"Increased interest in recognizing Women's jurisdictions and Co-Masonry;"
Not in my lifetime I hope. Our obligation forbids it. I've told this tale before, but at one of the LLRs a few years ago, I was sitting at dinner with a few folks, including a nice couple. The woman was babbling on about how if we were to suddenly allow women to become masons, she would be the first to sign up. I retorted that if that happened, I would be the first to quit masonry.
Aug 11, 2023·edited Aug 11, 2023Liked by Cameron M. Bailey
Sorry to have to tell you, but that ship has sailed. There are plenty of Women's jurisdictions, even you don't belong to a jurisdiction that recognizes them. Let me know when you put your ring on eBay.
Seriously though, if it's about masculine bonding or whatever, then keep belonging to a Men-only Lodge or jurisdiction. That's a personal choice that I can respect.
But I don't know why anyone would strongly insist on women not being Masons other than some notion of tradition or thinking that landmark is the will of G-d Himself (Herself? LOL). Seriously, I've never heard a reasonable answer other than "that's the way it is" -- belief without reason.
And again, that's fine if you admit it's a personal belief and not an edict all others must follow.
On a personal note, I am encouraging my daughter to join a Lodge in Canada (the nearest one for women), an hour from the NY border. It's just a shame we couldn't visit each other's Communications or engage in Masonic intercourse if that occurs.
I don't care what women are doing, if they have their own masonic groups. Not my business. I am well aware co-masonry exists, and if someone wants to join it, fine by me. I don't care. It is, however, my (and our fraternity here in Washington) business if the GL decides to recognize co-masonry in washington as a jurisdiction in amity with us. That I will not abide by as it is (as I said) a violation of our obligations we've taken. That is something I take very seriously.
I respect that. There is definitely the issue of obligations you and I have taken.
I may choose as you have not to be present, etc.., but if my jurisdiction allows it someday, I will also respect those that break the rule as it was written and understood previously.
At such time, we will need to either interpret the detail as non-literal, or omit those archaic distinctions (eunuchs, etc.) from the obligations of future Brethren. After all, we no longer exclude men who are missing fingers or hands, one of the older Landmarks that made sense at that time. Women weren't free persons in any sense, and unable to take oaths or get into contracts, again, at that time.
I can certainly get behind the exploration of other 'Lodge models.' It seems to me that we are going to have to begin doing that (and Grand Lodges are going to have to make it reasonably possible to do that) if we are to thrive into the future.
Not every Mason can meet on a weeknight. Not every Lodge needs to own a building. Foodservice and Lodge meetings can go hand in hand.
Smaller, rather experimental Lodges are a key to the future I think.
Bro. Samuel Clemens once said "it's great to talk about the future because nobody can call you a liar." I offer some aspirational thoughts rather than predictive ones. First, our fraternity will grow. The current downturn is just a blip. Social polarization in society will see more people coming to us as a safe harbor to be real and to seek ways of personal growth. Much of this will come from our youth organizations, Some people will get angry at this next one, but if you are mad at me, get in line. Women Masons. It's already happening in the UK. The things we teach are not gender specific and women have the same needs as men. Everything old is new again. There will be a resurgent interest in Masonic education and history. People are disgusted by what is no longer taught in public schools. Public education is one dimensional. Masonic education is multi-faceted and is food for the soul. In the future, you and I will be dead and you can point out to me in that place not made with human hands how utterly wrong my predictions are. The end.
I agree with you that the membership downturn in US Masonry will not last forever. Masonic membership in the history of the US has always been up and down.
But, I do think that the Masonry of tomorrow will look different than the Masonry of today. Not in its fundamental teachings, nor in its Landmarks, but in its governance. We haven't had major change in the way the vast majority of our Lodges and Grand Lodges operate in a very long time, and what we are doing now just isn't working anymore. I think that as Ken S. mentions above, new 'Lodge models' will come into being, and those models will serve as experiments for the rest of the Craft to follow.
But of course, as with all experiments, there will be much failure along the way.
