interesting long read. We often bark about quality vs Quantity as if filtering membership with more scrutiny will increase foot traffic to our door. However we never quite are ready to discuss relevance. Relevance requires that we drop our ego, look at our selves critically and answer the question, is what we do relevant to society and most importantly to our membership. Looking at the history of my personal lodge, founded in 1866 it was community focused in its activities. It had to be, there were no trains or really any money following reconstruction. As the South recovered it was involved with furnishing hospitals, hosting events, bringing people together for aid and mutual benefit. The social organization grew our membership out of necessity. Even then the total "active" membership for our lodge was historically small. flash forward to the post WW2 generation our ranks ballooned so much, that the lodge had to form another lodge just to host the attendees. Monroe 244s enthusiastic membership Spawned many appendant bodies from England, Ireland and Scotland here in the us. The Allied Masonic Degrees, Knight masons, NCSRICF, The order of the sliver trowel, or Knight masons. the first Recognized Lodge of Research in the US. However These weren't the activities of the lodge, they were the activities of a core of members, just a hand full. If you look in the records all through the last Century and a half our active membership was 15-20 strong every year. Its still true today. That said, its a fragile thin. 1 year of apathy is all it takes to break the chain of activity and your lodge dies with out some great intervention. I say, be more careful you you appoint to the oriental chair than any thing. Make sure they are ready, and they want to do it.
Good article, and is asking a very to the point question.
I love history. I love the history of our craft. Not just the history of freemasonry, but our local lodges. I like sitting in the tyler's room and look at the men who came before me, all the way back to 1894, and think about what this lodge must have been like in their time. Some of the names are recognizable as they appear elsewhere in town. On street signs, on public buildings, etc.
I like going into what we call the dungeon (basically the basement) and looking around at the items stored there. It's how I found a scrap book that had a picture of each past master (up to the mid 90s) and a notecard of accomplishments of that master's year. Brother Tig, while similarly rooting around found an old Army cavalry sabre which probably belonged to one of the first masters of the lodge. It was rusty and neglected. Tig cleaned it up and now it proudly sits in our display case.
The lodge we live in was built in the very early 1950s, while the war in Korea raged. There is a ledger book in our library that itemized and kept track of the construction of our temple. Most of the work was done by the masons themselves (with a little help from the shipyard across the inlet, so the legend goes).
In our "friendship room" there is a brick fireplace. One of the bricks is a little different than the others. During President Truman's term, there was a major renovation of the White House, and bricks removed were sold to the public. The lodge was in the middle of building the temple, and someone thought of the brilliant idea of buying a brick and installing it in the fireplace as it was being constructed.
Brothers in the 70s started running a bingo hall in our banquet room, to help raise money for the fraternity. Their work built a wonderful nest egg that we're still benefiting from today.
There was a lot of love for the fraternity, and it's evident in all sorts of clues all over the lodge, if you go looking for them. I'm sure that most of the lodges within our district have similar stories to tell.
Today, there's probably less than ten brothers who actively try and keep things running. Out of a membership of 140. That's not even ten percent. Most of the brothers just don't seem to care enough to step up. It points to what's been talked about before (and in the article), if we're not giving something of value, then people will value it less. In the past, it's obvious that there was much more care within the craft than there is today.
We have all seen over and over the “network effect” and how the fraternity draws men together to solve this problem or create that project.
We have also seen the Great Mystery: why do we keep going to interminable business meetings?
Pretty soon after my initiation I started wondering whether I joined at the worst time, just before the collapse of Masonry, or at the best time, right before it’s rebirth.
Between the network we have and the many efforts at energizing Masonic education, I think we’re at the rebirth.
Tradition is not the worship of ashes but the preservation of fire.
