Lodge Meals As A Form Of Masonic Relief

A new perspective

Brotherly Love, Relief, and Truth.

As Masons these are guiding lights of our profession. Earlier this week, I found a new perspective on Relief that I felt was important to share here.

Photo by Jed Owen on Unsplash

Through the years, I’ve thought about our Masonic dinners, talked about them, and on occasion even written about them here. My perspective has always been that a good meal will help encourage our Brothers to attend Lodge, but that a bad meal, (or the dread of a probable bad meal) will work to keep them away.

Because of that, I’ve always encouraged an increase in standards. Better meals, and their inevitable companion, higher costs. I’ve always maintained that men will support higher costs, if the food is good. We do after all live in a world of $15 Old Fashioneds and $6 Coffee, so $5 or $10 dinner donations are well outside the norm.

But this week I attended a presentation given by Worshipful Brother Troy Spreeuw, sitting Master of Duke of Connaught Lodge, Grand Lodge of British Columbia and the Yukon.

He gave me a completely different perspective. A new way of looking at Lodge dinners.

Brother Troy pointed out in his presentation that Lodge dinners can serve as an effective means of Masonic Relief for distressed Brothers.

Some of our Lodges handle dinners differently, but in the overwhelming number of Lodges in this corner of the world dinners are provided by the Lodge with a donation can set out to help offset their cost.

If a Brother skips the donation can for whatever reason, it’s OK. No one would ever make an issue of it.

And Brother Troy pointed out that it is that ability to skip the donation that makes our Lodge meals a form of Relief. If a Brother has fallen on hard times, he can at least be assured of a good meal, without cost.

I live in a very rural area, but even here a Mason who was struggling financially could, by visiting area Lodges, receive eight or nine dinners a month. In my Jurisdiction’s large cities he could likely receive dinner without cost more nights than not.

Certainly Masonry has extensive charitable programs. Lodges will financially assist worthy Brothers, here in Washington our Grand Lodge’s charitable arm will as well, along with other Masonic organizations.

But maybe our Brother doesn’t need that. Maybe he’s just found himself a little short this month. In that case, those meals can help.

I still think that we need to provide the very best meals we can to our Masons, and that we need to spend liberally in order to do so. That perspective hasn’t changed.

But to that, I’ve added this new perspective of Lodge meals as a form of Relief.

Brother Troy’s talk was entitled Advice For New Freemasons, and it was advertised as being for new Entered Apprentices, Fellow Crafts, and Master Masons.

I’ve got far too much grey hair to be mistaken for a new Mason, but I attended, and I learned something that to my mind is quite valuable. Again proving to myself that we always do well to attend quality Masonic educational happenings.

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In addition to his duties as Worshipful Master, Brother Troy is the creator of The Scholomance Project. I would encourage you to check it out here:

The Scholomance Project

If all of that isn’t enough, he is also deeply involved with hosting the Esotericism In Freemasonry Conference in Seattle each year. Tickets to this year’s Conference went on sale this week. It is a truly superb Masonic event, if you can attend, I would highly encourage you to do so. Information and tickets can be found here:

2023 Esotericism In Freemasonry Conference