I agree with you. We continue to use zoom having used it in the pandemic. We invited speakers and still do from around the world. As a result 3 of those speakers have visited our Lodge in person and given talks.
We are a perapetetic Lodge and our members are from far and wide and we always use it for committee meetings and invite those brethren who can physically attend to do do and they do.
We still invite online speakers and also hold educational meetings, although they are not well attended. As long as some are receiving benefits, why not? Maybe one day I’ll be stuck somewhere and cannot physically attend. I hope the online option will be there for me. Thanks for your question
I have to think that the ability to bring in speakers from around the globe is a really wonderful thing, and I do wish that more Lodges in my Jurisdiction would take advantage of that ability.
While I can't speak to the technology side, I think video conferencing certainly has it's place. Having the ability to have guest speakers who would be unable to travel otherwise is a brilliant idea! For my own lodge, there is a good chance our officer meetings might move to a virtual format in order to better work with competing schedules. We do have some out of state Brethren who could potentially reconnect through video conferencing. We need to inquire into their interest in doing so.
I'm a 50 year member of Fairport-Flower City #476 F&AM under the GLoNY now living in Texas. I would love to be able to join my Blue Lodge brothers in Masonic communication, to the extent possible, via Zoom. I also join weekly Global Masonic Chat Group meetings via Zoom with brothers from across the globe. The global chat group is open to any brother in good standing of a regular lodge in a jurisdiction recognized by the UGLE.
A Lodge I'm a member of in Seattle really embraced Zoom during the pandemic, and we were frequently visited by one of our members who had moved to the Philippines. It is a really good solution for those who have moved away, but want to remain connected.
My lodge is a Tradional Observance lodge. As such, it is mostly ritual or papers discussing the secrets of a mason. There would be very small portion of our lodge meetings that would be "Zoomable." The topic of using Zoom has never been introduced.
Yes. The only parts of our meetings that can be Zoomed are the 'business' portions, or any presentation that doesn't include our ritualistic work. So I understand and agree that this would not be a good option for a Lodge that focuses primarily on our ritual/secrets or delivers into them deeply.
That 'hackability' is the main reason my Jurisdiction has decided that we won't allow the ritualistic work to go out over Zoom or a similar platform. I don't know how many people would be interested enough in what we do to actually go to the work of doing it, but I'm sure that some would give it a try.
It works OK for our Lodge, we simply open the Lodge ritualistically, then turn on Zoom, then turn it off before any other ritual is performed. We don't ever turn it on for Degrees of course, as all of that is ritualistic.
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...
It is undoubtedly true, it does require flexibility on the part of Grand Lodges.
When my Lodge first began doing this we were limited by the Grand Lodge to only allowing members to listen in to the actual business of the Lodge, or to specific presentations.
Then the body voted to allow everything over Zoom other than the ritual itself.
But, I do think we could go further, I don't see much harm in allowing the use of the ritual, assuming that we are taking some measures to ensure that only Masons are in attendance.
The voting method used in your virtual Lodges sounds like a great solution for my Lodge, when we have a number of people on Zoom. Thank you for it, I'll suggest it to the Lodge.
There are Lodges which only exist in a virtual space. I could not imagine only attending Lodge via the ether.
Lodge attendance is best when it is a visceral experience. Physical attendance promotes an energy that does not transport across electronic media as well. There is a certain egregore present when we meet as Brothers in our physical form.
I am convinced that virtual connections definitely have their place, but nothing like that can replace the occasion of Brothers gathering, greeting each other with hugs or handshakes, and conferring ideas face to face.
Greetings from Mexico! I have belonged to a Virtual Lodge for about 15 years. We started out on Skype and went through multi platforms before finally settling on Zoom. The membership was rather startling with almost all (except me) being Very, Right and Most WB’s (5 of the latter in the set up).
About 6 years ago we were sanctioned with a Charter by an adventurous GL in Canada. The membership are located all over North America… a lot (including the new primary officers) are from the US. (I am the Jr. Steward and have been okay’d to produce a quarterly newsletter which has been my forte for about 25 years for different Lodges).
