Some Jurisdictions do One Day Conferrals of the Degrees on a fairly regular basis. In Washington there hasn’t been an event like that for many years as far as I know, but I am aware that we have done them in the past.
There is no provision within our Masonic Law to do them, so in Washington at least they have relied upon the Grand Master’s ancient power to Make A Mason At Sight. As such, they can’t be done without the consent and involvement of the Grand Master.
My hunch is that probably a lot of people have fairly strong opinions about One Day Conferrals, one way or another, focused on their benefits or their drawbacks.
So, let’s chat about it, let’s chat about One Day Conferrals…
I have a fairly strong opinion on this and will refrain from commenting. My questions to any one in favor of would be, what does the retention and activity data show from membership records. We don't do them in NC, however from jurisdictions that do, what does the data show? If you're Grand lodge keeps digital records they could get some analytics done. 1 If i walked up to a 1 day conferral would that member be able to give me the signs, tokens and words? By percentage, how many become officers and memorize their work? By percentage how many stay and contribute? How can you know what you obligated your self to if you don't memorize it? My point being, the data is there, what does it say? We too often make choices in the fraternity with out crunching the numbers.
I don't think that we would have this data for my Jurisdiction, because I don't think it was done many times, and not for a very long time now, so I imagine that whatever we might have would be insufficient to draw from.
As I understand it though, these are done quite a lot more extensively in some other Jurisdictions, so they likely would have that data. MW Dean H. did post a bit of this in his response below.
>>"If i walked up to a 1 day conferral would that member be able to give me the signs, tokens >>and words?"
I think your question points to a very serious problem. They won't be learned, likely for most men, can't be learned, by just watching an exemplification of the Degrees. I certainly wasn't able to learn the modes of recognition for the Scottish Rite Degrees that I received via watching them exemplified.
If a man doesn't even know that much, he will certainly be hesitant to visit other Lodges, and that will tend to limit his exploration of Freemasonry.
My knee jerk reaction is it should never be done... however, let us speculate for a moment... imagine a man who is well versed in astronomy, Greek philosophy, biblical studies, pagan ritual, and often leads discussions with masons on these topics showing a knowledge level of the topics of the allegory beyond most masons. Why not confer the Degrees since he would understand them immediately.
I think that learning is a part of it, a major part of it, but the initiatic experience is also a major part of it, and a One Day Conferral does not include that experience.
I will say that in order for that to truly be an experience, the Lodge must do a superb job with the Degree, and the man must be open to the experience, but it can and does happen as it should, not every time, but when conditions are right. It can't happen with a ODC though because of course no one is actually being initiated, they are simply watching a 'play' depicting an initiation.
I think there should be a distinction between a one day conferral and the Making a Mason on Sight.
First thought is that the ability and privilege of the GM to make a man a Mason on Sight is and should be a rare event. I consider that it would have been a great honor to have that bestowed upon a man.
The one day conferral seems to be a speedy way to allow someone to complete their degrees more for convenience than necessity.
Maybe there should be guidance in our Code to define the requirements of what should, if any, reason for a one day conferral. This need for speed reminds me of having more than one candidate or Brother receiving degrees at the same time. In our Jurisdiction we limit to no more than 3 at a time unless granted approval by the GM. But this seems like a other shortcut. Obligate them separately then instruct them together.
Just read this interesting piece on FB. Seems somewhat relevant.
"On June 28, 1949, Col. James F. Risher, Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of South Carolina made George Decker a Mason "at sight" in Theatre No. 3 at Fort Jackson, S.C.
It was the sixth time in the 213 years of existence of the grand lodge that such a ceremony was conducted."
>>This need for speed reminds me of having more than one candidate or Brother receiving >>degrees at the same time."
Yes, I don't like this either.
Ultimately the primary function of a Lodge of Masons is to create Masons. I've never understood the desire to do this quicker or easier.
I received my First Degree along with another fellow. A good guy to be sure, but one of us was properly at the altar, the other was off to the side. One of us held the Lodge's big beautiful VSL, the other had some small version of the same pulled from a back room. One of us learned the grip from the Master, the other from someone else pressed into service.
Why would we knowingly choose to give a man a lesser experience?
