In a lot of Lodges in my Jurisdiction, the Tyler has actually gone away. Due to a lack of manpower, many of our Lodges are now guarded outside the door by Casper The Friendly Ghost Tyler.
And, in a way, I suppose that is OK. In some cases now, modern security and entry systems can be very effective at guarding against cowans and eavesdroppers.
Indeed, for a long time, as I understand it, Tylers had a really important role that is no longer needed. At least in my Jurisdiction.
Long ago, when the Anti-Masonic Party was effectively destroying Freemasonry in the United States, it was decided that Lodges would only ‘do business’ on the Third Degree. As some kind of misguided security measure. I suppose it was thought that most Anti-Masons wouldn’t want to go through all of our Degrees just to get to sit in on a Stated Meeting.
So that change was made, and it was kept, up until fairly recently.
For all of those decades, as I understand it, EA’s and FC’s, not being allowed to sit in Lodge would instead sit with the Tyler during Lodge Meetings, and he would help them learn their work so that they could progress to the next Degree. A really important job, but one that went away when we decided to return to the old ways and allow Lodges to Open and do business on the lowest Degree necessary to accommodate everyone in attendance.
Most of the Lodges I frequent now have enough new men becoming Masons that they Open and do business on the First Degree almost exclusively.
So our Tylers sort of lost a really important task.
And I’m not so sure that they were ever much called upon to perform their Stated Duties. I’ve not seen too many cowans run through with the sword! 😁
A Tyler who does nothing but sit outside the Lodge Room while meetings take place, unable to participate, surely can’t add anything to the Lodge Experience. Nor can he himself get much out of times like that at Lodge.
So what could the Tyler do to assist the Lodge of today?
What tasks or duties could Tylers take on that would enhance the Lodge Experience for everyone, including themselves?
How can this Office be made relevant to Freemasonry in 2024?
Unfortunately many has lost the spiritual aspects of what each position in a Lodge means.
The Tylers or Outer and Inner Guards represent the line of defense against wrong thinking, vices and temptations (the cowans and profanes).
Our body is the Temple and the Tylers are there to protect the Temple. Disregarding this position is like leaving the door open so anybody can freely enters.
As above, so below. As within, so without. Everything we do here in the physical realm will be reflected in the spiritual realm.
The Old Tyler's Talks are an important part of our Masonic literature, and I think that is one role that the Tyler can certainly play. To instruct the Brothers. Perhaps informally, or perhaps more formally, but generally the Tyler (in Lodges that have them) is an experienced, hopefully wise Mason, and he's in a good position, I think, to provide meaningful instruction.
We, too, often have "virtual tylers". There have also been professional Tylers who get paid by multiple Lodges to attend to that duty, and need not be a member of the Lodge. Lastly, we may "tyle from within" with them sitting in our near the open doorway, though this is not explicitly allowed in our Standard Work.
I'd not known about professional Tylers! Thanks for that tidbit. A new career path for me perhaps?
We too, in Lodges that have them go with the Tyle from Within method, fairly frequently, although as in your Jurisdiction it isn't actually allowed in our Work. I think though that it must be much better for the man tasked to by Tyler.
There is little you can do as a Tyler during a meeting, but both before and after can be a true asset. Greeting brothers at the register, making sure everyone is properly clothed, handing out first time visitors cards, testing folks you personally don’t know, etc. afterwards, shaking hands and thanking people for coming and ensuring that the register is properly filled out with who sat where.
Lots of things to do besides just sitting there reading a book.
Yeah, I think that this is the trick. Each of these things.
And I would add one:
In those Lodges that have a fellowship time after the meeting, the Tyler can hang out with the prospects, teaching them a little about our Craft. At my Seattle Lodge for example, we invite the prospects to dinner, and as our meetings are generally short, tend to invite them to fellowship afterwards as well. If we had a Tyler (generally we do, but not this past year) the Tyler could spend that time with them, talking to them about Freemasonry and answering any questions that they might have about the Craft.
we generally have the tyler "tyle from the inside seat" after the lodge is open, but at least here within a boat ride of Seattle, we have a legitimate and needful requirement for someone to "guard against the approach." We've received multiple warnings both from local LEO offices and from grand lodge about a 10-28 that has decided that Masons are the spawn of Satan, and his duty is to kill them all.