The turnout for meetings is great and the educational aspect is amazing.
We DO NOT do Degrees… ONLY MM’s are made members. In order to join one MUST attend at least 4 meetings (which means almost a year’s meetings as we ONLY meet on a 5th Wednesday of any month with one… about 4 or 5 times a year), go through an interview with 3 or 4 members and be balloted on in “open Lodge”.
The dues are low as a full Zoom membership by our Secretary is not expensive and we share with our “daughter” Lodge which is based in Australia… also Chartered by an accredited GL there. We do pay a GL Assessment and have a few other small expenses. There is an abbreviated opening and closing and a unique display of those things required to open Lodge… the Ritual is also abbreviated. Also the devised way of assuring this Lodge is “properly Tyled” is reassuring… All was approved by UGLE as well.
As I said, the education portions of the Lodge meetings are incredible and very well presented.
I intentionally have not mentioned the name of the Lodge or the GL we are in or of the Australian group.
If you would like to attend as a guest Cameron, I will be glad to vouch for you although we have not sat in a Lodge together… I believe you will be impressed with this as it DID NOT arise from the Covid thing!
Most Zoom meetings being held today have participants who probably don’t (or won’t) show up for Lodge in person anyway for the usual reasons… don’t like driving at night or other lame excuses.
I believe you know how to contact me if you are interested in learning more… I don’t want to be swamped with calls… I am sure you understand.
Before the Pandemic, I believe at every single Annual Communication that I ever attended we would have at least one or two Brothers stand up to complain that they couldn't couldn't properly file their Lodge's annual reports or the like because:
1- None of us own a computer.
2- There is no internet in our area.
What always made this interesting is that these fellows invariably had Facebook accounts. 🤠🐿
Simple stubbornness does much to harm our Ancient Craft.
In 2014, the GM here laid down the law that email was a requirement for District Deputy appointments. We also set up an "assistant Secretary" capability in the membership system so someone literate could be assigned to such tasks.
There is no excuse, not by a hundred miles, at this point.
And for some older members - when they (or spouse) stop driving, and they don't get out as much, some in my lodge go pick them up to bring them to meetings, but even that doesn't always work out. (plus the old codgers who have been the 'helpers' for the entire lives tend to be annoyed by it more than the new helpers do...) We have recently had Brothers Zoom in from out of state, out of the country, on their phone from a hospital bed - but they do it because they KNOW they are welcome, they WANT to see their Brothers' faces, hear their voices, and not be a burden. Just don't turn it on until the opening ritual is over and turn it off before it resumes for closing, and they are just part of a business & social meeting. My 2 pennies.
As I continue to age (and grow blinder and blinder in the dark) I find myself sometimes considering how Masonry will be for me when I can no longer drive at night.
It'll be fine at my local Lodge, as I'll always be able to catch a lift. But, what about those Lodges that I belong to that are a couple hours from my house? That'll get tough.
I already find some limitation due to my eyesight. I can see fine at night driving through the City and on the Freeway, so attending my Lodges in Seattle is no problem.
But, Lodges where I have to drive through very rural areas are becoming impossible.
A few months ago a good friend was Installed Master of his Lodge in the City of Bremerton. And it was really important to me to be there for his Installation. It was a mid-afternoon thing, so I thought that I would be fine. But, it was dark before I reached home, and some of the long stretches between that city and mine are served by only a two lane highway, with nothing but trees on either side. It was, frankly scary as hell making that drive that night.
“ … 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.”
It's true – it’s always been clumsy, a learning experience. A little at a time, we’ve tested to see what works, and what doesn’t. I remember one meeting where we had a couple of members running around with their smartphones trying to capture Lodge events like a field reporter, and that didn’t work. In fact, while I was monitoring the Zoom, I got mild motion sickness. We didn’t repeat that, but it was a lesson learned.