As you say, the Lecture is appropriate to be received by more than a single man, but for the Degree conferral, the entire Lodge should be focused on the one man receiving the Degree.
I ought to clarify one thing about multiple candidates at a time. There are a few times that multiple candidates at a time will give a favorable impression. Those are our various Outdoor degrees. The atmosphere at those Degrees, in my opinion, make it a special day/night. And that is as long as these special events happen only once in a while.
The great fellowship before and after these degrees add more to the experience then whose hands rest on the large VSL.
The Washington Masonic Code was revised in 2010 to allow only FC & MM degrees on a single day. All applying must be EAs and then only with the GMs approval (Sec. 20.01 BL) and then only at a Special Communication of GL. Prior to that they were a regular occurrence. Regarding the question about retention verses regular lodge; nationally over a 5-year period there appears to be no difference. Which I find very strange. But, I will take that for what its worth. It all comes down to this...treat the candidates the way we want to be treated and we will make an active Mason for life; if not then we will add a number to our roles.
Do we want to be a gentlemen's supper club? then sure, do it. If we want to develop men ethically, morally, spiritually, intellectually through the use of our symbols, allegories, and rituals? Then NO!...dead set against it, pretty much in all cases. In fact, i would slow the whole process down, for all the reasons i mentioned in other posts. I would even support a change to the code to take away the GMs power to make a mason on sight.
As has been mentioned, the power being discussed is a Landmark of Masonry, not created through the Code. Just as with the civil law, Congress can pass no valid law that is in conflict with the Constitution, so it is with the Masonic Code. It can't conflict with the Landmarks or rituals and be valid. That is I think, one of the things that has given Freemasonry such stability for hundreds of years. The latest fads and fashions can't be slipped into the Code, or at least not be validly codified, if they conflict with our Ancient usages.
That said, I agree with you. Freemasonry is an initiatic society. If we are not actually initiating anyone, then we have no reason to exist. And watching a play that depicts an initiation is not an initiation, no matter how much those leaders who dreamed up the One Day Conferral idea years ago tried to claim that it was.
That out of the way, I will say that there are extremely limited occasions when I think the power is rightly exercised. Not many, and very far and few between, but some. I'll touch on them following Tig's comment.
We’ve talked a lot about education and it’s importance. So are we willing to forgo education and proficiency to make a man/men a Mason in one day? I liken it to receiving the SR degrees in one day. The pageantry can be beautiful but the degrees are all in-depth and other than receiving your cap at the end of the day what have you truly learned or received. I agree with VW Mike, that the GM’s ability to make a Mason on sight should be extremely limited. I do think there are occasions when it’s appropriate to bestow that honor on a man, but it’s very rare. For me, it comes down to, how well is the West Gate being guarded?
I agree with you about the lack of actual learning through the receipt of the Scottish Rite Degrees. I don't think that I learned much of anything when I received my SR Degrees. I may have learned a little from those Degrees that were Exemplified, but I know that I learned nothing from those that were Communicated. Certainly they were not Initiations in either case.
I understand that in some Valleys this experience is radically different. Such as Guthrie. I've not yet had the pleasure of attending a Reunion there though, so don't speak from experience, rather just what I have heard.
I will say though, that I learned a great deal though the Scottish Rite. But not through the Degrees. What I learned came through the Master Craftsman program, and the large volume of Masonic books published by the Southern Jurisdiction and its related organizations. All of this was self study.
I think when we are considering the concept of One Day Conferrals, the Scottish Rite is the model that we must consider. For the Degrees shown in a One Day Conferral would be just as impactful/non-impactful as the Degrees given in a typical Scottish Rite Reunion.
On the notion of one-day conferrals, my question is this. Why? What’s the purpose?
You can’t “communicate” the teachings of quantum physics or theoretical calculus in one day.
Just as you can’t teach hundreds of years of history, culture, philosophy, and theology in one day.
OK, I can see understanding the universe in a night of tawdriness at the Gridiron Ale House while comparing it to the quality beverages of the Apple Tree Tavern. But the next morning…oh, my aching head!
I have enough trouble deciphering Pike and Mackey in a month’s worth of reading and sleuthing without the help of libations. But in one day? Perhaps there’s a business idea here; creating Cliff’s Notes for Morals & Dogma or Magnum Opus. But Bros. DeHoyos and Morris would have me tarred and feathered if I tried.