Yes, I'm serious. In this modern world, we're headed back for a need for an armed man to protect the brothers. It just may be that the tyler isn't the only armed mason at our meetings, and while the sword is ceremonial, just like the Swiss Guard's halberds, if you try the SG you will find that they have "less ceremonial" equipment as well.
I've actually not seen a problem with people entering, or trying to enter at my Seattle Lodge. But, we have had this happen a number of times at my Centralia Lodge, and I've seen it happen at Kelso Scottish Rite as well.
In Centralia we very recently took the step of ensuring that only those who are Masons can enter the building. Every member of the Lodge (and frequent visitor) has a personalized code that they can use to enter the door. Visitors can push a button, that opens a video and intercom link with the Tyler's room, so someone in the Tyler's room can hit a button to let them in.
That seems a good security measure, and indeed, this week we did have two street people try and fail to get in during our Stated Meeting.
That said, I do worry about the parking lots. I worry particularly about our elderly Brothers, and the ladies of OES on their way between the building and their cars. We've tried to convince people to not leave the building alone, but lots of people seem willing to ignore that advice.
As for 'less ceremonial equipment' I believe that there are Brothers so equipped at every Lodge I frequent. And I feel a heck of a lot better because of it.
Sounds like a wonderful system, but if we had the money to install that we would use it instead to fix the kitchen so that it could be rented out, or fix the plumbing....
Yes. It was extremely expensive, quite a lot more than I would have imagined. And it was a big stretch for us, we certainly could have used that money for something that would have been of better benefit.
But, we didn't feel as if we had a choice. We've had some level of trouble with street people for years, but nothing that we couldn't handle. Just recently though, some group decided to start providing them with meals directly across the street from us. That moved things to what we felt was a situation too dangerous to not address.
We weren't worried about the Lodge all that much, for reasons of 'less ceremonial equipment' but we were really worried about OES and youth group meetings.
Just as an FYI, I had to moderate a comment out of here this morning.
Someone throwing a fit because our Craft holds secrets. As if every man, woman, and child doesn't have secrets. And because we don't let women in. As if Female and Mixed Gender Lodges don't exist all over the world.
Had she (I'm assuming from her name that she is a she) honestly sought answers here she might have learned that the real secrets of Freemasonry aren't secret because we are somehow trying to hide important information, but rather are secrets because they are things that can't be adequately explained and therefore must be experienced. She might also have been able to learn that things like England's Council for Freemasonry exist.
But alas, she chose the all too common way of interacting in this modern age, that of attacking without understanding, creating division within society.
And life's too short to argue with people like that here.
As always, you can find Emeth's moderation policy at:
I've spoken to several American masons who said the EA and FC masons had never seen a ritual or been in an active Lodge before (some even maintained that EA and FC weren't 'proper' masons as a result of this, which I found alarming), but then I realised that for a lot of states, no business at all is done in the 1st degree.
In UGLE, all lodges open in the first degree, where our first odes are sung, all voting and charity donations are performed, then we kick out the EA's and open in FC if we're doing any higher ritual work.
We always have a Tyler, and it's his job to prepare the initiates, get them properly dressed and make sure they've got not metal etc about their person. Similarly he has a sword, and his job description is to defend the lodge, which we accept is now a symbolic role!
For as long as I've been a Mason, Lodges in my Jurisdiction have opened on the lowest Degree necessary to accommodate everyone. With the exception of Degrees of course. But, I know that this wasn't true for a very long time. For a long time Lodges here could only do business on the Third Degree, and as a result, EA's and FC's weren't able to attend Stated Meetings. That was a horrible policy.
I'm unsure if any US Grand Lodges continue with policies like that, or if they are all like us and able to Open and do business on any Degree.
>>>(some even maintained that EA and FC weren't 'proper' masons as a result of this, which I >>>found alarming)
Yes. This is terrible.
In my Jurisdiction, an EA and an FC are told that they are Masons, but they are specifically not members of the Lodge. They do not become members of their Lodge until they sign the bylaws of the Lodge, which they do immediately following their Master Mason Degree.
This is a terrible policy.
Our Entered Apprentice ritual very clearly communicates to that new EA that he is a Freemason, and that he is a Freemason for life.
But, due to our policy, it is a lie.
Our policies specifically allow Lodges to 'purge' their membership roles of any EA or FC who has not advanced quickly enough.
And that is really, really bad.
We tell a man that he is a Freemason, for life, but then we purge him from our roles? Absurd. And a lie.