I had a friend who was a meteorologist, and he told me the best indicator of tomorrow’s weather, is today’s weather. I think that applies to human affairs as well. Ten years from now, the trends we see today are likely to be the same as now. Declining memberships, and smaller Lodges and I suspect we will start seeing some Grand Lodges in crisis. As we enter this phase of the Craft, desperation will open the possibility of evolution, and I suspect we will see what biologists call “speciation”, the creation of new and distinct ‘species’ of Freemasonry. We already see Lodges that focus on particular aspects of the Craft, and some that are based on common interests or employment of its members. One Lodge may be very focused on charity, one on social issues and yet another might focus on the mystical. We may see women enter some jurisdictions, and other reject those jurisdictions over that issue. Depending on how society at large is behaving, becoming more or less divided, these differences, and others I have not mentioned, may well move from ‘local culture’ to divides that are institutional. I can imagine Lodges in one jurisdiction choosing to affiliate with a Grand Lodge in another state over alignment issues. In general, I think alignment issues and how they are handled by Grand Lodges will, after the declining memberships and the impacts of that, be the issues of the next 10 years.
All of what I said above is dependent on the outside world maintaining its current status. Issues of political divisiveness, economic issues, energy issues, environmental issues, epidemiological issues, all forces that will exacerbate issues we already have. We often talk about how Freemasonry affects the world, but the world affects us too. WWII and the flood of veterans after the war expanded our Lodges and today we are sorting out the passing of that generation and the infrastructure we built to accommodate them. We are still sorting out the impact of COVID19 and I have seen the political divisiveness demonstrated by the population-at-large manifest in Lodges, in a destructive way.
As we deal with all of these stresses, I believe individual Masons will ‘hunker down’ around their core Masonic interests. If this is true, the best outcome is Lodges within a jurisdiction being formed and operated around that interest and alignment, and Grand Lodges allowing the space for Lodges to explore those interests within the broader context of Masonry. If however, Grand Lodges double down on limiting these adaptations, then speciation will likely occur around particular Masonic interests and the interest of particular Masons, and the Grand jurisdictions might be at risk.
I agree with your thoughts about this. The bureaucratic superstructure of our Craft here in the US was built to serve the needs of the masses of men who became Masons following both World Wars. But that situation no longer exists.
I believe that Freemasonry will continue to exist long into the future, but as you say, Lodges will grow to become more interest based.
Long before the advent of cars, the only true option a man had was to join the Lodge in his town. Now there is no such limitation. We have at least two Lodges I'm very familiar with that draw their members from great distances away. A 'good enough' Lodge won't survive when there are great options available, nor will a Lodge that tries to be everything to everyone, so does nothing well.
But, how Grand Lodges respond to these significant changes will be a key thing to watch in the years to come.
Changes to the fundamental nature of Freemasonry, its Landmarks if you will, should not be permitted, for Changes to those things will result in something that is not Freemasonry. But, changes to how Lodges operate and function and focus themselves should be encouraged by Jurisdictions. It's my view that if these necessary changes are overly stifled by bureaucracy, then we will indeed see Grand Lodges start to stumble.
But, I don't worry too much about that.
I know that I could enjoy a superb Lodge experience in my basement, if I had the right Brothers with me. And I know that Freemasonry thrived for hundreds of years prior to the advent of Grand Lodge governance.
Aug 11, 2023·edited Aug 11, 2023Liked by Cameron M. Bailey
Yogi Berra said, "It's difficult to make predictions, especially about the future". The ideas already posted are fine ideas with only one problem: the only ideas offered here are from Masons. I think one our greatest weaknesses, especially when it comes to plotting a course for the future, is that we do a great job of talking to ourselves, which at times is little more than the sound of one hand clapping.
What are we doing right now, what habits and traditions to do we cling to, that a high school junior would find off-putting? What needs will today's high school junior have in ten years that we don't address? Yeah, I don't know either. But until we embrace that the future will probably look much like the present, just with fewer Masons.
Since we move at the speed of Masonry we're already behind schedule to figure this out.
But is there any way for anyone to know what that high school junior will need or want ten years from now? The changes, primarily driven by tech, that I've seen since my days as a junior at Manson HS are amazing to me when contemplated upon.
It sure would be nice if we knew what the HS junior will want in ten years, which of course we can't. But the point is that we need to at least imagine how different that junior's world will be. It's a thought exercise that might get us out of the trap of "we haven't done it that way before", which is one of those unwritten guiding principles of our gentle craft.
