Long Range Planning
What is it?
This discussion is inspired by an essay written by RW Thomas W. Jackson. That essay can be found here. I was recently reminded of it by István Horváth.
The oldest existing Masonic manuscript dates from 1390. (Or thereabouts)
The oldest existing Lodge minutes date from 1599.
Elias Ashmole was Initiated into Freemasonry in 1646.
The current form of Masonic governance was created in 1717. (Or thereabouts)
Benjamin Franklin was Initiated into Freemasonry in 1731.
The oldest existing Lodge minutes in what is now the United States date from 1738.
All this is to simply point out that Freemasonry is old. Really old. Older than any government on the face of the earth. We don’t know when it was founded, or by who, or for what purpose. We can guess, we can even make educated guesses, but we don’t know. Our early history is truly lost to the mist of time.
Given the extreme age of our Craft, and given that I presume most Freemasons would like to see it continue into the future for at least as long as it has existed, what is the proper time period for our long range planning to take?
Is it three to five years? Ten or twenty?
Or should we be looking at much longer spans of time, as RW Brother Jackson suggests?
Fifty years?
One hundred years?
Two hundred years?
Where do we want our Craft to be two hundred years from now?
How do we get from here to there?
Do we ever consider that question?
Should we?
Does doing so seem like hubris? But how can it be excessive, given the extremely long history of our Craft and its true worldwide scope?
Let’s chat about it…
Looking for more? You can find everything I wrote last week over on my Linky Thingy.
In 1988 the Masonic Renewal Task Force of the Masonic Service Association researched attitudes towards Freemasonry by members and non-members with the idea of understanding membership development and retention.
From these studies, the MRC produced a comprehensive planning guide for grand lodges in 1994. It was titled, “Seven Steps- A Renewal Blueprint for Masonic Grand Lodges in North America.”
This document followed two strategic planning conferences open to all grand jurisdictions. The first, held in May 1991, was attended by 23 grand jurisdictions. This group determined that Freemasonry needed:
• To establish a vision for the future that would ensure the survival of Freemasonry as a relevant organization in North America;
• To identify the current and future needs of its members and develop specific strategies to achieve a satisfied, active, and involved membership;
• To develop recommendations whereby the Masonic lodge and Grand Lodges might become better managed, and learn to be more responsive and more efficient organizations capable of meeting the expectations of membership with quality; and
• To become a relevant 21st-century organization that meets the needs of its current and future members and the needs of society in such a manner that Masons might again become an organization of excellence noted for making a difference.
This document, as indicated on its cover, was intended for use by grand lodge officers in “Developing a Strategic Plan for the 21st Century.” It included extensive worksheets, narratives, and case studies to guide a grand lodge renewal committee through a classic strategic planning process.
Also, the MRC indicated that it would develop several products for use by the 15,000 Blue Lodges in North America. Those products would be kits for Membership Management and Development, Leadership and Management Development, Community and Family Involvement, and Public Awareness.
I have the entire manual which was well done and provided an excellent template for a Grand Lodges to embark on Strategic Long Range Planning and produce executable strategies. I'm not sure how extensively it was used, if at all.
As with many Masonic improvement endeavors, somewhere along the way, the excitement of the vision and initial momentum is lost, and as leaders change, what was once approached with a sense of urgency fades, and positive action dies.
Planning is necessary and the length is not as important as continual review, reaction to current trends, plan revision, and most important, continual execution.
Do we approach it from the perspective of long range planning or from that of preservation? Are they both intertwined?
Because the history is from such a long time ago, and as you mention, not always well documented, I wonder if we can have a good base of knowledge on the original intention and also the hope and long range planning that our predecessors had in mind.
I do believe that all Masons, past, current, and future, are the custodians of the craft. Do we convey that to our existing Masons and the new Brothers we initiate? Do the various Grand Lodges keep long range planning in mind? I've never served in an officer line in our Grand Lodge so I am unaware of efforts on communication or coordination between jurisdictions and countries.
I do know that ritual differences exist between our states in the US but also vary widely around the world.
I believe the core of Masonry is still shared though. But I have to ask, how we might have effective long range planning with a globally distributed fraternity? Or do we consider it from our own local influence?