How does Freemasonry convince our broader society? Personally I think the easy answer is "it doesn't". I know what you're getting at and I think it's an extremely worthy discussion, but I would frame the question maybe differently.
We don't/can't convince anybody of anything, fundamentally - for if we actually did this and were successful at it, there'd be questions about whether people were coming of their own free will and accord in the first place (which we know they must).
Here's a different frame: all we really need to do is be visible, so that thinking men of any age can weigh their options and do what's right for them. Based on population norms in past generations, even at membership height, Freemasonry probably wasn't the right choice for most men, but we definitely have a lot to offer particularly a type of personality I'd call "disconnected seekers".
All we really need is a seat at the cultural conversation table. Merely sitting at the table alerts thinking men with eyes to your presence, and then at some point people knock or they don't, you know?
What does "having a seat at the table" look like though? It means being open and vocal about the issues of the day -- *specifically through the lens of masonic principles*. I'm specifically not talking about Masons being "political", I'm talking about framing all of our statements relative to Masonic principles. Concrete example here: https://www.grandlodge-nc.org/storage/wysiwyg/united_at_the_capitol.pdf
It means lodges digging deeper too on the charity front. I was recently at a community award ceremony with a lodge where the lodge gave a substantial cash grant to a local non-profit and publicly praised them for the work they're doing in the community. Focus on the things you want to see more of, basically.
None of this is recruiting, and none of this is political. It's just presence really. Men either come to the craft through close personal relationships (father, uncle, friend) or they get intrigued and do their own research. It really boils down to this: as the generational links in families get severed, people can come to us by watching "National Treasure" with all the wrong ideas, or they can come to us because they've seen us in the town squares.
Thank you for reframing the question as you did. I knew when I wrote the post that I didn't quite have the right question in mind, and your reply helped with my thinking of the subject.
I do think you are right, we need to just put ourselves in front of these men. Some will choose to join us if we do.
When I was involved with the leadership of my Lodge, we took in a large number of millennials, and younger. How that happened was we got one, and he had a great time with the Lodge. Then we got another one, and he too had a great time. Then they started bringing their friends. It was a great growth spurt for the Lodge, but more importantly, it was a great energy burst for the Lodge.
But, it only happened because we had events that they could bring their friends too. I should rephrase that. We had events that they would not be worried their friends would think they were strange if they brought them.
I don't think a one of those young men would have brought one of their friends to a Lodge dinner before a meeting. I think they would have been nervous to do so, because their friends might think them strange to be having dinner with a bunch of us old guys, in a big old dining room, drinking coffee one could stand a spoon in instead of a latte.
But they brought them on our Lodge 'camping trips.' They brought them to our Lodge holiday parties. They brought them to our Steak and Cigar fundraisers.
We created, I think, an opportunity for them to bring their friends. And some of those friends became Freemasons.
it only takes 1-2 guys with open minds to be a seed for growth of a lodge to an entirely new generation and kind of member. It happened in mine basically just like you describe
The only problem is that Millennials are not "joiners". Makes it much more difficult to attract men into our fraternity, and might explain their feelings of loneliness. There is also the sharp decline with church attendance, which I think also contributes. Many more women then men attend worship services and may in part explain why women have more friends, etc.
Young people also tend to not be politically active, are less informed, and are more gullible.
Yes, you are correct about Church attendance. I saw statistics for that as well.
Just going to throw this out there too. We know that testosterone levels in American men have been falling quite dramatically, and we know that social pressures on young men have been to become more comfortable showing emotion, becoming less conflict oriented, in effect, more like women.
What really struck me is that the statistics show that young women are having a lot more sex than young men. That means that more women are having sex with fewer men. Not wanting to get too far afield here, but I think that for a lot of people, maybe most people, traditional gender attributes attract. Men are attracted to feminine women generally, and women are attracted to masculine men generally.
But if a young man is raised by a single mother without a father around much, taught in school primarily by female teachers, has another mom as his cub scout leader, and driving his carpool, when will he have positive masculine role models to emulate. Can that be part of the problem young men are facing? I think maybe so.