Even when a Master Mason is expelled from the Fraternity in my Jurisdiction he remains on the roles. There is simply a big notation of his expulsion. He isn't somehow erased as if he never was made a Mason.
Sorry, a bit of a rant there.
But this garbage just really angers me. I was reviewing one of my Lodge's roles just the other day and noticed that the Secretary had purged them of EA's and FC's.
Yes, that sounds bonkers; we always say that Freemasonry must always take a third seat, behind your duties to your family and profession - the phrase is "without detriment to one's family or connections", so purging someone from the lodge because they can't learn ritual fast enough sounds hugely self-defeating
I don't disagree. Unfortunately, our Grand Lodge legalized this practice a few years ago, and it is without safeguards in place, so a Lodge Secretary can do it without following the rules and likely no one would notice.
Unfortunately many has lost the spiritual aspects of what each position in a Lodge means.
The Tylers or Outer and Inner Guards represent the line of defense against wrong thinking, vices and temptations (the cowans and profanes).
Our body is the Temple and the Tylers are there to protect the Temple. Disregarding this position is like leaving the door open so anybody can freely enters.
As above, so below. As within, so without. Everything we do here in the physical realm will be reflected in the spiritual realm.
The Old Tyler's Talks are an important part of our Masonic literature, and I think that is one role that the Tyler can certainly play. To instruct the Brothers. Perhaps informally, or perhaps more formally, but generally the Tyler (in Lodges that have them) is an experienced, hopefully wise Mason, and he's in a good position, I think, to provide meaningful instruction.
We, too, often have "virtual tylers". There have also been professional Tylers who get paid by multiple Lodges to attend to that duty, and need not be a member of the Lodge. Lastly, we may "tyle from within" with them sitting in our near the open doorway, though this is not explicitly allowed in our Standard Work.
I'd not known about professional Tylers! Thanks for that tidbit. A new career path for me perhaps?
We too, in Lodges that have them go with the Tyle from Within method, fairly frequently, although as in your Jurisdiction it isn't actually allowed in our Work. I think though that it must be much better for the man tasked to by Tyler.
There is little you can do as a Tyler during a meeting, but both before and after can be a true asset. Greeting brothers at the register, making sure everyone is properly clothed, handing out first time visitors cards, testing folks you personally don’t know, etc. afterwards, shaking hands and thanking people for coming and ensuring that the register is properly filled out with who sat where.
Lots of things to do besides just sitting there reading a book.
Yeah, I think that this is the trick. Each of these things.
And I would add one:
In those Lodges that have a fellowship time after the meeting, the Tyler can hang out with the prospects, teaching them a little about our Craft. At my Seattle Lodge for example, we invite the prospects to dinner, and as our meetings are generally short, tend to invite them to fellowship afterwards as well. If we had a Tyler (generally we do, but not this past year) the Tyler could spend that time with them, talking to them about Freemasonry and answering any questions that they might have about the Craft.
we generally have the tyler "tyle from the inside seat" after the lodge is open, but at least here within a boat ride of Seattle, we have a legitimate and needful requirement for someone to "guard against the approach." We've received multiple warnings both from local LEO offices and from grand lodge about a 10-28 that has decided that Masons are the spawn of Satan, and his duty is to kill them all.
Yes, I'm serious. In this modern world, we're headed back for a need for an armed man to protect the brothers. It just may be that the tyler isn't the only armed mason at our meetings, and while the sword is ceremonial, just like the Swiss Guard's halberds, if you try the SG you will find that they have "less ceremonial" equipment as well.
I've actually not seen a problem with people entering, or trying to enter at my Seattle Lodge. But, we have had this happen a number of times at my Centralia Lodge, and I've seen it happen at Kelso Scottish Rite as well.
In Centralia we very recently took the step of ensuring that only those who are Masons can enter the building. Every member of the Lodge (and frequent visitor) has a personalized code that they can use to enter the door. Visitors can push a button, that opens a video and intercom link with the Tyler's room, so someone in the Tyler's room can hit a button to let them in.
That seems a good security measure, and indeed, this week we did have two street people try and fail to get in during our Stated Meeting.
That said, I do worry about the parking lots. I worry particularly about our elderly Brothers, and the ladies of OES on their way between the building and their cars. We've tried to convince people to not leave the building alone, but lots of people seem willing to ignore that advice.