I wish I could be optimistic, but in my heart I see Masonry going the way of Odd Fellows, Grange and other originations that relie on members with open minds.
The old adage of "those that forget history are bound to repeat it ". The one that is to me is the one that will undo everything that has been taken for granted is free speech and a open media that gives both sides of a topic. In my 80 plus years I have watch our core values slowly devalued.
At this point you may be asking what does that have to do with Masonry. Let me walk you through some of what I see as a loss. In the 50s if one listened to a speech or debate their wasn't "a talking head" telling us what we just heard. Today we are being influenced what to think rather than making up our own mind. If you are patriotic and listen to the media you will think you are in the minority, but I still think we are still the majority. My children and grandchildren didn't get the basic education about how government is supposed to work, i.e.: legislative, executive, and judicial. Could be why we see that not working at the present time.
Do we address any of these issues in our lodges or grand judication's? If and I seriously dough they ever will be, Masonry as we know it is domed. I truly hope that I am wrong, but fear I may not be.
The worst is that apparently kids have no clue what the supreme court of the US is for. They seem to think it's there to fight injustice and right wrongs. It's not. It's there to judge the constitutionality of a law. Not whether the law is just or not, but only to determine if it is legal. Unfortunately, our courts have been corrupted by previous rulings that have been made in error that have been the basis for other rulings that have made things even worse. In addition, amendments to the constitution were passed to right wrongs, but have been so corrupted by the courts that they are being used not the way originally intended.
We of course have our prohibition on discussion of partisan politics in Lodge, but some Masons do tend to take that too far.
PIke for example wrote a great deal about government, the proper nature of government, the rights of man. None of these things are politics, and are certainly appropriate for discussion in Lodge.
Certainly I think that our Lodges could do well to include educational programs about our government, how it functions, and how its fundamental institutions impact our society. Again, none of that is politics.
Civics education is vital in a democracy or a republic, and if that education is not provided in schools, it can certainly be provided in Lodges. Indeed I think it fair to say that when our nation was young, Lodges were schools of democracy.
The reason the fraternity has "ancient landmarks" is to keep the craft on the same course that it started out on. Sailors know that they can count on "waymarks" to stay on course and not end up stranded on a hidden reef. Our "landmarks" are no different. They keep the craft off the latest and best and exciting "reef" that could sink our craft. If I might be transported back in time 100 or 200 years ago, I would want to recognize the opening and closing ritual, the grips, words, and signs of then just as of today. Any "innovations" that distract from that is straying from the "landmarks."
I agree with you that we must protect and preserve the Landmarks of Masonry. But at the same time I think we need to encourage innovation in our Lodges, and innovation in our Grand Lodges.
For example, I think we need our Lodges to offer more opportunities for fellowship, and more Masonic focused education, all combined with less focus on business. I think our Grand Lodges need to 'right size' the bureaucracy and codes to reflect the membership levels of our Franterity today, which of course is much smaller than it was some decades ago. Doing these things, and things like them, will I think help our Craft to thrive into the future.
But, I wholeheartedly agree that the Landmarks must be preserved, for without them Freemasonry would no longer be Freemasonry.
I agree, we will continue to see Lodges close. But, I don't necessarily see that as a bad thing. As membership declined over past decades, our Lodge numbers declined at a much lower rate, resulting in a place where we now have far too many Lodges for the number of Masons.
But, I do see Lodge closures as a bad thing when it wipes out Masonry over a large geographical area.
I do think that we, as a Craft, expend far too much energy trying to save Lodges, when that energy could be better spent improving Lodges that don't currently need 'saving.'
Continued decrease in deaths as wave of older members age out and average age drops, probably to around 50 or lower;
Lodge mergers become rare; many new, smaller Lodges begin work;
More interjurisdictional activities, particularly research Lodges and societies;
More exploration of other Lodge models (daytime, tavern, themed);
Increased interest in recognizing Women's jurisdictions and Co-Masonry;
Slow re-envisioning of Youth groups, but probably will continue to decline;
More discussion about Title IX issues to open campuses to Masonic activities;
Augmented-reality lectures, but not common;
Prince Hall mutual recognition and visitation improves further;
Possible clarification or retraction of admonitions by Catholic Church;
White Christian Nationalist elements in American Lodges whisper of schism but nothing comes of it;
Increase in Observant Masonry, fewer Communications, higher dues, etc..