A very good read. I believe we need to really look at the quality vs quantity question. What was it that Freemasons studied before the authors and philosophers of the past 100 years? I truly believe anything that builds and strengthens a man’s character will make a good man better. We should seek greatness within ourselves everyday. From the decisions we make to the company we keep. We should remember to keep our white aprons pure and spotless. We should seek great experiences within our Craft. We should recognize and know the strengths of each of our brothers and and encourage one another. During the past 25-50 years we have been trying to save the Fraternity. I think educating and philosophizing about ideas and ideals in Lodge is where we need to return to but it’s not an easy path. I think most of us have forgotten how to speak about ideas. This is the kind of thinking we must have to plan, like RW Jackson shared, 50-100 years into the future. We must make our experiences more meaningful, the quality of our fraternity more experiential. Regaining the quality of our days past. But what I truly believe we’ve been trying to save hasn’t really been our fraternity, hasn’t been our quality experiences but instead, we’ve become overwhelmed with trying to save what we think We need to keep Freemasonry alive, our old, antiquated buildings/lodges/temples. We think we need to have a certain quantity of members to have a sufficient income to keep the lights on and the cold out. This becomes a distraction and takes up hours of potentially quality time and turns it into just another business meeting. I’ve shared before, I believe we, as a whole, own too much real estate. We have chosen to forego quality to keep a building alive. Our mission or goal should not be making good buildings better.
I am coaching and mentoring a young Entered Apprentice, who expressed to me, "My generation NEEDS this!" I asked him how we reach his generation. And that's one of the things we are working on. I am an amateur historian, and love the history (such as there is) of our Craft. The EA I spoke of hadn't read a book (other than for his job as a computer programmer) in years. I gently pushed a few books on Masonry in his general direction, and he snatched them up, devoured them, and asked for more! MORE!
Is Masonry to be found in our Ritual? Yes, to a degree. (Pun not intended!) When we dig deeper into our ritual and Craft, we find more avenues to explore in history, philosophy, and meaning.
What does it mean to be a "good man?" How do I become a good man? How does the rest of the world see me and my Brethren as good men? The answers lie within us. For me, the big "secret" of Freemasonry is what happens in my soul when I practice the precepts and principles of Freemasonry. The result is that I do things for other people, often anonymously, and I feel better about myself.
I see too many "members" of Lodges who wish to be known as Masons, but do not seek the fellowship and activity that is prerequisite for actually belonging and becoming a true Freemason. How do we reach and reclaim these Brethren? That's a question I wrestle with constantly. What are we trying to save? I would rather have 10 young men like my EA, than 50 benchwarmers!
interesting long read. We often bark about quality vs Quantity as if filtering membership with more scrutiny will increase foot traffic to our door. However we never quite are ready to discuss relevance. Relevance requires that we drop our ego, look at our selves critically and answer the question, is what we do relevant to society and most importantly to our membership. Looking at the history of my personal lodge, founded in 1866 it was community focused in its activities. It had to be, there were no trains or really any money following reconstruction. As the South recovered it was involved with furnishing hospitals, hosting events, bringing people together for aid and mutual benefit. The social organization grew our membership out of necessity. Even then the total "active" membership for our lodge was historically small. flash forward to the post WW2 generation our ranks ballooned so much, that the lodge had to form another lodge just to host the attendees. Monroe 244s enthusiastic membership Spawned many appendant bodies from England, Ireland and Scotland here in the us. The Allied Masonic Degrees, Knight masons, NCSRICF, The order of the sliver trowel, or Knight masons. the first Recognized Lodge of Research in the US. However These weren't the activities of the lodge, they were the activities of a core of members, just a hand full. If you look in the records all through the last Century and a half our active membership was 15-20 strong every year. Its still true today. That said, its a fragile thin. 1 year of apathy is all it takes to break the chain of activity and your lodge dies with out some great intervention. I say, be more careful you you appoint to the oriental chair than any thing. Make sure they are ready, and they want to do it.
Robert Mullis PM Monroe 244 Truth 749
Good article, and is asking a very to the point question.
I love history. I love the history of our craft. Not just the history of freemasonry, but our local lodges. I like sitting in the tyler's room and look at the men who came before me, all the way back to 1894, and think about what this lodge must have been like in their time. Some of the names are recognizable as they appear elsewhere in town. On street signs, on public buildings, etc.
I like going into what we call the dungeon (basically the basement) and looking around at the items stored there. It's how I found a scrap book that had a picture of each past master (up to the mid 90s) and a notecard of accomplishments of that master's year. Brother Tig, while similarly rooting around found an old Army cavalry sabre which probably belonged to one of the first masters of the lodge. It was rusty and neglected. Tig cleaned it up and now it proudly sits in our display case.