I think as we’re getting things narrowed down, we have a better idea of what equipment we really need to do this right, and to do it in a way that an average member can run it. And if we can get things explained to the Brethren properly, I think our active members will be on board with the expense.
Certainly the technology exists to do this in the very best way possible, and it is growing cheaper and cheaper all the time. Ultimately for a Lodge struggling with technology, I have to imagine that the best course of action is to reach out to someone who does this kind of thing for a living, and enlist their help. There are a lot of Masons who fit that bill.
And I imagine that in the long run, it would be less costly for a Lodge to do it right.
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.
Regarding your point about the ritual (and other esoteric content) on online platforms:
I have been sitting in a tiled Lodge meeting, on more than one occasion, when a non-Mason has opened the Lodge Room door, having wandered in off the street. This has happened when I was sitting in a Scottish Rite meeting as well.
I have never been in a Lodge meeting that was utilizing Zoom, and had a non Mason pop up on the Zoom.
So I agree, virtual platforms are no less secure than our meeting rooms.
The people who have wandered into Lodge meetings were able to do so because there was a 'ghost' tyler guarding the door. Likewise, if we want to secure a virtual meeting, we would do so by utilizing the waiting room feature. In both cases, adequate tools exist.
It seems to me that the fundamental problem is that we have given too much authority to our Grand Lodges, and as Grand Lodges must govern to the lowest common denominator, experimentation is impossible.
The best way to go about this, in my Jurisdiction, would be to simply experiment. Give one or two Lodges the ability to do the ritual virtually, and see how it goes. If it works well, open it up to everyone. If it doesn't stop doing it. But the Grand Lodge doesn't work that way. It creates rules without exceptions, and that holds us back from a changing world.
Discussions like this one do make me wonder if we worry a bit too much about regularity.
“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?”
I was at the meeting where the Worshipful Master and the Senior Warden were not present; as the Lodge’s Junior Warden, I presided at the meeting. And indeed, it was one of the most frustrating meetings that I have presided over. Who *really* was in charge? The common sense answer wound up being the correct one, as the member present at the meeting, wearing the hat, was in charge. But it did bring up a weird situation, as the Worshipful Master and the Senior Warden were squabbling over matters, not paying attention to those physically at the meeting, so they were in fact being disruptive, even if it wasn’t their intent. Afterwards, I was asked by a few present why I didn’t kick them out of the meeting. After consulting some PGM’s, Jurisprudence members, etc. I found that according to not only the new provisions of our Code, but also by general usages, the Worshipful Master and the Senior Warden were guests on Zoom, and were not in charge. They were effectively sideliners, and I could have removed them from the meeting. Nevertheless, it would have felt weird, kicking the Worshipful Master and the Senior Warden out of their own Lodge during a Stated Communication. While we got many things done that evening, I will admit we all learned some important lessons from that meeting.
The best way to handle this situation if you’re the Worshipful Master is to prepare the meeting as if you will be completely absent that evening. Make sure whoever will be presiding has your agenda, and understands what you wish to accomplish that meeting. Then let him do what he needs to do, whether you attend via Zoom or not. If the Presiding officer asks the Worshipful Master for clarification or further insight, the Worshipful Master on Zoom can provide it, but he cannot cross the line and attempt the run the meeting from the Zoom. This can take considerable discipline, and the Worshipful Master has to really contemplate whether he would be better off keeping the mute button on, or even attending at all.
You'll recall that I sat in that meeting, and I felt really badly for you trying to manage the thing from the East. I may have been angrier following that meeting than I've ever been following a Lodge meeting. The whole thing was a disaster, and none of it was your fault.
>>>The best way to handle this situation if you’re the Worshipful Master is to prepare the >>>meeting as if you will be completely absent that evening. Make sure whoever will be >>>presiding has your agenda, and understands what you wish to accomplish that meeting. >>>Then let him do what he needs to do, whether you attend via Zoom or not. If the >>>Presiding officer asks the Worshipful Master for clarification or further insight, the >>>Worshipful Master on Zoom can provide it, but he cannot cross the line and attempt the >>>run the meeting from the Zoom. This can take considerable discipline, and the >>>Worshipful Master has to really contemplate whether he would be better off keeping the >>>mute button on, or even attending at all.
