The Lodge As Salon

Fellowship and philosophy

Undoubtedly, one of the most important aspects of Freemasonry, for most, is the fellowship it offers. Whatever might have initially brought us to our Ancient Craft, and no matter where our own Masonic path might lay, we enjoy the friendships that we are able to find in the Lodge. And those friendships keep Masons coming back to Lodge, again and again.

But, Freemasonry is not simply a forum for fun and fellowship. Some concordant Orders may well be just that, but Freemasonry itself is much more.

Discussion, philosophy, and education, all with an eye towards individual self improvement are vital aspects of our Craft.

But, none of these things are best contained within the average Stated Meeting. There are better occasions for bonds between Masons to grow. Superior settings for deep discussion about the principles of Freemasonry.

Stated Meetings are often overrun with business, and are by their very design, quite rigidly structured. While important for what they are, they are not the be all and end all of a great Masonic experience.

A truly great Masonic experience requires Lodge events outside of the Stated Meeting.

With this essay, I hope to offer an idea in furtherance of creating that great Masonic experience.

I’m not familiar with this being done by a Lodge, so can not draw on any experience with it. It’s simply and idea that you might want to consider for your Lodge.

Most Lodges in my Jurisdiction meet once per month.

Might I suggest upping that to twice per month?

Allow me to explain…

We have a meeting per month, at which we attempt to create some opportunity for fellowship, generally with a meal. Take care of our business, and slide some form of education in.

That seems to work reasonably well. But, something is missing.

We can know, without a doubt that something is missing by simply comparing the number of Masons who are members of our Lodge, with the number of Masons who are active members of our Lodge. In almost all cases, the difference between these two numbers will be strikingly large. Far larger than it should be.

The idea that I propose is that a second Stated Meeting could be added each month.

But that this second Stated Meeting be extremely limited in its allowed scope.¹ That it be, in effect, a Salon, in the tradition of Parisian Salons during the Enlightenment.

In other words, no business, and no formality allowed. It is simply an opportunity for fellowship & philosophical discussion in a relaxed atmosphere.

A week prior to the meeting, the Worshipful Master could email out (or otherwise advertise) what the theme of the meeting would be. Encouraging the members to bring something from literature or another art touching upon that theme.

Just as a quick example, the Master could declare the theme to be ‘Our duty to our fellow man.’ Meeting that theme, Lodge members could bring a passage from a Volume of Sacred Law pointing out that duty. A brief paragraph or two from a Masonic writer discussing that duty. Or even a short news story demonstrating the carrying out of that duty.

No one should be made to feel compelled to bring something touching upon the theme, but all should be encouraged to do so.

Ultimately, this is the real world, so we know that most will not. Given that, when deciding upon the theme, the Worshipful Master should specifically ask two or three Masons to bring something, so that the discussion can get off the ground.

Let’s say that like most Lodge meetings in my Jurisdiction, this meeting is set to begin at 7:30 PM. That time comes around, and the Master Opens his Lodge in the regular manner.

And then he immediately calls the meeting Off Session. From that moment on, there is no more worrying about things like floorwork or formal decorum. The room instead becomes a space for informal discussion and fellowship.

Meats and cheeses, wines and whiskey are brought in, placed on a side table as social lubricants.² Something non-alcoholic for those who would prefer it as well, and don’t forget our Brothers who don’t eat meat or animal products. Allow everyone to snag some snacks and mingle for a few minutes. This isn’t a meal, keep it simple.

About half an hour after opening, ask the Brothers who brought a selection on the theme to read a few lines or paragraphs, and explain what meaning they find in them. Allow and encourage questions. This will probably need to be started with the ‘ringers’ you selected in the days prior. Keep this part of the discussion to about half of an hour as well, you are looking for enough on the theme to get discussions going, but not so much that people start to get bored.

At that point, end any formality, and just let the discussion, or discussions among smaller groups, flow. If the theme is interesting enough to break the ice, talk will follow, and fellowship will build. It’s all going to go radically off topic, but that isn’t something to worry about. The idea is to simply stimulate the conversation. Let this go for roughly an hour, then call the Lodge back On Session and Close the meeting.

Start to finish, you are done with the planned program in two hours, allowing those who need or want to head home at a reasonable hour to do so. Those who want to stay can certainly continue afterwards.

Formal Opening, informal fellowship and conversation, formal Closing. The idea is to stimulate discussion on themes important to the Masons of the Lodge. The building of the bonds of brotherhood, and discussion about interesting and helpful Masonic guideposts and ideas.

I am not aware of any Lodge that does something quite like this currently, but it seems to me that it could be successful if a Lodge were to try it. Salons have waxed and waned in popularity over the centuries, but it seems to me that as we are all living more and more online, there is a strong need to find authentic offline experiences and I believe that this just might meet that need for Masons.

More information about Salons, and tons of ideas to consider are here: The Salon Host.

What do you think? Would you be interested in a Salon organized by your Lodge?

1. If the Worshipful Master, or another Brother is ever able to sneak some bit of business into a meeting of this sort, the entire thing will slowly die. That one tiny bit of emergent and important business will grow into two, then three, and very soon you’ll just be having two business meetings a month instead of one.

2. I am aware that your Lodge or Jurisdiction may well have rules about food and alcohol in the Lodge Room. It is up to you to decide if these rules are valid or should be changed. If they can’t be changed or set aside, certainly upon calling Off Session the Masons could move into the Dining Room.

Additionally, while Off Session would be the proper state of the Lodge for this to take place in my Jurisdiction, your own Jurisdiction may well differ. Perhaps you would need to Call To Refreshment or some other status.