The lodge we live in was built in the very early 1950s, while the war in Korea raged. There is a ledger book in our library that itemized and kept track of the construction of our temple. Most of the work was done by the masons themselves (with a little help from the shipyard across the inlet, so the legend goes).
In our "friendship room" there is a brick fireplace. One of the bricks is a little different than the others. During President Truman's term, there was a major renovation of the White House, and bricks removed were sold to the public. The lodge was in the middle of building the temple, and someone thought of the brilliant idea of buying a brick and installing it in the fireplace as it was being constructed.
Brothers in the 70s started running a bingo hall in our banquet room, to help raise money for the fraternity. Their work built a wonderful nest egg that we're still benefiting from today.
There was a lot of love for the fraternity, and it's evident in all sorts of clues all over the lodge, if you go looking for them. I'm sure that most of the lodges within our district have similar stories to tell.
Today, there's probably less than ten brothers who actively try and keep things running. Out of a membership of 140. That's not even ten percent. Most of the brothers just don't seem to care enough to step up. It points to what's been talked about before (and in the article), if we're not giving something of value, then people will value it less. In the past, it's obvious that there was much more care within the craft than there is today.
That’s a fine call to action.
We have all seen over and over the “network effect” and how the fraternity draws men together to solve this problem or create that project.
We have also seen the Great Mystery: why do we keep going to interminable business meetings?
Pretty soon after my initiation I started wondering whether I joined at the worst time, just before the collapse of Masonry, or at the best time, right before it’s rebirth.
Between the network we have and the many efforts at energizing Masonic education, I think we’re at the rebirth.
Tradition is not the worship of ashes but the preservation of fire.
— Gustav Mahler
A very good read. I believe we need to really look at the quality vs quantity question. What was it that Freemasons studied before the authors and philosophers of the past 100 years? I truly believe anything that builds and strengthens a man’s character will make a good man better. We should seek greatness within ourselves everyday. From the decisions we make to the company we keep. We should remember to keep our white aprons pure and spotless. We should seek great experiences within our Craft. We should recognize and know the strengths of each of our brothers and and encourage one another. During the past 25-50 years we have been trying to save the Fraternity. I think educating and philosophizing about ideas and ideals in Lodge is where we need to return to but it’s not an easy path. I think most of us have forgotten how to speak about ideas. This is the kind of thinking we must have to plan, like RW Jackson shared, 50-100 years into the future. We must make our experiences more meaningful, the quality of our fraternity more experiential. Regaining the quality of our days past. But what I truly believe we’ve been trying to save hasn’t really been our fraternity, hasn’t been our quality experiences but instead, we’ve become overwhelmed with trying to save what we think We need to keep Freemasonry alive, our old, antiquated buildings/lodges/temples. We think we need to have a certain quantity of members to have a sufficient income to keep the lights on and the cold out. This becomes a distraction and takes up hours of potentially quality time and turns it into just another business meeting. I’ve shared before, I believe we, as a whole, own too much real estate. We have chosen to forego quality to keep a building alive. Our mission or goal should not be making good buildings better.
I am coaching and mentoring a young Entered Apprentice, who expressed to me, "My generation NEEDS this!" I asked him how we reach his generation. And that's one of the things we are working on. I am an amateur historian, and love the history (such as there is) of our Craft. The EA I spoke of hadn't read a book (other than for his job as a computer programmer) in years. I gently pushed a few books on Masonry in his general direction, and he snatched them up, devoured them, and asked for more! MORE!
Is Masonry to be found in our Ritual? Yes, to a degree. (Pun not intended!) When we dig deeper into our ritual and Craft, we find more avenues to explore in history, philosophy, and meaning.
What does it mean to be a "good man?" How do I become a good man? How does the rest of the world see me and my Brethren as good men? The answers lie within us. For me, the big "secret" of Freemasonry is what happens in my soul when I practice the precepts and principles of Freemasonry. The result is that I do things for other people, often anonymously, and I feel better about myself.
I see too many "members" of Lodges who wish to be known as Masons, but do not seek the fellowship and activity that is prerequisite for actually belonging and becoming a true Freemason. How do we reach and reclaim these Brethren? That's a question I wrestle with constantly. What are we trying to save? I would rather have 10 young men like my EA, than 50 benchwarmers!