Today I read a post online, from a new EA, who was unsure what to do, because he hasn’t heard from his mentor in months.
Sometime in the last week or two, I heard from a new Master Mason in person who was concerned because a new EA in his Lodge had reached out to him, because just as with the EA above, he hadn’t heard from his mentor in months.
How are our Masons going through the Degrees supposed to learn what we require them to learn if the person assigned to help them refuses to do so? How are they supposed to get a good start in Freemasonry, if they are ignored, and no one shows them the start of their own Masonic path?
We hear an awful lot about retention problems, and an awful lot of hand wringing from faltering Lodges, and then we hear stories like this.
Two men learning together
So, I think we should discuss it…
How do we, as leaders, or even just as sideliners in our Lodge, make certain that the men assigned as mentors and/or coaches, are actually working with the new Masons they are supposed to be helping?
How can we make sure that our new Masons are getting what they need?
Should we worry about hurting someone’s feelings who isn’t doing the job, by pointing out that they aren’t doing the job and seeking their replacement?
I experienced this yesterday. An EA left in his own during a 3rd degree. The Mentir remained in the ceremony. Fortunately I had advised the EA to use his time to log into Solomon - UGLEs platform that leads EAs through their journey to RA. Im hoping to issue booklets starting with the EA. Upon completion of the relevan module in Solomon a digital Badge is issued. Im asking Lodges to present a certificate to recognise the efforts of the individual as part of the mentors report…….we’ll see how it goes…..
The main responsible for the EA is the JW. He is the one that has to make sure the work is done, even if he delegates in others.
One thing that I notice (even in my lodge back in Puerto Rico), is that the only requirement is to learn the ritual book, and to learn the Q&A at the back of it. Thats it.
When people join Freemasonry they do it thinking mostly of the spiritual aspects and the esoteric and mystic part of the Craft, but most find nothing beyond what I commented above, only bbq and pancakes. Freemasonry is more than that and we as MM have to keep searching and learning more so we can pass the knowledge to the newly BB.
It is our commitment as Masons to pass along what we have learned. Mentoring, coaching, instructing are fundamentals which Lodge members should embrace. It is not only the responsibility of the Lodge Officers to ensure this happening. It is the responsibility of the members to step up, be the mentors and coaches. When you do, you get so much more in return. You learn about a Brother and help him on him Masonic path to success. You strengthen your Lodge and develop leadership skills.
We utilize a coaching/mentor committee. The committee chair has the responsibility of tracking progress through the degrees. He will communicate with the mentor and candidate to ensure needs, and timelines are met. This chair is responsible to give a committee report to lodge during regular business. The mentor, who is usually a volunteer, becomes a member of that committee. We have found the oversite and leadership approach to be most useful with those just starting thier journey. When you take care of your initiated they take care of you. They feel welcome and as though they are a part of a structured organization that takes accountability for thier member. I really believe a fellowship committee and coaching committee are essential to growing a lodge.
Emeth, you always talk about the good stuff that no one wants to address. I love this. Mentors and coaches let down their students every year. I have seen candidates not study for months, I have seen candidates try to contact their coaches with no replies, I have taken over from coaches that should have never said yes to being a mentor / coach. It comes down to obligations of our degrees and how some Brothers just do not take them serious when they were W of the A. To many Brothers treat these obligations as just words. My 2c, GO.
Still waiting for my Lodge to assign a mentor to me. EA, FC, MM... no mentor. I’m WM now so I guess I’ll assign me to mentor myself. Hope it works out!
I guess you could say I was blessed with my journey that my old lodge had a great mentoring program. We met at the lodge every week, to help new men memorize the posting lectures, socialize, and perhaps even go to dinner afterwards. We had one man that prided himself on being the lodges main coach (VWB Orton Krueger, RIP) and he probably helped hundreds of masons to learn their proficiency over his lifetime. If there wasn't a newly minted brother going through the degrees that needed mentoring, we went upstairs to the lodge room and practiced ritual. That lodge, in my time, was a great example of a lodge that had it's shit together.
So, in my new lodge, we're not nearly as active as my old. We've raised two MMs in the 2 years I've been here, so there's been not a lot of opportunities to provide that mentoring. Our last candidate I was blessed with the opportunity to mentor him and get his proficiency done and was able to confer all three of his degrees, the first time in 10 years I was able to do so.
