a special communication (6/yr) - and we do not go dark. December we conduct our Table Lodge/Feast of St John. This accomplishes a few things for us:
*puts less strain on our annual budget. We do Masonic education at every stated meeting and sometimes we are bringing in Masonic speakers from out of state.
*reduces the time we spend business. Sorry, the business stuff is necessary but boring. We move through this as quick as possible.
*slows down the petitioning and balloting process. This is intentional. Guys usually wait 6 months or more to petition.
*slows down the degree advancement, also intentional. We end up only doing 4 or 5 conferrals in a calendar, meaning it may take a brother potentially more than a year to advance through all 3 degrees. We are all okay with that and we put a lot into making our conferral an excellent experience.
We also have a social function every month. This next year we plan to rotate functions around dining out at a local restaurant, a group activity (guys night out) and what we call Festive Board at the lodge which we invite guests to as part of our six steps. Our Festive Board includes a tour of the lodge, discussion about Freemasonry and our lodge.
August we have our lodge camping trip. We also invite guests as part of the six steps.
So basically there are at least TWO functions per month: one formal, one social. This is also a good balance for us because we like to keep the Masonic meetings focused on Freemasonry, Masonic education and discussion. Social nights are much more laid back.
Between officer meetings, ritual practice, work party, hall board meeting - it that can mean two more times per month.