As for 'less ceremonial equipment' I believe that there are Brothers so equipped at every Lodge I frequent. And I feel a heck of a lot better because of it.
Sounds like a wonderful system, but if we had the money to install that we would use it instead to fix the kitchen so that it could be rented out, or fix the plumbing....
Yes. It was extremely expensive, quite a lot more than I would have imagined. And it was a big stretch for us, we certainly could have used that money for something that would have been of better benefit.
But, we didn't feel as if we had a choice. We've had some level of trouble with street people for years, but nothing that we couldn't handle. Just recently though, some group decided to start providing them with meals directly across the street from us. That moved things to what we felt was a situation too dangerous to not address.
We weren't worried about the Lodge all that much, for reasons of 'less ceremonial equipment' but we were really worried about OES and youth group meetings.
Just as an FYI, I had to moderate a comment out of here this morning.
Someone throwing a fit because our Craft holds secrets. As if every man, woman, and child doesn't have secrets. And because we don't let women in. As if Female and Mixed Gender Lodges don't exist all over the world.
Had she (I'm assuming from her name that she is a she) honestly sought answers here she might have learned that the real secrets of Freemasonry aren't secret because we are somehow trying to hide important information, but rather are secrets because they are things that can't be adequately explained and therefore must be experienced. She might also have been able to learn that things like England's Council for Freemasonry exist.
But alas, she chose the all too common way of interacting in this modern age, that of attacking without understanding, creating division within society.
And life's too short to argue with people like that here.
As always, you can find Emeth's moderation policy at:
https://emeth.substack.com/p/emeth-content-moderation-policy
That's interesting,
I've spoken to several American masons who said the EA and FC masons had never seen a ritual or been in an active Lodge before (some even maintained that EA and FC weren't 'proper' masons as a result of this, which I found alarming), but then I realised that for a lot of states, no business at all is done in the 1st degree.
In UGLE, all lodges open in the first degree, where our first odes are sung, all voting and charity donations are performed, then we kick out the EA's and open in FC if we're doing any higher ritual work.
We always have a Tyler, and it's his job to prepare the initiates, get them properly dressed and make sure they've got not metal etc about their person. Similarly he has a sword, and his job description is to defend the lodge, which we accept is now a symbolic role!
For as long as I've been a Mason, Lodges in my Jurisdiction have opened on the lowest Degree necessary to accommodate everyone. With the exception of Degrees of course. But, I know that this wasn't true for a very long time. For a long time Lodges here could only do business on the Third Degree, and as a result, EA's and FC's weren't able to attend Stated Meetings. That was a horrible policy.
I'm unsure if any US Grand Lodges continue with policies like that, or if they are all like us and able to Open and do business on any Degree.
>>>(some even maintained that EA and FC weren't 'proper' masons as a result of this, which I >>>found alarming)
Yes. This is terrible.
In my Jurisdiction, an EA and an FC are told that they are Masons, but they are specifically not members of the Lodge. They do not become members of their Lodge until they sign the bylaws of the Lodge, which they do immediately following their Master Mason Degree.
This is a terrible policy.
Our Entered Apprentice ritual very clearly communicates to that new EA that he is a Freemason, and that he is a Freemason for life.
But, due to our policy, it is a lie.
Our policies specifically allow Lodges to 'purge' their membership roles of any EA or FC who has not advanced quickly enough.
And that is really, really bad.
We tell a man that he is a Freemason, for life, but then we purge him from our roles? Absurd. And a lie.
Even when a Master Mason is expelled from the Fraternity in my Jurisdiction he remains on the roles. There is simply a big notation of his expulsion. He isn't somehow erased as if he never was made a Mason.
Sorry, a bit of a rant there.
But this garbage just really angers me. I was reviewing one of my Lodge's roles just the other day and noticed that the Secretary had purged them of EA's and FC's.
Yes, that sounds bonkers; we always say that Freemasonry must always take a third seat, behind your duties to your family and profession - the phrase is "without detriment to one's family or connections", so purging someone from the lodge because they can't learn ritual fast enough sounds hugely self-defeating
Agreed. It was really disappointing when this policy was passed at an Annual Communication a few years ago.
I would consider such actions by a Lodge Officer as bordering on Irregularity and contra to the Ethos and Spirit of Freemasonry
I don't disagree. Unfortunately, our Grand Lodge legalized this practice a few years ago, and it is without safeguards in place, so a Lodge Secretary can do it without following the rules and likely no one would notice.