Yes, indeed, this is the best way to deal with a situation like that.
As you'll recall, I was one of the fellows who thought afterwards that you should have just thrown the WM and SW out on their virtual asses. 🤠🐿😎
I personally dislike Zoom and other teleconference formats. But that's just me. I really do not support lodge business being conducted over phones, teleconferences, etc. Not sure how secret ballots can operate with those services. That said, Closing the business meeting and using teleconferences for speakers is a different matter, as the speaker will be presenting.
The primary reason I do not support it is that its not personal and the meeting tends to focus on getting the tech just to work. It feels a bit disconnected. It has its place, presenters, committee meetings, just not running the business of a lodge, or replacing the in person experience of a meeting.
I worked 10 years remote for my old company and can say that after that 10 year stint, was never so happy as the day I took a job in a office. It felt like like coming home out of the wilderness.
>>>I personally dislike Zoom and other teleconference formats.
Me too. I spend a fair amount of time on Zoom, but don't enjoy it nearly as much as talking in person.
>>>But that's just me.
I think that's it in my case. Nothing more than personal preference. Others may well prefer it.
>>>Not sure how secret ballots can operate with those services.
In my Jurisdiction secret ballots aren't allowed to happen over Zoom. In my Lodge we would do whatever had to be done via secret ballot when the Zoom wasn't running.
>>>the meeting tends to focus on getting the tech just to work. It feels a bit disconnected.
This has proven to be a problem in my Lodge. But, an easily solved problem if my Lodge were to decide to:
-Ask a Mason who does this kind of thing for a living to design a proper system for us.
-Spend the funds to buy whatever he tells us to buy.
That's quite interesting. In Nova Scotia, the Grand Lodge, during the pandemic, said Zoom meetings were fine, but no official business or ritual work was allowed, which is why I ended up being WM for 3 years straight! This remains in effect. A former Grand Master hosts a Sunday night zoom chat where we have hundreds of Masons from around the world attend. They are educational in nature. We do Advisory Board meetings via Google Meet (we have free Google Workspace as a non-profit for all of Nova Scotia, so we dropped Zoom). But Lodge meetings must be in Lodge, no video. I like that because we get together in the real world. Also, we're fine driving in a snow storm, but hey, Canada :-)
>>>Nova Scotia, the Grand Lodge, during the pandemic, said Zoom meetings were fine, but >>>no official business or ritual work was allowed
This is how my Jurisdiction started as well. It was later expanded to allow business, but that was after the Pandemic had passed.
>>>A former Grand Master hosts a Sunday night zoom chat where we have hundreds of >>>Masons from around the world attend. They are educational in nature.
This sounds cool!
>>>Also, we're fine driving in a snow storm, but hey, Canada
In Western Washington we prefer to gridlock and ultimately shut down entire cities each time there is the faintest skiff of snow.
We also declare that faint skiff of snow to be at least 6 or 8 inches deep. But, alas, you to the North of us can't do the same with your crazy metric system! 🤣
Heh, I came to Canada as they were switching systems. People here say height in feet & inches, distance in kilometres, liquids in metric and fruit & meat in pounds, and snow in centimetres...LOL.
I agree with you. We continue to use zoom having used it in the pandemic. We invited speakers and still do from around the world. As a result 3 of those speakers have visited our Lodge in person and given talks.
We are a perapetetic Lodge and our members are from far and wide and we always use it for committee meetings and invite those brethren who can physically attend to do do and they do.
We still invite online speakers and also hold educational meetings, although they are not well attended. As long as some are receiving benefits, why not? Maybe one day I’ll be stuck somewhere and cannot physically attend. I hope the online option will be there for me. Thanks for your question
I have to think that the ability to bring in speakers from around the globe is a really wonderful thing, and I do wish that more Lodges in my Jurisdiction would take advantage of that ability.
