Thank you for sharing this here Brother. This history is important for us to consider as we work for the future of our Craft.
Some years ago I looked up my great grandfather's Masonic record and learned that when he joined about 115 years ago, his initiation fees were also quite massive compared to our initiation fees today. (Adjusted for inflation.) Certainly at that time, a man would have been extremely committed to the idea of becoming a Freemason.
It's funny, I had done a short presentation at my old lodge, after looking through a scrap book that listed every past master, and significant events during his term. One mentioned that the lodge had raised the dues to $5 dollars, which adjusting for inflation, was comparable to the (low) dues we're paying today.
Reviewing your numbers, you sort of left off the annual dues, which in todays dollars are fairly comparable to what we're paying today, although to be fair, using an inflation calculator only allowed me to go back to 1913. A $2.00 annual dues in 1913 in todays dollars is about $65.00. Now, the numbers for the fees for the degrees is a whole 'nuther matter, as in 1913 dollars, a $20.00 initiation fee would be over $675.00, which is twice what my lodge charges. And in other parts of the world, petitioning a lodge would cost the man thousands of dollars.
Also, while the merger of the UGLE brought significant changes, especially around who the fraternity was attracting, there was still vestiges of the idea that the well to do movers and shakers of a town were the ones joining, and could afford much higher initiation fees. Sort of a barrier against the riff raff was to have high petitioning fees. Today, we're much more of a blue collar organization, and is reflected in our fee structures.
"We meet upon the Level, and we part upon the Square; What words of precious meaning those words Masonic are! The King must leave his diadem outside the Mason's door, And the laborer finds his true respect upon the checkered floor." Rob Morris, prominent Masonic scholar.
Well, you always want to feel you are getting your money's worth for your dues. The now perennial problem of an aging membership means there are fewer younger men with energy and that's really what's needed.
In Oregon there's an Iraq war veteran who is reviving a moribund Legion Hall, He's done it once before in Alberta district of Portland, and now he's doing it in Astoria. They have breakfasts, open mic nights, writing groups, etc. In Portland his Legion Hall also ran a clothes closet open to everyone, a soup kitchen & food pantry, and acted as an inclement weather shelter, as well as an art gallery, open mic venue, etc etc.
Maybe having a coffee pop up at a Lodge once a week would do two things: bring in some money and let the public get to know Masons, and let that Lodge gage local needs or niches that aren't being filled. And maybe that would give the Lodge and it's members a mission or sense of purpose that would let you raise dues and also get more Mason involved.
Each time I read yet another comparison of Masonry to a widget-sales business--as though this is some great new insight--a little bit of love inside me dies.
Because I do not love widgets. I love brotherhood, friendship, tradition, trust, intergenerational relationships, service, and symbolic philosophical rituals.
My own view is that the whole "Masonry is a business" approach, which we have been hearing since the 1950s, is a large part of what has been killing the Craft. Which is also likely why grand line officers seem to find me annoying.
When we treat each man who chooses us as if he is some product to be made by efficiently cranking him through the rituals, is it any surprise that he feels devalued? That he feels like a widget, not a man, much less a Mason?
Masonry is not a business, no matter how many businessmen try to wedge us into the only box they can imagine. Freemasaonry is a fraternity which teaches a system of morality, veiled in allegory, and illustrated by symbols, in large part by maintaining a tradition of conferring the oldest continuously practiced manhood rituals in Western civilization.
I maintain a personal spreadsheet to track my own dues, and I make it a point to pay them on time without waiting for an invoice from the secretary or recorder.
As a secretary for both a Blue Lodge and a York Rite body, I routinely spend four to five hours each month following up on dues. During this process, I have been yelled at, accused of mismanaging accounts, confronted by frustrated spouses, and regularly asked for paper invoices. Preparing and mailing these paper invoices - while volunteering my time - requires a trip to the post office and roughly 15 to 20 minutes per request, despite the convenience of paying electronically.
Another recurring issue occurs before meetings, when a large number of members approach my desk simultaneously, dropping off cash without identifying themselves or expecting immediate change. All while I am trying to prepare for the meeting. This creates unnecessary confusion and adds stress.
Brothers, please remember that our Masonic bodies rely on dues to operate effectively. Timely payment is essential, and consideration for the volunteer secretary who manages this work goes a long way.
I think that we face a problem that most organizations do at some point in their existence. How to measure value, without losing sight of the objective.
I know some Brothers are worried about using metrics like money, attendance, retention rates and similar measures of health, and not without reason. It shouldn't become a business for the sake of making revenue, or growing for the sake of numbers. Devaluing what might be found or shared, ultimately losing sight of the meaning of Freemasonry.
Though I would consider that we go to a physician where they take our heart rate, blood pressure, temperature, and a number of other essential measurements to determine how healthy we are. Does this make our existence, or our experience, any less miraculous or spiritual? Or is it just ensuring we are doing our best to ensure the health of the vessel we inhabit during our time in this realm?