I also think that Freemasonry has that solution for those who seek it. Where better to learn how to be a man, than from other men? Older men who have experienced life. Who have been there, and done that.
the comment about young guys being less politically active, less informed, and more gullible...it's true.
but it's always been true. It was true of *us* when we were younger. Those things are practically the nature of being young. Who wants to get into dense political policy discussions, let's go out with friends. Less informed? Definitely so - less experience, less schooling, less everything (they're young). More gullible is a different way of saying "not yet worn down by experience of real people". They're guilty as charged.
But none of that is a good reason not to work with them and accept them into our lodges.
A couple months ago Most Worshipful posted about Masculinely or lack thereof. I believe that has a big role in the younger male population today. In the USA the female has made bigger strides in powerful positions in industry and government. That's good when you have six daughters! I won't get into our political leaders, but they only get away with things because we let them.
Getting off my soapbox. Masonry can only help the lower percentage of younger men that can find a mutual balance between all the pitfalls of the outside world and Freemasonry and guard our West gate. It's hard to put ones self into a younger generations mind set for several reasons; we grew up with different values, had different educations, were allowed to fail and try again and as men were expected to support our families. Today in a lot of marriages or relationships the woman is the bread winner. Some of you will think that guy is a nut, but you have to like yourself before you can love another!
My observation is Lodges that have a core of active Millennial members are more attractive to prospective Millennial (and GenZ) petitioners. As a Past Master that's approaching my 59th birthday, I'm trying to learn all I can from those that are my senior in our gentle craft and am trying to make more investments of time, supporting, and mentoring the younger brothers in my Lodge, because the future of our fraternity will soon be in their hands.
You are I think quite right about this. Getting our first couple of really young guys took a long time. Getting more after that didn't take much time at all.
I also think you are spot on with your focus on mentoring. That has become my focus as well since stepping out of the East. By teaching those behind us well, we do Freemasonry good for generations to come.
We are instructed to attract, not recruit. Good advice. Young men must come to us, of their own free will and accord. So, how do we attract? I think we do so by being seen in the public, doing good works, helping others. That requires participation from the lodges--LOTS of participation. Get the members involved. Show "the brand." My young protégé, who turns 30 this year told me after his Initiation, "My generation *needs* this!" He proudly displays his membership, and is constantly asked questions about Freemasonry. That's just one man doing what he can to advance knowledge about our Craft. We have to get our membership more engaged, and I'm not sure how to do that. Very frustrating! Just my thoughts...
But it lessens when I can force myself to step back and look back over my entire Masonic career. To see how things were when I first became a Mason, compared to how they are now.
When I'm able to do that, I see that we have made some great strides. We have made positive changes. Not everywhere, not in all Lodges, maybe not even in most Lodges. But we have in some, and that gives me a lot of hope for the future, as I think we are on the right track.
I am not a millennial, so i hesitate to say what they need or how we can help them. do they percieve the statistics you quote as a problem? If so, do they believe its something that can be remediated? I can't answer those questions. i do think, through observation, that millennal men have been influenced by the advent of cyberspace/electronic interconnection in all its manifestations, and there have been converstaions that address how cyberspace can lead to many of these issues. I think that as a generation they are the first humans to experience this new way of living, and as a species we have not yet figuired out how to live in a real AND cyber space yet, and millennials are experiencing that issue more than any previous generation. personnally i see it as not being different that how a society deals with the introduction of alcohol. at first it can be devastating, but over time a society learns to deal with it. i think i can safely say that the solution to the cited statistics does not exist inside the world that created it. Can we help these men? yeah, i think so, but it might tale a lot more thought and work than we think. For example, more social media, more zoom options, etc might actually prevent us from providing the real world physical connection that is perhaps what is needed. This is a Gordian knot, and i don't think there is a simple solution.
I think your pointing to the rise of cyberspace is probably as you point out, a large contributor to the problems faced by today's young men.
