Virtual Freemasonry
A Lodge pondering Zoom
Last night my Lodge debated its long-standing use of Zoom during Stated Meetings.
I wasn’t there. Our granddaughters are sick, my wife and I have been helping care for them, and as such, I didn’t want to give anyone at Lodge the flu, so I stayed home.
The Lodge began using Zoom during the pandemic, and has kept using it ever since.
In my Jurisdiction we are permitted to utilize Zoom (or a similar platform) throughout the meeting, with the exception of the ritualistic work. We require that Lodges shut off Zoom whenever ritual is being performed.
To my mind, there has been one form of this use that has been wildly successful for my Lodge. That is the ability to bring in guest speakers we would never be able to hear from otherwise. We’ve had great success with this, and I think it is universally approved of within my Lodge. We do though badly underutilize this ability. We haven’t brought speakers in nearly consistently enough.
Another great use of it, in my mind, happened just last night. There is an old joke around here that goes something like ‘When the very first snowflake falls in Seattle, everyone runs outside, starts up their car, and promptly drives it into the very first telephone pole they see.’ And there’s a bit of truth to that. It snows so rarely in Western Washington that no one learns how to drive in it when it does come. Last night things were supposed to be icy out (something else fairly rare here) so the Worshipful Master encouraged anyone nervous about driving in the ice to attend via Zoom instead.
I did receive a report this morning, informing me that the Lodge voted overwhelmingly to keep Zoom as a part of our regular Stated Meetings.
But, I wonder how everyone else feels about it. Both in a general way, and in some really specific ways.
Should Lodges offer a Zoom option for Brothers who are unable to attend?
Now before the familiar argument is made that ‘Brothers will just sit at home and attend via Zoom instead of driving a mile or two for Lodge’ I think it only fair for me to say that my Lodge’s only consistent user of the Zoom option is a member of our Lodge who lives halfway across the country. I should also say that the only other times members of my Lodge have used Zoom is when they are traveling. Indeed I’m told that we had one of our Lodge Brothers on it last night because he is currently in Florida.
Over the course of years we have seen no evidence of any member of our Lodge staying home to attend via Zoom instead of physically attending Lodge, if he is in a position to do so.
So, with that actual experience from the real world, over the course of years now in mind, should Lodges offer a Zoom option for Brothers who are unable to attend?
Please don’t think that I’ve got a dog in this fight simply because I posted about my Lodge’s experience. My own mind is in fact quite divided on this question.
If a Lodge provides a Zoom option, what role in the business of the Lodge meeting should a primary officer of the Lodge take, if he happens to be attending via Zoom?
I ask this also because of my Lodge’s own actual experience.
We have only had a primary officer of our Lodge attend via Zoom once. But, to make things even more exciting, on that single instance, we actually had both our Worshipful Master, and our Senior Warden out of the State for that meeting, so both attended via Zoom.
And, frankly, it proved difficult. I think we all learned that a Master can’t properly direct the business of the Lodge from Zoom. So what role should a primary Lodge officer take if he is attending via Zoom? Should he act more as a sideliner than an officer?
Another question that comes to mind is regarding technology.
My Lodge hasn’t done what I consider to be a very good job with that. And it isn’t any individual’s fault. We are too cheap as a Lodge to go out and buy the best tech for video conferencing. So, we’ve cobbled a system together out of a bunch of old stuff.
It works, but it could be much better, but in order to make it better, we would have to spend money that the group as a whole seems unwilling to spend.
So my question is, what minimum level of technology and technical proficiency is it fair for Lodge members to demand when a Lodge decides to embrace Zoom?
The vote in my Lodge last night, following debate, was 11 to 2 to keep utilizing Zoom.
But these questions still rattle in my mind, and I wonder what you think?
Let’s chat about it…
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I am in a unique situation that I am a member in one of the two "virtual" (internet only!) lodges in the world: Castle Island Virtual Lodge 169 in Manitoba. The other is in Australia - and I was a guest speaker in that lodge.
With some kind of "flexibility" on behalf of the GLs... it is doable and can be an enjoyable night. We do dress up (dark jacket, tie..) and we make sure that no cowans are listening 😜
Of course, we don't confer degrees in those lodges, but everything else: the business agenda, balloting on affiliation, the presentation of papers and discussion, all is done online with proper technologies and "innovative" adaptations. E.g. when voting on motions instead of raising hands, we say: all those in favour remain silent! If opposed, make yourself heard!
P.S. I do a lot of lectures via Zoom, and happy to help any lodge in need of a good presentation and discussions...
During the pandemic I became a vocal proponent of online Masonry and remain enthusiastically so today. I don't deny the value of in person meetings, and I agree that a mix of in person an online is what we should embrace for the future of Masonry.
I firmly do not agree with the argument against conducting ritualistic work online is that it's not secure. Video conferencing platforms are encrypted and can be organized with a moderator controlling the admittance of attendees. I submit that this is probably more secure than in person meetings (excluding of course the lodges with steel plated double-dead-bolted doors that won't open without an authorized retinal scan). But whether its in person or online, the strongest security tool we have is ourselves. Think about it ... what would we do if a cowan walked into an in-person meeting? Easy, we'd stop talking until he left.
Connecting with Brothers whose logistics don't allow them to attend lodge is a huge benefit. The much larger benefit is sustaining our Fraternity well into the future. Think about the young man, say 16 years old, who we might consider an excellent prospect 10 or 15 years from now. What will his life be like? What are his communication preferences? How is he accustomed to learning and therefore how will we fulfill his desire to learn about Masonry? We must be able to provide esoteric content online to address the needs of our future audience, and to ensure that the esoteric content they receive is legitimate. (We can get esoteric content on the web right now, but I can't validate its accuracy).
We haven't adequately studied online Masonry, maybe because it's too easy to simply say no. But the knowledge of how to create secure and meaningful online gatherings exists. There are online schools, online doctor visits, and untold sums of money are transacted daily by banks and financial institutions. Surely with the right preparation we can figure out how to provide secure, engaging and substantive Masonic meetings.
Polling today's Masons about online Masonry gives us insight into what we should do for the next few years. If we want a vibrant Fraternity decades in the future we're going to have to break the worst of our bad habits: we've got to stop talking to ourselves.