We are taught in our ritual to take actions that prolong our existence, to create positive impact, and to lead meaningful and impactful lives. How can we do this if we are not cognizant of the state of our resources, the state of our selves, or the state of our Craft? While I don't think that numbers and measures are the way to create a spiritual/transcendent experience. I do think they are a way to gauge where we are in relation to it, determining if we are achieving our goals, or what things we may need to adjust.
I think raising dues without offering or increasing value is a quick death. I think lowering them and offering a pittance of what we once did is a slow one and tarnishes the Legacy we inherited. We need to consider a balanced approach to Masonry, ensuring that we offer the things we have committed ourselves to, avoiding devaluing or cheapening it. Our approach to this should be as balanced as the lives we are called to lead.
In an alchemical journey we must be cognizant of the mind, body, and spirit as a balance to be maintained. If we neglect any, or all of those aspects, we are liable to experience challenges that might have otherwise been avoided. The Craft claims to make its votaries wiser, better, and happier, are we delivering that experience? If not, how can we get their without a compass or measurements to find our way there?
Paying dues is part of belonging to any group. Admittedly, I’m not always the best at paying mine until I’m reminded once or twice. Our secretary has been more than gracious with his patience, and I appreciate that.
I keep hearing that we have a retention problem, and that attracting new members is a challenge. My contention has always been that the solution starts with bringing real value to our meetings. If meetings are compelling, interesting, and educational, participation will follow.
I would gladly pay double our current dues—and perhaps more—to remain a Mason. But there needs to be something that draws both new prospects and longtime brothers back into the lodge room. If our meetings consist only of opening, introductions, sickness and distress, and lodge business, then we are missing the deeper purpose of a lodge meeting and, frankly, what Masonry is meant to be.
Masonry should engage the mind, challenge the spirit, and strengthen the bond of brotherhood. When we do that well, retention and growth take care of themselves.
Your article was a thought provoker. I pay annual dues to my Masonic Lodge in NY, to Everett Lodge No. 137, my NY Shriners, and my son's dues to our Lodge in NY. Sometimes, I need to pay a bit late to one or the other, but feel it is a privilege to keep supporting each group.
I wrote an article several years ago about the dues and initiation fees of an Ohio lodge in 1862. I was surprised by how high they were compared to wages at the time. Here is the article: https://masonsleadbetter.com/would-you-pay-4-of-your-annual-income-to-join-masonry/
Thank you for sharing this here Brother. This history is important for us to consider as we work for the future of our Craft.
Some years ago I looked up my great grandfather's Masonic record and learned that when he joined about 115 years ago, his initiation fees were also quite massive compared to our initiation fees today. (Adjusted for inflation.) Certainly at that time, a man would have been extremely committed to the idea of becoming a Freemason.
It's funny, I had done a short presentation at my old lodge, after looking through a scrap book that listed every past master, and significant events during his term. One mentioned that the lodge had raised the dues to $5 dollars, which adjusting for inflation, was comparable to the (low) dues we're paying today.
Reviewing your numbers, you sort of left off the annual dues, which in todays dollars are fairly comparable to what we're paying today, although to be fair, using an inflation calculator only allowed me to go back to 1913. A $2.00 annual dues in 1913 in todays dollars is about $65.00. Now, the numbers for the fees for the degrees is a whole 'nuther matter, as in 1913 dollars, a $20.00 initiation fee would be over $675.00, which is twice what my lodge charges. And in other parts of the world, petitioning a lodge would cost the man thousands of dollars.
Also, while the merger of the UGLE brought significant changes, especially around who the fraternity was attracting, there was still vestiges of the idea that the well to do movers and shakers of a town were the ones joining, and could afford much higher initiation fees. Sort of a barrier against the riff raff was to have high petitioning fees. Today, we're much more of a blue collar organization, and is reflected in our fee structures.
Just my .02 cents worth, your mileage may vary.
"We meet upon the Level, and we part upon the Square; What words of precious meaning those words Masonic are! The King must leave his diadem outside the Mason's door, And the laborer finds his true respect upon the checkered floor." Rob Morris, prominent Masonic scholar.
Well, you always want to feel you are getting your money's worth for your dues. The now perennial problem of an aging membership means there are fewer younger men with energy and that's really what's needed.
In Oregon there's an Iraq war veteran who is reviving a moribund Legion Hall, He's done it once before in Alberta district of Portland, and now he's doing it in Astoria. They have breakfasts, open mic nights, writing groups, etc. In Portland his Legion Hall also ran a clothes closet open to everyone, a soup kitchen & food pantry, and acted as an inclement weather shelter, as well as an art gallery, open mic venue, etc etc.
Maybe having a coffee pop up at a Lodge once a week would do two things: bring in some money and let the public get to know Masons, and let that Lodge gage local needs or niches that aren't being filled. And maybe that would give the Lodge and it's members a mission or sense of purpose that would let you raise dues and also get more Mason involved.