While I can't speak to the technology side, I think video conferencing certainly has it's place. Having the ability to have guest speakers who would be unable to travel otherwise is a brilliant idea! For my own lodge, there is a good chance our officer meetings might move to a virtual format in order to better work with competing schedules. We do have some out of state Brethren who could potentially reconnect through video conferencing. We need to inquire into their interest in doing so.
I agree, it is a great solution for things like Officer Meetings, Temple Board meetings and the rest.
I'm a 50 year member of Fairport-Flower City #476 F&AM under the GLoNY now living in Texas. I would love to be able to join my Blue Lodge brothers in Masonic communication, to the extent possible, via Zoom. I also join weekly Global Masonic Chat Group meetings via Zoom with brothers from across the globe. The global chat group is open to any brother in good standing of a regular lodge in a jurisdiction recognized by the UGLE.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1307976712885704/
A Lodge I'm a member of in Seattle really embraced Zoom during the pandemic, and we were frequently visited by one of our members who had moved to the Philippines. It is a really good solution for those who have moved away, but want to remain connected.
My lodge is a Tradional Observance lodge. As such, it is mostly ritual or papers discussing the secrets of a mason. There would be very small portion of our lodge meetings that would be "Zoomable." The topic of using Zoom has never been introduced.
Yes. The only parts of our meetings that can be Zoomed are the 'business' portions, or any presentation that doesn't include our ritualistic work. So I understand and agree that this would not be a good option for a Lodge that focuses primarily on our ritual/secrets or delivers into them deeply.
If it is for instructional purposes or lecturing, I do not see a problem. But for the Meeting itself is a must to be present.
Also the problem with technology is that it can be hacked no matter how many security features are used.
That 'hackability' is the main reason my Jurisdiction has decided that we won't allow the ritualistic work to go out over Zoom or a similar platform. I don't know how many people would be interested enough in what we do to actually go to the work of doing it, but I'm sure that some would give it a try.
It works OK for our Lodge, we simply open the Lodge ritualistically, then turn on Zoom, then turn it off before any other ritual is performed. We don't ever turn it on for Degrees of course, as all of that is ritualistic.
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...
It is undoubtedly true, it does require flexibility on the part of Grand Lodges.
When my Lodge first began doing this we were limited by the Grand Lodge to only allowing members to listen in to the actual business of the Lodge, or to specific presentations.
Then the body voted to allow everything over Zoom other than the ritual itself.
But, I do think we could go further, I don't see much harm in allowing the use of the ritual, assuming that we are taking some measures to ensure that only Masons are in attendance.
The voting method used in your virtual Lodges sounds like a great solution for my Lodge, when we have a number of people on Zoom. Thank you for it, I'll suggest it to the Lodge.
"We do dress up (dark jacket, tie..)"
I noticed that you make no mention of what color pants. 😊
Pants is an important point to make, for surely I would prefer to go without them while Zooming!
But, alas, I can not. For doing so would be noticed every time I stood up to refill my whiskey.
Couldn't you plumb the whiskey barrel straight to your desk?
That isn't a bad idea actually. I do have two empty whiskey barrels down in my basement, I could always fill them up again!
There are Lodges which only exist in a virtual space. I could not imagine only attending Lodge via the ether.
Lodge attendance is best when it is a visceral experience. Physical attendance promotes an energy that does not transport across electronic media as well. There is a certain egregore present when we meet as Brothers in our physical form.
I am convinced that virtual connections definitely have their place, but nothing like that can replace the occasion of Brothers gathering, greeting each other with hugs or handshakes, and conferring ideas face to face.
I agree, it is not a suitable replacement for in person gathering, in my view.
But, I think it is great for when guys are traveling, sick, or have moved away but want to maintain connection to the Lodge.
Greetings from Mexico! I have belonged to a Virtual Lodge for about 15 years. We started out on Skype and went through multi platforms before finally settling on Zoom. The membership was rather startling with almost all (except me) being Very, Right and Most WB’s (5 of the latter in the set up).