One day is good for dry cleaning. But not for conferrals.
I wasn't around when any of this was dreamed up, so can only speculate, but I think that the purpose of One Day Conferrals was the same as Washington's Alternate Proficiency (New Candidate Education Program), insufficient dues, and all of our other lowered standards.
People started seeing our membership numbers falling off from those aberrant numbers we had following the World Wars, and they started to panic.
In their panic they decided that the way to grow Masonry was to make it cheaper and easier to obtain.
They never asked themselves if growing Masonry was a legitimate Masonic goal. And they never realized that men don't value that which comes cheaply or easily. They certainly didn't realize that one bad man in a Lodge will drive a dozen good men from it.
So they invented all of this nonsense. They made up 5th grade level books and called that Proficiency, they dreamed up One Day schemes where in some places one could Go All The Way In A Single Day (Blue Lodge, SR, Shrine, all in a day) and they refused to raise the dues.
Anyone who cares to look can easily see what the results of all of this have been.
The thing was, I don't think that people really wanted to change it until quite recently. Only recently has a critical mass of Masons decided that we would be better off going back to the traditional ways. Only recently have we started talking of quality, and ignoring quantity. In my view, we had to reach bottom. I believe that we did reach that bottom, and that the sun is now rising once again.
Seen it in New Mexico and only 1 in 10 sticks. I had to lead the 3rd Degree team and we did a fine job, but we're not giving candidates the full benefit of real Masonry. It's meant to be a timeless tradition not a wave of the hand event. You hain nothing but a title. Enough said.
Those are the kinds of numbers that I would expect. I just don't see where the Candidate would get much, if anything out of it. Unless all he wanted was a ring, I would imagine it would be an extremely disappointing experience, no matter how good the Degree team was.
The ONLY reason I can think of for one-day conferrals is to Raise a Brother (who is already an EA) who is about to be deployed to a combat zone. I live in a "military town," predominately Navy, with a smattering of other branches tossed in for flavor. Deployments happen all the time. I feel that if a man is an Entered Apprentice, and finds out he will be deployed for an extended period, we should make all efforts to ensure he is a Master Mason when he sails/flies away. Otherwise, no one-day conferrals. I think such an event cheapens the experience for the Brother.
This is where I feel that the power is properly utilized.
My example will be General Douglas MacArthur. I figure he is a good example because he was a life member of Washington's own Nile Shrine.
He was Made A Mason At Sight. In the Philippines, while serving as Field Marshal in the Philippine Army, and General in the United States Army.
To my mind, that was a perfectly appropriate use of the power, because, quite frankly, he was busy. Busy working to save hundreds of millions of people from tyranny, rebuilding the war torn far east, and creating modern Japanese democracy. He was busy.
Of course he is the most famous, but millions of other, lesser known, men have gone off to fight for the cause of freedom around the world. To protect our homes, and to save others. In these circumstances, I agree, the power of the Grand Master to Make a Mason At Sight is properly utilized.
Not for all deployments of course, for those can be worked around, but for those in time of war when no other reasonable option exists.
I think that in time of war, Freemasonry must, and does adapt.
No rightly thinking person could ever claim that Liberte Cherie Lodge was a clandestine or otherwise illegitimate Lodge, yet it had no charter from any Grand Jurisdiction. It of course could not because it was founded within the Esterwegen Concentration Camp.
Nor could any properly thinking person believe that Brother Fernand Erauw was a clandestine Mason or a cowan, simply because he was Initiated, Passed, and Raised by Liberte Cherie Lodge, using simplified ceremonies, with a non-Mason Catholic Priest serving as Tyler.
Interestingly to me, Liberte Cherie Lodge was dedicated to Masonic discussion and education. They discussed the question of women's role, if any in Masonry, they discussed the Grand Architect of the Universe, along with other topics, choosing one for each meeting.
Liberte Cherie was founded by seven Master Masons on November 15, 1943. It stopped working in early 1944 because all but two of its members had been killed.
I decided to ask this question on Emeth today because I was asked in yesterday's Grand Master's forum if we would be doing One Day Conferrals in the upcoming term.