Each time I read yet another comparison of Masonry to a widget-sales business--as though this is some great new insight--a little bit of love inside me dies.
Because I do not love widgets. I love brotherhood, friendship, tradition, trust, intergenerational relationships, service, and symbolic philosophical rituals.
My own view is that the whole "Masonry is a business" approach, which we have been hearing since the 1950s, is a large part of what has been killing the Craft. Which is also likely why grand line officers seem to find me annoying.
When we treat each man who chooses us as if he is some product to be made by efficiently cranking him through the rituals, is it any surprise that he feels devalued? That he feels like a widget, not a man, much less a Mason?
Masonry is not a business, no matter how many businessmen try to wedge us into the only box they can imagine. Freemasaonry is a fraternity which teaches a system of morality, veiled in allegory, and illustrated by symbols, in large part by maintaining a tradition of conferring the oldest continuously practiced manhood rituals in Western civilization.
A fraternity. Not a business.
I maintain a personal spreadsheet to track my own dues, and I make it a point to pay them on time without waiting for an invoice from the secretary or recorder.
As a secretary for both a Blue Lodge and a York Rite body, I routinely spend four to five hours each month following up on dues. During this process, I have been yelled at, accused of mismanaging accounts, confronted by frustrated spouses, and regularly asked for paper invoices. Preparing and mailing these paper invoices - while volunteering my time - requires a trip to the post office and roughly 15 to 20 minutes per request, despite the convenience of paying electronically.
Another recurring issue occurs before meetings, when a large number of members approach my desk simultaneously, dropping off cash without identifying themselves or expecting immediate change. All while I am trying to prepare for the meeting. This creates unnecessary confusion and adds stress.
Brothers, please remember that our Masonic bodies rely on dues to operate effectively. Timely payment is essential, and consideration for the volunteer secretary who manages this work goes a long way.
I think that we face a problem that most organizations do at some point in their existence. How to measure value, without losing sight of the objective.
I know some Brothers are worried about using metrics like money, attendance, retention rates and similar measures of health, and not without reason. It shouldn't become a business for the sake of making revenue, or growing for the sake of numbers. Devaluing what might be found or shared, ultimately losing sight of the meaning of Freemasonry.
Though I would consider that we go to a physician where they take our heart rate, blood pressure, temperature, and a number of other essential measurements to determine how healthy we are. Does this make our existence, or our experience, any less miraculous or spiritual? Or is it just ensuring we are doing our best to ensure the health of the vessel we inhabit during our time in this realm?
We are taught in our ritual to take actions that prolong our existence, to create positive impact, and to lead meaningful and impactful lives. How can we do this if we are not cognizant of the state of our resources, the state of our selves, or the state of our Craft? While I don't think that numbers and measures are the way to create a spiritual/transcendent experience. I do think they are a way to gauge where we are in relation to it, determining if we are achieving our goals, or what things we may need to adjust.
I think raising dues without offering or increasing value is a quick death. I think lowering them and offering a pittance of what we once did is a slow one and tarnishes the Legacy we inherited. We need to consider a balanced approach to Masonry, ensuring that we offer the things we have committed ourselves to, avoiding devaluing or cheapening it. Our approach to this should be as balanced as the lives we are called to lead.
In an alchemical journey we must be cognizant of the mind, body, and spirit as a balance to be maintained. If we neglect any, or all of those aspects, we are liable to experience challenges that might have otherwise been avoided. The Craft claims to make its votaries wiser, better, and happier, are we delivering that experience? If not, how can we get their without a compass or measurements to find our way there?
Paying dues is part of belonging to any group. Admittedly, I’m not always the best at paying mine until I’m reminded once or twice. Our secretary has been more than gracious with his patience, and I appreciate that.
I keep hearing that we have a retention problem, and that attracting new members is a challenge. My contention has always been that the solution starts with bringing real value to our meetings. If meetings are compelling, interesting, and educational, participation will follow.
I would gladly pay double our current dues—and perhaps more—to remain a Mason. But there needs to be something that draws both new prospects and longtime brothers back into the lodge room. If our meetings consist only of opening, introductions, sickness and distress, and lodge business, then we are missing the deeper purpose of a lodge meeting and, frankly, what Masonry is meant to be.
Masonry should engage the mind, challenge the spirit, and strengthen the bond of brotherhood. When we do that well, retention and growth take care of themselves.
I’m visiting a Lodge Thursday night in Central London that will be raising two or three MMs. The charge for the Festive Board dinner is £85.
MWPGM Bailey,
Your article was a thought provoker. I pay annual dues to my Masonic Lodge in NY, to Everett Lodge No. 137, my NY Shriners, and my son's dues to our Lodge in NY. Sometimes, I need to pay a bit late to one or the other, but feel it is a privilege to keep supporting each group.