Certainly it didn't exist in any meaningful way when I was a young man. My first computer was an Apple IIc. It didn't do much. So I didn't have to figure out how to live in two different worlds.
But as you point out, young men are having to figure out how to do just that. Heck, I'm rather continually amazed when I discover new ways that young people actually make a living now. Ways that we couldn't even dream of when I was starting out.
It does seem, from the materials I've read along with the quoted statistics, that what is needed for good mental health is actual physical connection. Something that can't be provided online. That could well stand to support the view that 'more zoom' isn't necessarily a good thing for Masons. Interesting food for thought. Thank you for providing it.
Hello MW Cameron, those are quite interesting statistics regarding young men in crisis. But I must say I have to agree with the statistics. Most men today are lonelier than any other time in human history. I am a millennial and I joined masonry in my late 20’s, and I must admit it is one of the best decisions I have made for myself, and my personal growth as a man.
With Facebook/Instagram/tik tok and the rise of social media it is easy to feel lonely with the perception of everyone being connected virtually. We are connected on a platform, but there is no real human interaction. Just comments, likes, and trolling on social media. In the FC lecture, it explains that as humans we are social creature by nature. If we do not belong to a tribe, we begin to feel ostracize and slowly begin to die. I think this is what is happening today with millennials and the younger generation. Without proper guidance and mentorship, it is easy to get involved in gangs, drugs, and crime. When at the end of the day the misguided young man just wants to feel a sense of acceptance and belonging.
As men are told to be strong, never show weakness, and just “Be a man” or “Man up.” This is what I was told growing up. How do we “be a man” if we don’t have anyone to look up to? or someone to “remind us in the friendliest manner of our faults?” Without guidance and proper mentorship, a man can easily go in a downward spiral and become toxic. Kind of like the single father analogy of most young men that are raised without a father figure becomes toxic to society. I think the world needs Masonry now more than ever.
As women have the support of their girlfriends. I think it is crucial and vital for a man to have proper male guidance and support in his life as well. This is where Masonry comes into play. With Masonry, we take an imperfect man that is in darkness, and show him the light when he first set foot into a lodge of Masons.
In his first step into a lodge of Masons that man/candidate is shown how men should act and treat one another. On the level, and with respect. There is a pecking order, but that man will get the opportunity to improve himself and showcase his leadership ability as he becomes an officer and move up in the chairs of the lodge. That is the beauty of Masonry. As a man goes through the chair, he uses his working tools to improve himself and become an asset to the lodge. Hence, he also become the light for younger Masons to follow his example.
He is changing himself and changing the world around him. But most importantly, he is solving today’s problems of young men in crisis. This is how we “convince our broader society that it has the solution to this extremely serious problem.” We become the example for those in the light and in the dark to follow as Masons. Every Master Mason is an example to how the world sees Masonry. Every Master Mason is the face of Masonry.
There are, for the youth of today, I feel, too many choices in life. The young adults today we're, and still are I imagine, weaned on an outdated education system that creates more dichotomyues than it solves. Leaving the graduate formed and cured for a world that has visibly already passed them by and moved on to the next generation of pupils weaned for the new world.
Society merely caters for most millennials and they dine on a platter of false promises and hidden clauses they never signed up too. They are disillusioned before the race has even begun, therefore haven't turned up at the starting line.
The youth of today can't even see us shine our light in the clutter of their darkness. Do the youth believe in themselves anymore let alone a Supreme Being ?
Therein lies the problem....
I think it's time for the Square and Compasses to be shone like a Batman logo once more.
Truth doesn't lie, are we the keepers of Truth or not ?
MW, my brother. Great topic, but I have another perspective to perhaps add to this conversation. I think before we concentrate on recruiting we need to concentrate on ourselves and I’m mainly speaking in our lodges. As I teach in my leadership training classes, employees don’t leave companies they leave leaders. Leaders of a lodge can impact any lodge, any person, young or old in a positive or negative direction. Young people want to look up to someone of substance, they do it all the time to actors, musicians, athletes and many others. We need to recreate our leadership training to enhance the molding of these leaders so that they can leave a positive lasting impression.