Afterwards I thought that my answer was kind of short, and I wanted the Brother to be able to ask me follow-ups if he had them, so after the forum I sent him an email.
What I found interesting, perhaps only interesting to me though, was his reply email. He indicated that the had asked the question because he had been hearing rumors that I was scheduling One Day Conferrals. Who knows how rumors get started, but as someone who has been talking about improving the Degree experience to anyone who will listen for quite a few years now, I was just rather surprised that this would be one of the (I imagine that there are quite a few) rumors about my upcoming year.
Rumors are indeed funny things though. I remember hearing a lot of rumors about one of our Grand Masters. My first year as DDGM (to be clear this wasn't either of the GM's who I served as DDGM for) the guy totally terrorized me because of the rumors I'd heard about him. In the years since, I've gotten to know him, extremely well, and consider him one of my greatest friends. As I got to know him I learned that the rumors about him turned out to be just about 100% opposite of the reality of him.
I think that points out the danger of rumor within our Fraternity.
I'll be back later today to explain my own opinion of One Day Conferalls. But for now, I thought that some might like to know this context.
Without having read any comments, a (1) day does not add in my opinion any characteristics needed to train candidates.
Having personally conferred all degrees on (7) candidates the work the it took between my time and theirs produced solid candidates whose proficient was Perfect as i am sure MWB Coffman can attest as he visited North Bank as he observed (3) of my (5) in 2019 do flawless proficiencies.
To me a (1) day is a desperate attempt to fill fill a promise to some one.
If a Candidate has time issue, i personably would not lower the standard to Him, He needs to raise His bar to us.
I agree with your statement that One Day Conferrals (and other lowerings of standards) are driven by nothing more than desperation.
I also, 100% agree that instead of ever considering lowering our standards, we must always demand that those who want to become Freemasons raise themselves to meet our standards. This is how we create quality Freemasons. Freemasons who will remain such for life, and Freemasons who will attract other quality men to our Fraternity.
If you have read this far, as I'm sure you have guessed by now, the Grand Lodge of Washington will not be doing any One Day Conferrals during the 2021-2022 Masonic year.
For all the reasons stated here by others.
We must, in all that we do, strive for excellence in Freemasonry. We must work to improve the Lodge experience, and we must work to improve the Degree experience.
By doing those things, we are doing Freemasonry. Anything less is something different than Freemasonry, for Freemasonry is labor.
One Day Conferrals are the antithesis of everything we should be doing as Freemasons.
RW I have been doing a lot catching up of late and I really would like to know if at all possible, could I discuss this issue with you privately? I think you know where I am coming from.
As far as recognition goes, the system is fine for now and long-term big gala recognition but...we need to remember that the Greatest management principle ever is,"The stuff that gets rewarded gets done".
Now, "One-day conferrals" are not rewarding for the new Mason as there is way too much going on in each degree and the short-term memory of the average human cannot capture all that stuff and convert it to long-term memory. Anyway, the old mentor system is much better in the long-term, in my own opinion, and is what I recommend. To the brand new Mason, they have nothing to compare what they've just gone through, (one day conferral), and cannot even come up with meaningful questions or thoughts. Everything they've just experienced becomes fugitive information very soon. We, as a Lodge are simply wasting everyone's time with these conferrals and would be time and money ahead using a simple, slow method.
I agree entirely. I remember my Scottish Rite Degrees, done in a couple of days, it was so much information overload, I retained very little, not even the modes of recognition.
My initial reaction was as many have commented below "no way" (NIMBY) attitude. But, (that pesky word) as Robert asks, "What do the numbers reveal?" Well, here is a video with 2 well respected Masons that are statisticians and have done this "number crunching" and the 2nd 30 minutes segment by Tim is VERY revealing.
Video provided by the Masonic Renewal Committee. It's 2 x 30 min presentations, first one is Brent Morris and second is Tim Wheeland - wow - statistics packed: https://vimeo.com/475886014/c1e981635b
I have a fairly strong opinion on this and will refrain from commenting. My questions to any one in favor of would be, what does the retention and activity data show from membership records. We don't do them in NC, however from jurisdictions that do, what does the data show? If you're Grand lodge keeps digital records they could get some analytics done. 1 If i walked up to a 1 day conferral would that member be able to give me the signs, tokens and words? By percentage, how many become officers and memorize their work? By percentage how many stay and contribute? How can you know what you obligated your self to if you don't memorize it? My point being, the data is there, what does it say? We too often make choices in the fraternity with out crunching the numbers.