If there is a lodge that is not providing adequate coaching and mentoring, it's on the WM, as it's his responsibility to make sure it's happening. If he has delegated it, then it's up to him to make sure the person is doing his assigned work. As Harry Truman famously said, "The Buck Stops Here". There is no excuse for such neglect, I would even go so far as to push for masonic charges on those that are not living up to their obligations.
I've also found that getting that new brother involved in coaching and mentoring helps both refresh the posting lectures as well as provide coaching for others. As a FC, I loved coaching the new EAs and it kept me involved and feeling like I was contributing. Of course that only works if your lodge is that busy with new blood.
In other jurisdictions I have visited they have formalized “schools” that meet regularly to teach ritual and provide mentorship and other education (GL of Pennsylvania comes to mind) I’m going to work to create something similar locally in my little corner of the GL of Washington state jurisdiction. As WB Ken Lane indicated previously it’s not just good for the students and mentees, committed teachers and mentors often reap more benefits from the process.
One item that I feel is a good practice is actually assigning two mentors to every new brother. One mentor is the “ritual mentor” working with the candidate on their proficiency and teaching them about the esoteric side of Masonry. The other is the “social mentor” whose job is to keep the brother engaged in the Lodge’s activities. This is especially key in jurisdictions that don’t allow meeting on any degree but the third. The two mentors can also act as backstops for each other, but more critically it allows brothers who aren’t “ritualists” to participate in the candidate mentoring process and helps the new members get to know more of the Lodge.
I read this earlier at work, and thought about the post I wanted to write. When I first read the post I was angry that someone would not take the time to teach their new Brother our work. I then thought to myself, I need to not respond right now, and think about what I'm going to say. We talk about the different degrees to 'Seekers' as if they are stages of ones life. An EA is an infant, moldable, and pliable. We can raise them up to be a great Mason, maybe even a WM, or more! However, if we toss them to the side like a bruised banana and treat them like nothing more than a dollar sign, what good are we doing to the Craft, let alone that Brother? We courted that Brother, just as much as they courted us during their time before taking their obligation, and we as Masters Masons are failing our Masters Obligation. We stood where they stand, we said the words they say, and if the Lodge is doing their job right, we are given direction from our WM to aid and assist that Brother. We cannot fail our newly obligated Brother, is stains our aprons, and breaks our gavels, thus failing Masonry as a whole all together.
Forget about getting together to practice the degree week. Get together to have fun and fellowship. The degree work will take care of itself if the man is participating in activities with the brethren. If you're going bowling with your family, invite the new Mason. If your watching the game, invite the new Mason. If your grilling steaks, invite the new mason. Men are lonely and starving for fellowship in this modern world. We want to be included in activities that are fun. We want to be invited to gatherings. The degree work can be done in snippets during fellowship. It should not be the focus of the meeting.
I experienced this yesterday. An EA left in his own during a 3rd degree. The Mentir remained in the ceremony. Fortunately I had advised the EA to use his time to log into Solomon - UGLEs platform that leads EAs through their journey to RA. Im hoping to issue booklets starting with the EA. Upon completion of the relevan module in Solomon a digital Badge is issued. Im asking Lodges to present a certificate to recognise the efforts of the individual as part of the mentors report…….we’ll see how it goes…..
The main responsible for the EA is the JW. He is the one that has to make sure the work is done, even if he delegates in others.
One thing that I notice (even in my lodge back in Puerto Rico), is that the only requirement is to learn the ritual book, and to learn the Q&A at the back of it. Thats it.
When people join Freemasonry they do it thinking mostly of the spiritual aspects and the esoteric and mystic part of the Craft, but most find nothing beyond what I commented above, only bbq and pancakes. Freemasonry is more than that and we as MM have to keep searching and learning more so we can pass the knowledge to the newly BB.
It is our commitment as Masons to pass along what we have learned. Mentoring, coaching, instructing are fundamentals which Lodge members should embrace. It is not only the responsibility of the Lodge Officers to ensure this happening. It is the responsibility of the members to step up, be the mentors and coaches. When you do, you get so much more in return. You learn about a Brother and help him on him Masonic path to success. You strengthen your Lodge and develop leadership skills.
We utilize a coaching/mentor committee. The committee chair has the responsibility of tracking progress through the degrees. He will communicate with the mentor and candidate to ensure needs, and timelines are met. This chair is responsible to give a committee report to lodge during regular business. The mentor, who is usually a volunteer, becomes a member of that committee. We have found the oversite and leadership approach to be most useful with those just starting thier journey. When you take care of your initiated they take care of you. They feel welcome and as though they are a part of a structured organization that takes accountability for thier member. I really believe a fellowship committee and coaching committee are essential to growing a lodge.