"Increased interest in recognizing Women's jurisdictions and Co-Masonry;"
Not in my lifetime I hope. Our obligation forbids it. I've told this tale before, but at one of the LLRs a few years ago, I was sitting at dinner with a few folks, including a nice couple. The woman was babbling on about how if we were to suddenly allow women to become masons, she would be the first to sign up. I retorted that if that happened, I would be the first to quit masonry.
Sorry to have to tell you, but that ship has sailed. There are plenty of Women's jurisdictions, even you don't belong to a jurisdiction that recognizes them. Let me know when you put your ring on eBay.
Seriously though, if it's about masculine bonding or whatever, then keep belonging to a Men-only Lodge or jurisdiction. That's a personal choice that I can respect.
But I don't know why anyone would strongly insist on women not being Masons other than some notion of tradition or thinking that landmark is the will of G-d Himself (Herself? LOL). Seriously, I've never heard a reasonable answer other than "that's the way it is" -- belief without reason.
And again, that's fine if you admit it's a personal belief and not an edict all others must follow.
On a personal note, I am encouraging my daughter to join a Lodge in Canada (the nearest one for women), an hour from the NY border. It's just a shame we couldn't visit each other's Communications or engage in Masonic intercourse if that occurs.
I don't care what women are doing, if they have their own masonic groups. Not my business. I am well aware co-masonry exists, and if someone wants to join it, fine by me. I don't care. It is, however, my (and our fraternity here in Washington) business if the GL decides to recognize co-masonry in washington as a jurisdiction in amity with us. That I will not abide by as it is (as I said) a violation of our obligations we've taken. That is something I take very seriously.
I respect that. There is definitely the issue of obligations you and I have taken.
I may choose as you have not to be present, etc.., but if my jurisdiction allows it someday, I will also respect those that break the rule as it was written and understood previously.
At such time, we will need to either interpret the detail as non-literal, or omit those archaic distinctions (eunuchs, etc.) from the obligations of future Brethren. After all, we no longer exclude men who are missing fingers or hands, one of the older Landmarks that made sense at that time. Women weren't free persons in any sense, and unable to take oaths or get into contracts, again, at that time.
I can certainly get behind the exploration of other 'Lodge models.' It seems to me that we are going to have to begin doing that (and Grand Lodges are going to have to make it reasonably possible to do that) if we are to thrive into the future.
Not every Mason can meet on a weeknight. Not every Lodge needs to own a building. Foodservice and Lodge meetings can go hand in hand.
Smaller, rather experimental Lodges are a key to the future I think.
Bro. Samuel Clemens once said "it's great to talk about the future because nobody can call you a liar." I offer some aspirational thoughts rather than predictive ones. First, our fraternity will grow. The current downturn is just a blip. Social polarization in society will see more people coming to us as a safe harbor to be real and to seek ways of personal growth. Much of this will come from our youth organizations, Some people will get angry at this next one, but if you are mad at me, get in line. Women Masons. It's already happening in the UK. The things we teach are not gender specific and women have the same needs as men. Everything old is new again. There will be a resurgent interest in Masonic education and history. People are disgusted by what is no longer taught in public schools. Public education is one dimensional. Masonic education is multi-faceted and is food for the soul. In the future, you and I will be dead and you can point out to me in that place not made with human hands how utterly wrong my predictions are. The end.
I agree with you that the membership downturn in US Masonry will not last forever. Masonic membership in the history of the US has always been up and down.
But, I do think that the Masonry of tomorrow will look different than the Masonry of today. Not in its fundamental teachings, nor in its Landmarks, but in its governance. We haven't had major change in the way the vast majority of our Lodges and Grand Lodges operate in a very long time, and what we are doing now just isn't working anymore. I think that as Ken S. mentions above, new 'Lodge models' will come into being, and those models will serve as experiments for the rest of the Craft to follow.
But of course, as with all experiments, there will be much failure along the way.