I don't think that we would have this data for my Jurisdiction, because I don't think it was done many times, and not for a very long time now, so I imagine that whatever we might have would be insufficient to draw from.
As I understand it though, these are done quite a lot more extensively in some other Jurisdictions, so they likely would have that data. MW Dean H. did post a bit of this in his response below.
>>"If i walked up to a 1 day conferral would that member be able to give me the signs, tokens >>and words?"
I think your question points to a very serious problem. They won't be learned, likely for most men, can't be learned, by just watching an exemplification of the Degrees. I certainly wasn't able to learn the modes of recognition for the Scottish Rite Degrees that I received via watching them exemplified.
If a man doesn't even know that much, he will certainly be hesitant to visit other Lodges, and that will tend to limit his exploration of Freemasonry.
My knee jerk reaction is it should never be done... however, let us speculate for a moment... imagine a man who is well versed in astronomy, Greek philosophy, biblical studies, pagan ritual, and often leads discussions with masons on these topics showing a knowledge level of the topics of the allegory beyond most masons. Why not confer the Degrees since he would understand them immediately.
I disagree
The Experience can’t be taught, read or related to only unless He goes through it.
Don’t lower the standard bar for a highly educated candidate.
He needs to be a poor, blind C and drop down till he is Raised up
I think that learning is a part of it, a major part of it, but the initiatic experience is also a major part of it, and a One Day Conferral does not include that experience.
I will say that in order for that to truly be an experience, the Lodge must do a superb job with the Degree, and the man must be open to the experience, but it can and does happen as it should, not every time, but when conditions are right. It can't happen with a ODC though because of course no one is actually being initiated, they are simply watching a 'play' depicting an initiation.
I think there should be a distinction between a one day conferral and the Making a Mason on Sight.
First thought is that the ability and privilege of the GM to make a man a Mason on Sight is and should be a rare event. I consider that it would have been a great honor to have that bestowed upon a man.
The one day conferral seems to be a speedy way to allow someone to complete their degrees more for convenience than necessity.
Maybe there should be guidance in our Code to define the requirements of what should, if any, reason for a one day conferral. This need for speed reminds me of having more than one candidate or Brother receiving degrees at the same time. In our Jurisdiction we limit to no more than 3 at a time unless granted approval by the GM. But this seems like a other shortcut. Obligate them separately then instruct them together.
Just read this interesting piece on FB. Seems somewhat relevant.
"On June 28, 1949, Col. James F. Risher, Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of South Carolina made George Decker a Mason "at sight" in Theatre No. 3 at Fort Jackson, S.C.
It was the sixth time in the 213 years of existence of the grand lodge that such a ceremony was conducted."
Bro George Decker was a LtGen in the US Army. Served from 1924 to 1962.
>>This need for speed reminds me of having more than one candidate or Brother receiving >>degrees at the same time."
Yes, I don't like this either.
Ultimately the primary function of a Lodge of Masons is to create Masons. I've never understood the desire to do this quicker or easier.
I received my First Degree along with another fellow. A good guy to be sure, but one of us was properly at the altar, the other was off to the side. One of us held the Lodge's big beautiful VSL, the other had some small version of the same pulled from a back room. One of us learned the grip from the Master, the other from someone else pressed into service.
Why would we knowingly choose to give a man a lesser experience?
As you say, the Lecture is appropriate to be received by more than a single man, but for the Degree conferral, the entire Lodge should be focused on the one man receiving the Degree.
I ought to clarify one thing about multiple candidates at a time. There are a few times that multiple candidates at a time will give a favorable impression. Those are our various Outdoor degrees. The atmosphere at those Degrees, in my opinion, make it a special day/night. And that is as long as these special events happen only once in a while.
The great fellowship before and after these degrees add more to the experience then whose hands rest on the large VSL.
Agreed. Those are unique experiences that will by their very nature offer a Degree that no candidate will ever forget.