We also need to not shy away from masons being involved and helping each other. If I’m a mason and I help another mason get a job or I support that brother’s business, that shouldn’t be looked down upon by anyone in the fraternity. I’m my blood brother had a restaurant I would support him why is it looked at as wrong if we support each other. This I think will be a good recruiting tool to use when attempting to attract new members, who doesn’t want to enhance their social network while enhancing themselves as men at the same time.
How does Freemasonry convince our broader society? Personally I think the easy answer is "it doesn't". I know what you're getting at and I think it's an extremely worthy discussion, but I would frame the question maybe differently.
We don't/can't convince anybody of anything, fundamentally - for if we actually did this and were successful at it, there'd be questions about whether people were coming of their own free will and accord in the first place (which we know they must).
Here's a different frame: all we really need to do is be visible, so that thinking men of any age can weigh their options and do what's right for them. Based on population norms in past generations, even at membership height, Freemasonry probably wasn't the right choice for most men, but we definitely have a lot to offer particularly a type of personality I'd call "disconnected seekers".
All we really need is a seat at the cultural conversation table. Merely sitting at the table alerts thinking men with eyes to your presence, and then at some point people knock or they don't, you know?
What does "having a seat at the table" look like though? It means being open and vocal about the issues of the day -- *specifically through the lens of masonic principles*. I'm specifically not talking about Masons being "political", I'm talking about framing all of our statements relative to Masonic principles. Concrete example here: https://www.grandlodge-nc.org/storage/wysiwyg/united_at_the_capitol.pdf
It means lodges digging deeper too on the charity front. I was recently at a community award ceremony with a lodge where the lodge gave a substantial cash grant to a local non-profit and publicly praised them for the work they're doing in the community. Focus on the things you want to see more of, basically.
None of this is recruiting, and none of this is political. It's just presence really. Men either come to the craft through close personal relationships (father, uncle, friend) or they get intrigued and do their own research. It really boils down to this: as the generational links in families get severed, people can come to us by watching "National Treasure" with all the wrong ideas, or they can come to us because they've seen us in the town squares.
Thank you for reframing the question as you did. I knew when I wrote the post that I didn't quite have the right question in mind, and your reply helped with my thinking of the subject.
I do think you are right, we need to just put ourselves in front of these men. Some will choose to join us if we do.
When I was involved with the leadership of my Lodge, we took in a large number of millennials, and younger. How that happened was we got one, and he had a great time with the Lodge. Then we got another one, and he too had a great time. Then they started bringing their friends. It was a great growth spurt for the Lodge, but more importantly, it was a great energy burst for the Lodge.
But, it only happened because we had events that they could bring their friends too. I should rephrase that. We had events that they would not be worried their friends would think they were strange if they brought them.
I don't think a one of those young men would have brought one of their friends to a Lodge dinner before a meeting. I think they would have been nervous to do so, because their friends might think them strange to be having dinner with a bunch of us old guys, in a big old dining room, drinking coffee one could stand a spoon in instead of a latte.
But they brought them on our Lodge 'camping trips.' They brought them to our Lodge holiday parties. They brought them to our Steak and Cigar fundraisers.
We created, I think, an opportunity for them to bring their friends. And some of those friends became Freemasons.
it only takes 1-2 guys with open minds to be a seed for growth of a lodge to an entirely new generation and kind of member. It happened in mine basically just like you describe
That is my experience as well. A couple of guys (with the ability to convince others to go along) can make a tremendous difference in a Lodge.
The only problem is that Millennials are not "joiners". Makes it much more difficult to attract men into our fraternity, and might explain their feelings of loneliness. There is also the sharp decline with church attendance, which I think also contributes. Many more women then men attend worship services and may in part explain why women have more friends, etc.
Young people also tend to not be politically active, are less informed, and are more gullible.
Just my impressions as a grumpy old man.
Yes, you are correct about Church attendance. I saw statistics for that as well.
