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 appreciate you letting us know about your Lodge's regular schedule, it is certainly very difficult to argue with the great success your Lodge has. It is the only Lodge I visit that normally fills the Lodge room to capacity.
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.
I do believe that if we look at things clearly we see that an active Lodge is most often a truly thriving Lodge. The variety of activities you propose would not only keep the Lodge busy, but as half of them would likely be something new each month, would keep it interesting as well. That has to be a recipe for success.
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.
What I am sensing from your comment and others is that more than once or twice a month is good, but that the specific activity needs to be varied. One Stated Meeting, or perhaps two, but then other activities, something other than a Stated. It seems that change is good to hold interest.
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.
I agree with you, I wouldn't want to see the bylaws changed to one Stated Meeting per month, with the intention of holding a second, non-stated meeting each month as well.
In my experience, things like that work well for a WM or two, but then a WM comes in who doesn't want to hold those second meetings, and pretty soon they are completely gone and long forgotten. If the Lodge wants to meet twice per month, it needs to have that listed as a requirement in the bylaws.
There is no doubt in my mind but that Longview is improving the Lodge experience!
Roy, I am confident with the right planning you will end up improving the overall experience. My only unsolicited advice is to put intention behind each type of meeting and communicate what the plan is.
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.
It does seem that your Lodge members are kept pretty busy together, or at least have the opportunity to be so available to them. I think that is important, as I truly don't think that just seeing a guy once a month for a Stated Meeting is enough to truly build the bonds we seek to build.
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.
I am sorry to read about the problems your Lodge is facing with attendance, especially given the education offered. Do you feel that improvements in the meals provided could help attendance? Or perhaps an outside activity or a new charitable endeavor?
I think that the practice nights are very important. I've found them to be great opportunities to really dig in and have fun with the ritual. Sometimes another Brother will have a truly thought provoking idea about some ritual snippet that I had never thought of.
The only problem I've found with practice nights like this, at least in my area, is that those who need the practice the least are those who are most likely to show up. When I was WM it always bothered me when I'd schedule a practice and the only guys who came were the guys already proficient in the ritual work. Perhaps that is human nature, or perhaps it is more confined to my area.
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.
Thank you Brother. I can see where your meeting schedule could work well, given that you add the social activities, and the August trip.
I certainly think it is a good thing that your Lodge doesn't go dark. Doing so doesn't make any sense in today's world, and through the years I've seen that attendance suffers in Lodges that go dark. Men get out of the habit of going to Lodge, and it can be hard to restart that habit.
I especially like the fact that you are intentionally slowing down petitioning and Degree advancement. It is my view that most Lodges do both of these things far too rapidly. We actually discussed that fact at dinner tonight, not about blue Lodge, but the Scottish Rite. In the US we regularly make 32's in a weekend, but in Mexico that Degree advancement takes years. I don't see how we can expect a man to absorb or retain so much in so little time, and the same thing happens when we speed a man through the Craft Degrees.
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!
Thank you for your kind holiday wishes Brother!
I appreciate you letting us know about your Lodge's regular schedule, it is certainly very difficult to argue with the great success your Lodge has. It is the only Lodge I visit that normally fills the Lodge room to capacity.
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.
I do believe that if we look at things clearly we see that an active Lodge is most often a truly thriving Lodge. The variety of activities you propose would not only keep the Lodge busy, but as half of them would likely be something new each month, would keep it interesting as well. That has to be a recipe for success.
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.
What I am sensing from your comment and others is that more than once or twice a month is good, but that the specific activity needs to be varied. One Stated Meeting, or perhaps two, but then other activities, something other than a Stated. It seems that change is good to hold interest.
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!
I agree with you, I wouldn't want to see the bylaws changed to one Stated Meeting per month, with the intention of holding a second, non-stated meeting each month as well.
In my experience, things like that work well for a WM or two, but then a WM comes in who doesn't want to hold those second meetings, and pretty soon they are completely gone and long forgotten. If the Lodge wants to meet twice per month, it needs to have that listed as a requirement in the bylaws.
There is no doubt in my mind but that Longview is improving the Lodge experience!
Roy, I am confident with the right planning you will end up improving the overall experience. My only unsolicited advice is to put intention behind each type of meeting and communicate what the plan is.
Thanks, Brother. We’re working on it!
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.
Typo....Rainbows are Wednesdays
It does seem that your Lodge members are kept pretty busy together, or at least have the opportunity to be so available to them. I think that is important, as I truly don't think that just seeing a guy once a month for a Stated Meeting is enough to truly build the bonds we seek to build.
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.
I am sorry to read about the problems your Lodge is facing with attendance, especially given the education offered. Do you feel that improvements in the meals provided could help attendance? Or perhaps an outside activity or a new charitable endeavor?
POJPJ98 holds weekly practice and mentorship nights in addition to our stated and special communications.
I think that the practice nights are very important. I've found them to be great opportunities to really dig in and have fun with the ritual. Sometimes another Brother will have a truly thought provoking idea about some ritual snippet that I had never thought of.
The only problem I've found with practice nights like this, at least in my area, is that those who need the practice the least are those who are most likely to show up. When I was WM it always bothered me when I'd schedule a practice and the only guys who came were the guys already proficient in the ritual work. Perhaps that is human nature, or perhaps it is more confined to my area.
Regrettably it is not unique.
Maybe a WM can extend more pointed invitations?
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.
Thank you Brother. I can see where your meeting schedule could work well, given that you add the social activities, and the August trip.
I certainly think it is a good thing that your Lodge doesn't go dark. Doing so doesn't make any sense in today's world, and through the years I've seen that attendance suffers in Lodges that go dark. Men get out of the habit of going to Lodge, and it can be hard to restart that habit.
I especially like the fact that you are intentionally slowing down petitioning and Degree advancement. It is my view that most Lodges do both of these things far too rapidly. We actually discussed that fact at dinner tonight, not about blue Lodge, but the Scottish Rite. In the US we regularly make 32's in a weekend, but in Mexico that Degree advancement takes years. I don't see how we can expect a man to absorb or retain so much in so little time, and the same thing happens when we speed a man through the Craft Degrees.