The Washington Masonic Code was revised in 2010 to allow only FC & MM degrees on a single day. All applying must be EAs and then only with the GMs approval (Sec. 20.01 BL) and then only at a Special Communication of GL. Prior to that they were a regular occurrence. Regarding the question about retention verses regular lodge; nationally over a 5-year period there appears to be no difference. Which I find very strange. But, I will take that for what its worth. It all comes down to this...treat the candidates the way we want to be treated and we will make an active Mason for life; if not then we will add a number to our roles.
Thank you for providing this background. I appreciate it! I am glad that Washington moved away from them long ago.
Do we want to be a gentlemen's supper club? then sure, do it. If we want to develop men ethically, morally, spiritually, intellectually through the use of our symbols, allegories, and rituals? Then NO!...dead set against it, pretty much in all cases. In fact, i would slow the whole process down, for all the reasons i mentioned in other posts. I would even support a change to the code to take away the GMs power to make a mason on sight.
Our code makes no mention of making a Mason on sight. The only mention is in the Ancient Landmarks of Masonry.
As has been mentioned, the power being discussed is a Landmark of Masonry, not created through the Code. Just as with the civil law, Congress can pass no valid law that is in conflict with the Constitution, so it is with the Masonic Code. It can't conflict with the Landmarks or rituals and be valid. That is I think, one of the things that has given Freemasonry such stability for hundreds of years. The latest fads and fashions can't be slipped into the Code, or at least not be validly codified, if they conflict with our Ancient usages.
That said, I agree with you. Freemasonry is an initiatic society. If we are not actually initiating anyone, then we have no reason to exist. And watching a play that depicts an initiation is not an initiation, no matter how much those leaders who dreamed up the One Day Conferral idea years ago tried to claim that it was.
That out of the way, I will say that there are extremely limited occasions when I think the power is rightly exercised. Not many, and very far and few between, but some. I'll touch on them following Tig's comment.
We’ve talked a lot about education and it’s importance. So are we willing to forgo education and proficiency to make a man/men a Mason in one day? I liken it to receiving the SR degrees in one day. The pageantry can be beautiful but the degrees are all in-depth and other than receiving your cap at the end of the day what have you truly learned or received. I agree with VW Mike, that the GM’s ability to make a Mason on sight should be extremely limited. I do think there are occasions when it’s appropriate to bestow that honor on a man, but it’s very rare. For me, it comes down to, how well is the West Gate being guarded?
I agree with you about the lack of actual learning through the receipt of the Scottish Rite Degrees. I don't think that I learned much of anything when I received my SR Degrees. I may have learned a little from those Degrees that were Exemplified, but I know that I learned nothing from those that were Communicated. Certainly they were not Initiations in either case.
I understand that in some Valleys this experience is radically different. Such as Guthrie. I've not yet had the pleasure of attending a Reunion there though, so don't speak from experience, rather just what I have heard.
I will say though, that I learned a great deal though the Scottish Rite. But not through the Degrees. What I learned came through the Master Craftsman program, and the large volume of Masonic books published by the Southern Jurisdiction and its related organizations. All of this was self study.
I think when we are considering the concept of One Day Conferrals, the Scottish Rite is the model that we must consider. For the Degrees shown in a One Day Conferral would be just as impactful/non-impactful as the Degrees given in a typical Scottish Rite Reunion.
On the notion of one-day conferrals, my question is this. Why? What’s the purpose?
You can’t “communicate” the teachings of quantum physics or theoretical calculus in one day.
Just as you can’t teach hundreds of years of history, culture, philosophy, and theology in one day.
OK, I can see understanding the universe in a night of tawdriness at the Gridiron Ale House while comparing it to the quality beverages of the Apple Tree Tavern. But the next morning…oh, my aching head!
I have enough trouble deciphering Pike and Mackey in a month’s worth of reading and sleuthing without the help of libations. But in one day? Perhaps there’s a business idea here; creating Cliff’s Notes for Morals & Dogma or Magnum Opus. But Bros. DeHoyos and Morris would have me tarred and feathered if I tried.
One day is good for dry cleaning. But not for conferrals.