I had a friend who was a meteorologist, and he told me the best indicator of tomorrow’s weather, is today’s weather. I think that applies to human affairs as well. Ten years from now, the trends we see today are likely to be the same as now. Declining memberships, and smaller Lodges and I suspect we will start seeing some Grand Lodges in crisis. As we enter this phase of the Craft, desperation will open the possibility of evolution, and I suspect we will see what biologists call “speciation”, the creation of new and distinct ‘species’ of Freemasonry. We already see Lodges that focus on particular aspects of the Craft, and some that are based on common interests or employment of its members. One Lodge may be very focused on charity, one on social issues and yet another might focus on the mystical. We may see women enter some jurisdictions, and other reject those jurisdictions over that issue. Depending on how society at large is behaving, becoming more or less divided, these differences, and others I have not mentioned, may well move from ‘local culture’ to divides that are institutional. I can imagine Lodges in one jurisdiction choosing to affiliate with a Grand Lodge in another state over alignment issues. In general, I think alignment issues and how they are handled by Grand Lodges will, after the declining memberships and the impacts of that, be the issues of the next 10 years.
All of what I said above is dependent on the outside world maintaining its current status. Issues of political divisiveness, economic issues, energy issues, environmental issues, epidemiological issues, all forces that will exacerbate issues we already have. We often talk about how Freemasonry affects the world, but the world affects us too. WWII and the flood of veterans after the war expanded our Lodges and today we are sorting out the passing of that generation and the infrastructure we built to accommodate them. We are still sorting out the impact of COVID19 and I have seen the political divisiveness demonstrated by the population-at-large manifest in Lodges, in a destructive way.
As we deal with all of these stresses, I believe individual Masons will ‘hunker down’ around their core Masonic interests. If this is true, the best outcome is Lodges within a jurisdiction being formed and operated around that interest and alignment, and Grand Lodges allowing the space for Lodges to explore those interests within the broader context of Masonry. If however, Grand Lodges double down on limiting these adaptations, then speciation will likely occur around particular Masonic interests and the interest of particular Masons, and the Grand jurisdictions might be at risk.
I agree with your thoughts about this. The bureaucratic superstructure of our Craft here in the US was built to serve the needs of the masses of men who became Masons following both World Wars. But that situation no longer exists.
I believe that Freemasonry will continue to exist long into the future, but as you say, Lodges will grow to become more interest based.
Long before the advent of cars, the only true option a man had was to join the Lodge in his town. Now there is no such limitation. We have at least two Lodges I'm very familiar with that draw their members from great distances away. A 'good enough' Lodge won't survive when there are great options available, nor will a Lodge that tries to be everything to everyone, so does nothing well.
But, how Grand Lodges respond to these significant changes will be a key thing to watch in the years to come.
Changes to the fundamental nature of Freemasonry, its Landmarks if you will, should not be permitted, for Changes to those things will result in something that is not Freemasonry. But, changes to how Lodges operate and function and focus themselves should be encouraged by Jurisdictions. It's my view that if these necessary changes are overly stifled by bureaucracy, then we will indeed see Grand Lodges start to stumble.
But, I don't worry too much about that.
I know that I could enjoy a superb Lodge experience in my basement, if I had the right Brothers with me. And I know that Freemasonry thrived for hundreds of years prior to the advent of Grand Lodge governance.
Yogi Berra said, "It's difficult to make predictions, especially about the future". The ideas already posted are fine ideas with only one problem: the only ideas offered here are from Masons. I think one our greatest weaknesses, especially when it comes to plotting a course for the future, is that we do a great job of talking to ourselves, which at times is little more than the sound of one hand clapping.
What are we doing right now, what habits and traditions to do we cling to, that a high school junior would find off-putting? What needs will today's high school junior have in ten years that we don't address? Yeah, I don't know either. But until we embrace that the future will probably look much like the present, just with fewer Masons.
Since we move at the speed of Masonry we're already behind schedule to figure this out.
Your point is very well taken.
But is there any way for anyone to know what that high school junior will need or want ten years from now? The changes, primarily driven by tech, that I've seen since my days as a junior at Manson HS are amazing to me when contemplated upon.