About 6 years ago we were sanctioned with a Charter by an adventurous GL in Canada. The membership are located all over North America… a lot (including the new primary officers) are from the US. (I am the Jr. Steward and have been okay’d to produce a quarterly newsletter which has been my forte for about 25 years for different Lodges).
The turnout for meetings is great and the educational aspect is amazing.
We DO NOT do Degrees… ONLY MM’s are made members. In order to join one MUST attend at least 4 meetings (which means almost a year’s meetings as we ONLY meet on a 5th Wednesday of any month with one… about 4 or 5 times a year), go through an interview with 3 or 4 members and be balloted on in “open Lodge”.
The dues are low as a full Zoom membership by our Secretary is not expensive and we share with our “daughter” Lodge which is based in Australia… also Chartered by an accredited GL there. We do pay a GL Assessment and have a few other small expenses. There is an abbreviated opening and closing and a unique display of those things required to open Lodge… the Ritual is also abbreviated. Also the devised way of assuring this Lodge is “properly Tyled” is reassuring… All was approved by UGLE as well.
As I said, the education portions of the Lodge meetings are incredible and very well presented.
I intentionally have not mentioned the name of the Lodge or the GL we are in or of the Australian group.
If you would like to attend as a guest Cameron, I will be glad to vouch for you although we have not sat in a Lodge together… I believe you will be impressed with this as it DID NOT arise from the Covid thing!
Most Zoom meetings being held today have participants who probably don’t (or won’t) show up for Lodge in person anyway for the usual reasons… don’t like driving at night or other lame excuses.
I believe you know how to contact me if you are interested in learning more… I don’t want to be swamped with calls… I am sure you understand.
Thank you Brother. I would be very interested in attending one of your Lodge meetings, and have sent you my contact information.
I think it was a real shame we needed a pandemic to start us using such tools.
Before the Pandemic, I believe at every single Annual Communication that I ever attended we would have at least one or two Brothers stand up to complain that they couldn't couldn't properly file their Lodge's annual reports or the like because:
1- None of us own a computer.
2- There is no internet in our area.
What always made this interesting is that these fellows invariably had Facebook accounts. 🤠🐿
Simple stubbornness does much to harm our Ancient Craft.
In 2014, the GM here laid down the law that email was a requirement for District Deputy appointments. We also set up an "assistant Secretary" capability in the membership system so someone literate could be assigned to such tasks.
There is no excuse, not by a hundred miles, at this point.
Agreed. 100%.
And for some older members - when they (or spouse) stop driving, and they don't get out as much, some in my lodge go pick them up to bring them to meetings, but even that doesn't always work out. (plus the old codgers who have been the 'helpers' for the entire lives tend to be annoyed by it more than the new helpers do...) We have recently had Brothers Zoom in from out of state, out of the country, on their phone from a hospital bed - but they do it because they KNOW they are welcome, they WANT to see their Brothers' faces, hear their voices, and not be a burden. Just don't turn it on until the opening ritual is over and turn it off before it resumes for closing, and they are just part of a business & social meeting. My 2 pennies.
As I continue to age (and grow blinder and blinder in the dark) I find myself sometimes considering how Masonry will be for me when I can no longer drive at night.
It'll be fine at my local Lodge, as I'll always be able to catch a lift. But, what about those Lodges that I belong to that are a couple hours from my house? That'll get tough.
I already find some limitation due to my eyesight. I can see fine at night driving through the City and on the Freeway, so attending my Lodges in Seattle is no problem.
But, Lodges where I have to drive through very rural areas are becoming impossible.
A few months ago a good friend was Installed Master of his Lodge in the City of Bremerton. And it was really important to me to be there for his Installation. It was a mid-afternoon thing, so I thought that I would be fine. But, it was dark before I reached home, and some of the long stretches between that city and mine are served by only a two lane highway, with nothing but trees on either side. It was, frankly scary as hell making that drive that night.
“ … 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.”