I wasn't around when any of this was dreamed up, so can only speculate, but I think that the purpose of One Day Conferrals was the same as Washington's Alternate Proficiency (New Candidate Education Program), insufficient dues, and all of our other lowered standards.
People started seeing our membership numbers falling off from those aberrant numbers we had following the World Wars, and they started to panic.
In their panic they decided that the way to grow Masonry was to make it cheaper and easier to obtain.
They never asked themselves if growing Masonry was a legitimate Masonic goal. And they never realized that men don't value that which comes cheaply or easily. They certainly didn't realize that one bad man in a Lodge will drive a dozen good men from it.
So they invented all of this nonsense. They made up 5th grade level books and called that Proficiency, they dreamed up One Day schemes where in some places one could Go All The Way In A Single Day (Blue Lodge, SR, Shrine, all in a day) and they refused to raise the dues.
Anyone who cares to look can easily see what the results of all of this have been.
The thing was, I don't think that people really wanted to change it until quite recently. Only recently has a critical mass of Masons decided that we would be better off going back to the traditional ways. Only recently have we started talking of quality, and ignoring quantity. In my view, we had to reach bottom. I believe that we did reach that bottom, and that the sun is now rising once again.
And what on earth has happened to the price of dry cleaning? I dropped off a sports jacket the other day, $25. In relatively poor Lewis County!
Ha! And this gives rise to the meaning of being "taken to the cleaners"
Yes sir!
Seen it in New Mexico and only 1 in 10 sticks. I had to lead the 3rd Degree team and we did a fine job, but we're not giving candidates the full benefit of real Masonry. It's meant to be a timeless tradition not a wave of the hand event. You hain nothing but a title. Enough said.
Those are the kinds of numbers that I would expect. I just don't see where the Candidate would get much, if anything out of it. Unless all he wanted was a ring, I would imagine it would be an extremely disappointing experience, no matter how good the Degree team was.
The ONLY reason I can think of for one-day conferrals is to Raise a Brother (who is already an EA) who is about to be deployed to a combat zone. I live in a "military town," predominately Navy, with a smattering of other branches tossed in for flavor. Deployments happen all the time. I feel that if a man is an Entered Apprentice, and finds out he will be deployed for an extended period, we should make all efforts to ensure he is a Master Mason when he sails/flies away. Otherwise, no one-day conferrals. I think such an event cheapens the experience for the Brother.
This is where I feel that the power is properly utilized.
My example will be General Douglas MacArthur. I figure he is a good example because he was a life member of Washington's own Nile Shrine.
He was Made A Mason At Sight. In the Philippines, while serving as Field Marshal in the Philippine Army, and General in the United States Army.
To my mind, that was a perfectly appropriate use of the power, because, quite frankly, he was busy. Busy working to save hundreds of millions of people from tyranny, rebuilding the war torn far east, and creating modern Japanese democracy. He was busy.
Of course he is the most famous, but millions of other, lesser known, men have gone off to fight for the cause of freedom around the world. To protect our homes, and to save others. In these circumstances, I agree, the power of the Grand Master to Make a Mason At Sight is properly utilized.
Not for all deployments of course, for those can be worked around, but for those in time of war when no other reasonable option exists.
I think that in time of war, Freemasonry must, and does adapt.
No rightly thinking person could ever claim that Liberte Cherie Lodge was a clandestine or otherwise illegitimate Lodge, yet it had no charter from any Grand Jurisdiction. It of course could not because it was founded within the Esterwegen Concentration Camp.
Nor could any properly thinking person believe that Brother Fernand Erauw was a clandestine Mason or a cowan, simply because he was Initiated, Passed, and Raised by Liberte Cherie Lodge, using simplified ceremonies, with a non-Mason Catholic Priest serving as Tyler.
Interestingly to me, Liberte Cherie Lodge was dedicated to Masonic discussion and education. They discussed the question of women's role, if any in Masonry, they discussed the Grand Architect of the Universe, along with other topics, choosing one for each meeting.
Liberte Cherie was founded by seven Master Masons on November 15, 1943. It stopped working in early 1944 because all but two of its members had been killed.
I decided to ask this question on Emeth today because I was asked in yesterday's Grand Master's forum if we would be doing One Day Conferrals in the upcoming term.