Emeth, you always talk about the good stuff that no one wants to address. I love this. Mentors and coaches let down their students every year. I have seen candidates not study for months, I have seen candidates try to contact their coaches with no replies, I have taken over from coaches that should have never said yes to being a mentor / coach. It comes down to obligations of our degrees and how some Brothers just do not take them serious when they were W of the A. To many Brothers treat these obligations as just words. My 2c, GO.
Still waiting for my Lodge to assign a mentor to me. EA, FC, MM... no mentor. I’m WM now so I guess I’ll assign me to mentor myself. Hope it works out!
I guess you could say I was blessed with my journey that my old lodge had a great mentoring program. We met at the lodge every week, to help new men memorize the posting lectures, socialize, and perhaps even go to dinner afterwards. We had one man that prided himself on being the lodges main coach (VWB Orton Krueger, RIP) and he probably helped hundreds of masons to learn their proficiency over his lifetime. If there wasn't a newly minted brother going through the degrees that needed mentoring, we went upstairs to the lodge room and practiced ritual. That lodge, in my time, was a great example of a lodge that had it's shit together.
So, in my new lodge, we're not nearly as active as my old. We've raised two MMs in the 2 years I've been here, so there's been not a lot of opportunities to provide that mentoring. Our last candidate I was blessed with the opportunity to mentor him and get his proficiency done and was able to confer all three of his degrees, the first time in 10 years I was able to do so.
If there is a lodge that is not providing adequate coaching and mentoring, it's on the WM, as it's his responsibility to make sure it's happening. If he has delegated it, then it's up to him to make sure the person is doing his assigned work. As Harry Truman famously said, "The Buck Stops Here". There is no excuse for such neglect, I would even go so far as to push for masonic charges on those that are not living up to their obligations.
I've also found that getting that new brother involved in coaching and mentoring helps both refresh the posting lectures as well as provide coaching for others. As a FC, I loved coaching the new EAs and it kept me involved and feeling like I was contributing. Of course that only works if your lodge is that busy with new blood.
In other jurisdictions I have visited they have formalized “schools” that meet regularly to teach ritual and provide mentorship and other education (GL of Pennsylvania comes to mind) I’m going to work to create something similar locally in my little corner of the GL of Washington state jurisdiction. As WB Ken Lane indicated previously it’s not just good for the students and mentees, committed teachers and mentors often reap more benefits from the process.
One item that I feel is a good practice is actually assigning two mentors to every new brother. One mentor is the “ritual mentor” working with the candidate on their proficiency and teaching them about the esoteric side of Masonry. The other is the “social mentor” whose job is to keep the brother engaged in the Lodge’s activities. This is especially key in jurisdictions that don’t allow meeting on any degree but the third. The two mentors can also act as backstops for each other, but more critically it allows brothers who aren’t “ritualists” to participate in the candidate mentoring process and helps the new members get to know more of the Lodge.
I read this earlier at work, and thought about the post I wanted to write. When I first read the post I was angry that someone would not take the time to teach their new Brother our work. I then thought to myself, I need to not respond right now, and think about what I'm going to say. We talk about the different degrees to 'Seekers' as if they are stages of ones life. An EA is an infant, moldable, and pliable. We can raise them up to be a great Mason, maybe even a WM, or more! However, if we toss them to the side like a bruised banana and treat them like nothing more than a dollar sign, what good are we doing to the Craft, let alone that Brother? We courted that Brother, just as much as they courted us during their time before taking their obligation, and we as Masters Masons are failing our Masters Obligation. We stood where they stand, we said the words they say, and if the Lodge is doing their job right, we are given direction from our WM to aid and assist that Brother. We cannot fail our newly obligated Brother, is stains our aprons, and breaks our gavels, thus failing Masonry as a whole all together.
All the time spent memorizing ritual and lectures and not being able to use it is something that makes me sad. Seems like a wasted resourse.
Forget about getting together to practice the degree week. Get together to have fun and fellowship. The degree work will take care of itself if the man is participating in activities with the brethren. If you're going bowling with your family, invite the new Mason. If your watching the game, invite the new Mason. If your grilling steaks, invite the new mason. Men are lonely and starving for fellowship in this modern world. We want to be included in activities that are fun. We want to be invited to gatherings. The degree work can be done in snippets during fellowship. It should not be the focus of the meeting.