It sure would be nice if we knew what the HS junior will want in ten years, which of course we can't. But the point is that we need to at least imagine how different that junior's world will be. It's a thought exercise that might get us out of the trap of "we haven't done it that way before", which is one of those unwritten guiding principles of our gentle craft.
I wish I could be optimistic, but in my heart I see Masonry going the way of Odd Fellows, Grange and other originations that relie on members with open minds.
The old adage of "those that forget history are bound to repeat it ". The one that is to me is the one that will undo everything that has been taken for granted is free speech and a open media that gives both sides of a topic. In my 80 plus years I have watch our core values slowly devalued.
At this point you may be asking what does that have to do with Masonry. Let me walk you through some of what I see as a loss. In the 50s if one listened to a speech or debate their wasn't "a talking head" telling us what we just heard. Today we are being influenced what to think rather than making up our own mind. If you are patriotic and listen to the media you will think you are in the minority, but I still think we are still the majority. My children and grandchildren didn't get the basic education about how government is supposed to work, i.e.: legislative, executive, and judicial. Could be why we see that not working at the present time.
Do we address any of these issues in our lodges or grand judication's? If and I seriously dough they ever will be, Masonry as we know it is domed. I truly hope that I am wrong, but fear I may not be.
"so mote it be"
The worst is that apparently kids have no clue what the supreme court of the US is for. They seem to think it's there to fight injustice and right wrongs. It's not. It's there to judge the constitutionality of a law. Not whether the law is just or not, but only to determine if it is legal. Unfortunately, our courts have been corrupted by previous rulings that have been made in error that have been the basis for other rulings that have made things even worse. In addition, amendments to the constitution were passed to right wrongs, but have been so corrupted by the courts that they are being used not the way originally intended.
We of course have our prohibition on discussion of partisan politics in Lodge, but some Masons do tend to take that too far.
PIke for example wrote a great deal about government, the proper nature of government, the rights of man. None of these things are politics, and are certainly appropriate for discussion in Lodge.
Certainly I think that our Lodges could do well to include educational programs about our government, how it functions, and how its fundamental institutions impact our society. Again, none of that is politics.
Civics education is vital in a democracy or a republic, and if that education is not provided in schools, it can certainly be provided in Lodges. Indeed I think it fair to say that when our nation was young, Lodges were schools of democracy.
The reason the fraternity has "ancient landmarks" is to keep the craft on the same course that it started out on. Sailors know that they can count on "waymarks" to stay on course and not end up stranded on a hidden reef. Our "landmarks" are no different. They keep the craft off the latest and best and exciting "reef" that could sink our craft. If I might be transported back in time 100 or 200 years ago, I would want to recognize the opening and closing ritual, the grips, words, and signs of then just as of today. Any "innovations" that distract from that is straying from the "landmarks."
I agree with you that we must protect and preserve the Landmarks of Masonry. But at the same time I think we need to encourage innovation in our Lodges, and innovation in our Grand Lodges.
For example, I think we need our Lodges to offer more opportunities for fellowship, and more Masonic focused education, all combined with less focus on business. I think our Grand Lodges need to 'right size' the bureaucracy and codes to reflect the membership levels of our Franterity today, which of course is much smaller than it was some decades ago. Doing these things, and things like them, will I think help our Craft to thrive into the future.
But, I wholeheartedly agree that the Landmarks must be preserved, for without them Freemasonry would no longer be Freemasonry.
Regarding the GL of Washington-
An increase of Lodge consolidations, particularly in Eastern and Central Washington.
Puget Sound Lodges are facing retrofit and improvement issues which will force a new way of thinking, regarding the business side of the Fraternity.
50 years from now, I see Grand Lodge moving to Seattle and occupying a space in a property once the 100-year lease expires.
I agree, we will continue to see Lodges close. But, I don't necessarily see that as a bad thing. As membership declined over past decades, our Lodge numbers declined at a much lower rate, resulting in a place where we now have far too many Lodges for the number of Masons.
But, I do see Lodge closures as a bad thing when it wipes out Masonry over a large geographical area.
I do think that we, as a Craft, expend far too much energy trying to save Lodges, when that energy could be better spent improving Lodges that don't currently need 'saving.'