Afterwards I thought that my answer was kind of short, and I wanted the Brother to be able to ask me follow-ups if he had them, so after the forum I sent him an email.
What I found interesting, perhaps only interesting to me though, was his reply email. He indicated that the had asked the question because he had been hearing rumors that I was scheduling One Day Conferrals. Who knows how rumors get started, but as someone who has been talking about improving the Degree experience to anyone who will listen for quite a few years now, I was just rather surprised that this would be one of the (I imagine that there are quite a few) rumors about my upcoming year.
Rumors are indeed funny things though. I remember hearing a lot of rumors about one of our Grand Masters. My first year as DDGM (to be clear this wasn't either of the GM's who I served as DDGM for) the guy totally terrorized me because of the rumors I'd heard about him. In the years since, I've gotten to know him, extremely well, and consider him one of my greatest friends. As I got to know him I learned that the rumors about him turned out to be just about 100% opposite of the reality of him.
I think that points out the danger of rumor within our Fraternity.
I'll be back later today to explain my own opinion of One Day Conferalls. But for now, I thought that some might like to know this context.
Without having read any comments, a (1) day does not add in my opinion any characteristics needed to train candidates.
Having personally conferred all degrees on (7) candidates the work the it took between my time and theirs produced solid candidates whose proficient was Perfect as i am sure MWB Coffman can attest as he visited North Bank as he observed (3) of my (5) in 2019 do flawless proficiencies.
To me a (1) day is a desperate attempt to fill fill a promise to some one.
If a Candidate has time issue, i personably would not lower the standard to Him, He needs to raise His bar to us.
I agree with your statement that One Day Conferrals (and other lowerings of standards) are driven by nothing more than desperation.
I also, 100% agree that instead of ever considering lowering our standards, we must always demand that those who want to become Freemasons raise themselves to meet our standards. This is how we create quality Freemasons. Freemasons who will remain such for life, and Freemasons who will attract other quality men to our Fraternity.
If you have read this far, as I'm sure you have guessed by now, the Grand Lodge of Washington will not be doing any One Day Conferrals during the 2021-2022 Masonic year.
For all the reasons stated here by others.
We must, in all that we do, strive for excellence in Freemasonry. We must work to improve the Lodge experience, and we must work to improve the Degree experience.
By doing those things, we are doing Freemasonry. Anything less is something different than Freemasonry, for Freemasonry is labor.
One Day Conferrals are the antithesis of everything we should be doing as Freemasons.
RW I have been doing a lot catching up of late and I really would like to know if at all possible, could I discuss this issue with you privately? I think you know where I am coming from.
VW: Yes, of course. I will give you a call.
As far as recognition goes, the system is fine for now and long-term big gala recognition but...we need to remember that the Greatest management principle ever is,"The stuff that gets rewarded gets done".
Now, "One-day conferrals" are not rewarding for the new Mason as there is way too much going on in each degree and the short-term memory of the average human cannot capture all that stuff and convert it to long-term memory. Anyway, the old mentor system is much better in the long-term, in my own opinion, and is what I recommend. To the brand new Mason, they have nothing to compare what they've just gone through, (one day conferral), and cannot even come up with meaningful questions or thoughts. Everything they've just experienced becomes fugitive information very soon. We, as a Lodge are simply wasting everyone's time with these conferrals and would be time and money ahead using a simple, slow method.
I agree entirely. I remember my Scottish Rite Degrees, done in a couple of days, it was so much information overload, I retained very little, not even the modes of recognition.
My initial reaction was as many have commented below "no way" (NIMBY) attitude. But, (that pesky word) as Robert asks, "What do the numbers reveal?" Well, here is a video with 2 well respected Masons that are statisticians and have done this "number crunching" and the 2nd 30 minutes segment by Tim is VERY revealing.
Video provided by the Masonic Renewal Committee. It's 2 x 30 min presentations, first one is Brent Morris and second is Tim Wheeland - wow - statistics packed: https://vimeo.com/475886014/c1e981635b
Also, you can join the MRC at their website, must be a Mason in good standing: www.MasonicRenewal.org
You DO NOT need a login to access these great materials on their website: https://www.masonicrenewal.org/engage-conference/