The State Of Freemasonry
A Brother's perspective
The U.S.P.S. brought a copy of Brother Ken Stuczynski’s book, Masonic Research Lodges, Bodies, and Societies to my door.
Signed too! Extra cool.
You can get your own copy right here:
Masonic Research Lodges, Bodies, and Societies
The Introduction really caught my eye. Here are some of the highlights:
“New generations of Masons are looking for meaning in their lives and not finding it in Freemasonry.”
and
“Countless churches are nearly empty at the few services left; recreational establishments such as roller rinks and pool halls are few and far between. We just don’t find meaning in crowds like we used to. It takes really special events to fill a theater or stadium. But lest we turn this book into one of sociological analysis, let’s just admit this isn’t the same world or attitudes that filled our Lodges in the past.
The real question is if Masonry provides anything unique or more than these other groups and activities. If that was so, our demographics would not have been swept out with the same wave. And yet so many Lodges and bodies double down on a bad bet - that what the new Brothers join for is another night out of camaraderie.”
and
“The problem isn’t that these values, sentiments, and activities are found in the Masonic experience. The problem is that they have been mistaken for its purpose, rather than the means or fruit of it. What we have lost is our soul. Moral instruction has become a haphazard byproduct of the osmosis of ritual. Discussion about life is rarely elevated beyond the temporal and profane. We are concerned primarily with buildings and investments and points of etiquette and tradition.”
and
“An increase in one’s knowledge can be measured by the degree of change within them. So a new question must be asked. Does such education fall under the purview and ability of the Royal Art?
Our ritual alludes strongly towards educating oneself in various arts and sciences. We surely do not hand out copies of Vetruvius’ De Architectura after exposure to columns in the Middle Chamber, but even if taken in the most symbolic sense, for what can all this be a metaphor? What is the meaning of all of it, if not lessons of life itself as iterated time and again in our ritual… The very meaning of the word ‘speculative’ at the time the ritual was conceived meant philosophical.”
and
“If this were not enough, the (Western) Enlightenment is intimately associated with Freemasonry… Regardless of the diversity of opinions and intellectual aptitudes among our current members, there no doubt remains a historical connection to such philosophical culture and tradition.”
It is said that usually an alcoholic or addict won’t truly try to reform himself until he hits rock bottom.
Where is that rock bottom for Freemasonry?
We have Lodges that are absolutely thriving in my Jurisdiction. Yet for each of those we have ten or more dying a slow death. In my Jurisdiction alone our membership has fallen by the tens of thousands over recent decades. By the millions throughout the United States.
Are we at rock bottom yet? Can we start to fix things now?
If we are honest with ourselves, and we take a look at our Lodge, how many men have we Initiated as Entered Apprentices over the past ten years? How many of those now regularly attend our Lodge as Master Masons? What tiny percentage have we retained?
Do we even know, or have we wiped them off of our records for ‘failure to advance’ so that we are not confronted with our own failures?
I ask these questions not to be ornery, but because we know that what Brother Ken writes in is book is true.
In the vast majority of our Lodges, the men we initiate today are not retained, because they do not find meaning within Freemasonry.
And that is the fault of all of us.
Let’s think back to our most recent Stated Meeting.
Did it have any discussion of one of the myriad symbols of Freemasonry?
Did it have any discussion of morality?
Did it have any discussion about the meaning of some part of our Lectures?
Did it have any discussion about life beyond the level of the profane?
Did it have any discussion about philosophy?
Be honest. Did it? At your Lodge’s last Stated Meeting, or any part of that gathering of Masons?
If not, what meaning could the new Mason take away from that meeting? Did that Masonic gathering add any meaning or value to his life? If not, then why did we even bother to meet?
Was our meeting time dominated with discussion about:
The Lodge’s building?
It’s money?
It’s investments?
The Masonic Code?
Lodge traditions?
If so, how did that meeting add any meaning to any Mason’s life?
Is it a surprise then when many men Initiated as Entered Apprentices don’t hang around long enough to be Raised as Master Masons? Is it any surprise that more new Masons stop coming to Lodge than continue coming to Lodge? Any surprise that so many stop coming after they leave the East?
I only copied a few of Brother Ken’s words above.
But, if we want to see our Lodge truly thrive, those few words above provide the roadmap we need to follow.
I hope that we do just that.
And I hope that you consider buying a copy of Brother Ken’s book! We must financially support those who write about Freemasonry if we hope to have anyone willing to write about Freemasonry.
https://amorphous.press/cyphrGlyffe/masonic-research-lodges-bodies-and-societies/
The decline of our fraternity has been an issue for decades. At first it was probably a good thing, no lodge should have a 1000 members. Frankly, lack of anyone guarding the west gate has contributed the most to the fraternity’s membership issues. The urbanization of society has also played a part in killing off lodges, as rural communities are slowly dying.
And yes, meetings lacking any moral or spiritual discussion contribute to retention.
I do see a glimmer of hope, in that there are lodges in the jurisdiction that are recognizing the problems and are trying to create a vibrant and living culture. Not a lot, there are still those lodges that just can’t accept change. But the seeds have been planted and the spread of Masonic education and change is growing. In the two districts I live near, when I first joined, not a single lodge offered any Masonic education at all. Now, I would say that most at least try to do something more than pay bills and argue about pancakes.
Just the other night a small group of us were talking about how to reintroduce education and meaning to our meetings.
Without it - maybe we should have joined the Elks.