Just going to throw this out there too. We know that testosterone levels in American men have been falling quite dramatically, and we know that social pressures on young men have been to become more comfortable showing emotion, becoming less conflict oriented, in effect, more like women.
What really struck me is that the statistics show that young women are having a lot more sex than young men. That means that more women are having sex with fewer men. Not wanting to get too far afield here, but I think that for a lot of people, maybe most people, traditional gender attributes attract. Men are attracted to feminine women generally, and women are attracted to masculine men generally.
But if a young man is raised by a single mother without a father around much, taught in school primarily by female teachers, has another mom as his cub scout leader, and driving his carpool, when will he have positive masculine role models to emulate. Can that be part of the problem young men are facing? I think maybe so.
I also think that Freemasonry has that solution for those who seek it. Where better to learn how to be a man, than from other men? Older men who have experienced life. Who have been there, and done that.
the comment about young guys being less politically active, less informed, and more gullible...it's true.
but it's always been true. It was true of *us* when we were younger. Those things are practically the nature of being young. Who wants to get into dense political policy discussions, let's go out with friends. Less informed? Definitely so - less experience, less schooling, less everything (they're young). More gullible is a different way of saying "not yet worn down by experience of real people". They're guilty as charged.
But none of that is a good reason not to work with them and accept them into our lodges.
They are us, some years ago.
Absolutely, I was the same dumb ignorant person. I didn't start to vote until I retired from the military.
A couple months ago Most Worshipful posted about Masculinely or lack thereof. I believe that has a big role in the younger male population today. In the USA the female has made bigger strides in powerful positions in industry and government. That's good when you have six daughters! I won't get into our political leaders, but they only get away with things because we let them.
Getting off my soapbox. Masonry can only help the lower percentage of younger men that can find a mutual balance between all the pitfalls of the outside world and Freemasonry and guard our West gate. It's hard to put ones self into a younger generations mind set for several reasons; we grew up with different values, had different educations, were allowed to fail and try again and as men were expected to support our families. Today in a lot of marriages or relationships the woman is the bread winner. Some of you will think that guy is a nut, but you have to like yourself before you can love another!
I did not know you had six daughters RW! Three here, and one granddaughter. Not a boy in sight.
Just to make you all feel young the wife and I will be great-grandparents in about three months.
Congratulations Brother!
My observation is Lodges that have a core of active Millennial members are more attractive to prospective Millennial (and GenZ) petitioners. As a Past Master that's approaching my 59th birthday, I'm trying to learn all I can from those that are my senior in our gentle craft and am trying to make more investments of time, supporting, and mentoring the younger brothers in my Lodge, because the future of our fraternity will soon be in their hands.
You are I think quite right about this. Getting our first couple of really young guys took a long time. Getting more after that didn't take much time at all.
I also think you are spot on with your focus on mentoring. That has become my focus as well since stepping out of the East. By teaching those behind us well, we do Freemasonry good for generations to come.
We are instructed to attract, not recruit. Good advice. Young men must come to us, of their own free will and accord. So, how do we attract? I think we do so by being seen in the public, doing good works, helping others. That requires participation from the lodges--LOTS of participation. Get the members involved. Show "the brand." My young protégé, who turns 30 this year told me after his Initiation, "My generation *needs* this!" He proudly displays his membership, and is constantly asked questions about Freemasonry. That's just one man doing what he can to advance knowledge about our Craft. We have to get our membership more engaged, and I'm not sure how to do that. Very frustrating! Just my thoughts...
I often share your frustration.
But it lessens when I can force myself to step back and look back over my entire Masonic career. To see how things were when I first became a Mason, compared to how they are now.
When I'm able to do that, I see that we have made some great strides. We have made positive changes. Not everywhere, not in all Lodges, maybe not even in most Lodges. But we have in some, and that gives me a lot of hope for the future, as I think we are on the right track.