It's true – it’s always been clumsy, a learning experience. A little at a time, we’ve tested to see what works, and what doesn’t. I remember one meeting where we had a couple of members running around with their smartphones trying to capture Lodge events like a field reporter, and that didn’t work. In fact, while I was monitoring the Zoom, I got mild motion sickness. We didn’t repeat that, but it was a lesson learned.
I think as we’re getting things narrowed down, we have a better idea of what equipment we really need to do this right, and to do it in a way that an average member can run it. And if we can get things explained to the Brethren properly, I think our active members will be on board with the expense.
Certainly the technology exists to do this in the very best way possible, and it is growing cheaper and cheaper all the time. Ultimately for a Lodge struggling with technology, I have to imagine that the best course of action is to reach out to someone who does this kind of thing for a living, and enlist their help. There are a lot of Masons who fit that bill.
And I imagine that in the long run, it would be less costly for a Lodge to do it right.
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.
Regarding your point about the ritual (and other esoteric content) on online platforms:
I have been sitting in a tiled Lodge meeting, on more than one occasion, when a non-Mason has opened the Lodge Room door, having wandered in off the street. This has happened when I was sitting in a Scottish Rite meeting as well.
I have never been in a Lodge meeting that was utilizing Zoom, and had a non Mason pop up on the Zoom.
So I agree, virtual platforms are no less secure than our meeting rooms.
The people who have wandered into Lodge meetings were able to do so because there was a 'ghost' tyler guarding the door. Likewise, if we want to secure a virtual meeting, we would do so by utilizing the waiting room feature. In both cases, adequate tools exist.
It seems to me that the fundamental problem is that we have given too much authority to our Grand Lodges, and as Grand Lodges must govern to the lowest common denominator, experimentation is impossible.
The best way to go about this, in my Jurisdiction, would be to simply experiment. Give one or two Lodges the ability to do the ritual virtually, and see how it goes. If it works well, open it up to everyone. If it doesn't stop doing it. But the Grand Lodge doesn't work that way. It creates rules without exceptions, and that holds us back from a changing world.
Discussions like this one do make me wonder if we worry a bit too much about regularity.
“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?”
I was at the meeting where the Worshipful Master and the Senior Warden were not present; as the Lodge’s Junior Warden, I presided at the meeting. And indeed, it was one of the most frustrating meetings that I have presided over. Who *really* was in charge? The common sense answer wound up being the correct one, as the member present at the meeting, wearing the hat, was in charge. But it did bring up a weird situation, as the Worshipful Master and the Senior Warden were squabbling over matters, not paying attention to those physically at the meeting, so they were in fact being disruptive, even if it wasn’t their intent. Afterwards, I was asked by a few present why I didn’t kick them out of the meeting. After consulting some PGM’s, Jurisprudence members, etc. I found that according to not only the new provisions of our Code, but also by general usages, the Worshipful Master and the Senior Warden were guests on Zoom, and were not in charge. They were effectively sideliners, and I could have removed them from the meeting. Nevertheless, it would have felt weird, kicking the Worshipful Master and the Senior Warden out of their own Lodge during a Stated Communication. While we got many things done that evening, I will admit we all learned some important lessons from that meeting.
The best way to handle this situation if you’re the Worshipful Master is to prepare the meeting as if you will be completely absent that evening. Make sure whoever will be presiding has your agenda, and understands what you wish to accomplish that meeting. Then let him do what he needs to do, whether you attend via Zoom or not. If the Presiding officer asks the Worshipful Master for clarification or further insight, the Worshipful Master on Zoom can provide it, but he cannot cross the line and attempt the run the meeting from the Zoom. This can take considerable discipline, and the Worshipful Master has to really contemplate whether he would be better off keeping the mute button on, or even attending at all.
You'll recall that I sat in that meeting, and I felt really badly for you trying to manage the thing from the East. I may have been angrier following that meeting than I've ever been following a Lodge meeting. The whole thing was a disaster, and none of it was your fault.
>>>The best way to handle this situation if you’re the Worshipful Master is to prepare the >>>meeting as if you will be completely absent that evening. Make sure whoever will be >>>presiding has your agenda, and understands what you wish to accomplish that meeting. >>>Then let him do what he needs to do, whether you attend via Zoom or not. If the >>>Presiding officer asks the Worshipful Master for clarification or further insight, the >>>Worshipful Master on Zoom can provide it, but he cannot cross the line and attempt the >>>run the meeting from the Zoom. This can take considerable discipline, and the >>>Worshipful Master has to really contemplate whether he would be better off keeping the >>>mute button on, or even attending at all.
Yes, indeed, this is the best way to deal with a situation like that.
As you'll recall, I was one of the fellows who thought afterwards that you should have just thrown the WM and SW out on their virtual asses. 🤠🐿😎
But, of course it is easy to think such things from the sidelines. 😈 Much harder when one is actually in the East where decisions matter!
I personally dislike Zoom and other teleconference formats. But that's just me. I really do not support lodge business being conducted over phones, teleconferences, etc. Not sure how secret ballots can operate with those services. That said, Closing the business meeting and using teleconferences for speakers is a different matter, as the speaker will be presenting.
The primary reason I do not support it is that its not personal and the meeting tends to focus on getting the tech just to work. It feels a bit disconnected. It has its place, presenters, committee meetings, just not running the business of a lodge, or replacing the in person experience of a meeting.
I worked 10 years remote for my old company and can say that after that 10 year stint, was never so happy as the day I took a job in a office. It felt like like coming home out of the wilderness.
But again, that's just me.
>>>I personally dislike Zoom and other teleconference formats.
Me too. I spend a fair amount of time on Zoom, but don't enjoy it nearly as much as talking in person.
>>>But that's just me.
I think that's it in my case. Nothing more than personal preference. Others may well prefer it.
>>>Not sure how secret ballots can operate with those services.
In my Jurisdiction secret ballots aren't allowed to happen over Zoom. In my Lodge we would do whatever had to be done via secret ballot when the Zoom wasn't running.
>>>the meeting tends to focus on getting the tech just to work. It feels a bit disconnected.
This has proven to be a problem in my Lodge. But, an easily solved problem if my Lodge were to decide to:
-Ask a Mason who does this kind of thing for a living to design a proper system for us.
-Spend the funds to buy whatever he tells us to buy.
That's quite interesting. In Nova Scotia, the Grand Lodge, during the pandemic, said Zoom meetings were fine, but no official business or ritual work was allowed, which is why I ended up being WM for 3 years straight! This remains in effect. A former Grand Master hosts a Sunday night zoom chat where we have hundreds of Masons from around the world attend. They are educational in nature. We do Advisory Board meetings via Google Meet (we have free Google Workspace as a non-profit for all of Nova Scotia, so we dropped Zoom). But Lodge meetings must be in Lodge, no video. I like that because we get together in the real world. Also, we're fine driving in a snow storm, but hey, Canada :-)
>>>Nova Scotia, the Grand Lodge, during the pandemic, said Zoom meetings were fine, but >>>no official business or ritual work was allowed
This is how my Jurisdiction started as well. It was later expanded to allow business, but that was after the Pandemic had passed.
>>>A former Grand Master hosts a Sunday night zoom chat where we have hundreds of >>>Masons from around the world attend. They are educational in nature.
This sounds cool!
>>>Also, we're fine driving in a snow storm, but hey, Canada
In Western Washington we prefer to gridlock and ultimately shut down entire cities each time there is the faintest skiff of snow.
We also declare that faint skiff of snow to be at least 6 or 8 inches deep. But, alas, you to the North of us can't do the same with your crazy metric system! 🤣
Heh, I came to Canada as they were switching systems. People here say height in feet & inches, distance in kilometres, liquids in metric and fruit & meat in pounds, and snow in centimetres...LOL.
I believe that this essay by our Brother is quite relevant to our discussion here:
https://gilescrouch.substack.com/p/remote-works-ancient-history