I am not a millennial, so i hesitate to say what they need or how we can help them. do they percieve the statistics you quote as a problem? If so, do they believe its something that can be remediated? I can't answer those questions. i do think, through observation, that millennal men have been influenced by the advent of cyberspace/electronic interconnection in all its manifestations, and there have been converstaions that address how cyberspace can lead to many of these issues. I think that as a generation they are the first humans to experience this new way of living, and as a species we have not yet figuired out how to live in a real AND cyber space yet, and millennials are experiencing that issue more than any previous generation. personnally i see it as not being different that how a society deals with the introduction of alcohol. at first it can be devastating, but over time a society learns to deal with it. i think i can safely say that the solution to the cited statistics does not exist inside the world that created it. Can we help these men? yeah, i think so, but it might tale a lot more thought and work than we think. For example, more social media, more zoom options, etc might actually prevent us from providing the real world physical connection that is perhaps what is needed. This is a Gordian knot, and i don't think there is a simple solution.
I think your pointing to the rise of cyberspace is probably as you point out, a large contributor to the problems faced by today's young men.
Certainly it didn't exist in any meaningful way when I was a young man. My first computer was an Apple IIc. It didn't do much. So I didn't have to figure out how to live in two different worlds.
But as you point out, young men are having to figure out how to do just that. Heck, I'm rather continually amazed when I discover new ways that young people actually make a living now. Ways that we couldn't even dream of when I was starting out.
It does seem, from the materials I've read along with the quoted statistics, that what is needed for good mental health is actual physical connection. Something that can't be provided online. That could well stand to support the view that 'more zoom' isn't necessarily a good thing for Masons. Interesting food for thought. Thank you for providing it.
Hello MW Cameron, those are quite interesting statistics regarding young men in crisis. But I must say I have to agree with the statistics. Most men today are lonelier than any other time in human history. I am a millennial and I joined masonry in my late 20’s, and I must admit it is one of the best decisions I have made for myself, and my personal growth as a man.
With Facebook/Instagram/tik tok and the rise of social media it is easy to feel lonely with the perception of everyone being connected virtually. We are connected on a platform, but there is no real human interaction. Just comments, likes, and trolling on social media. In the FC lecture, it explains that as humans we are social creature by nature. If we do not belong to a tribe, we begin to feel ostracize and slowly begin to die. I think this is what is happening today with millennials and the younger generation. Without proper guidance and mentorship, it is easy to get involved in gangs, drugs, and crime. When at the end of the day the misguided young man just wants to feel a sense of acceptance and belonging.
As men are told to be strong, never show weakness, and just “Be a man” or “Man up.” This is what I was told growing up. How do we “be a man” if we don’t have anyone to look up to? or someone to “remind us in the friendliest manner of our faults?” Without guidance and proper mentorship, a man can easily go in a downward spiral and become toxic. Kind of like the single father analogy of most young men that are raised without a father figure becomes toxic to society. I think the world needs Masonry now more than ever.
As women have the support of their girlfriends. I think it is crucial and vital for a man to have proper male guidance and support in his life as well. This is where Masonry comes into play. With Masonry, we take an imperfect man that is in darkness, and show him the light when he first set foot into a lodge of Masons.
In his first step into a lodge of Masons that man/candidate is shown how men should act and treat one another. On the level, and with respect. There is a pecking order, but that man will get the opportunity to improve himself and showcase his leadership ability as he becomes an officer and move up in the chairs of the lodge. That is the beauty of Masonry. As a man goes through the chair, he uses his working tools to improve himself and become an asset to the lodge. Hence, he also become the light for younger Masons to follow his example.
He is changing himself and changing the world around him. But most importantly, he is solving today’s problems of young men in crisis. This is how we “convince our broader society that it has the solution to this extremely serious problem.” We become the example for those in the light and in the dark to follow as Masons. Every Master Mason is an example to how the world sees Masonry. Every Master Mason is the face of Masonry.
Thank you Brother! Your words are inspiring, and I appreciate you sharing them very much!
Excellent article Bro Cameron,
There are, for the youth of today, I feel, too many choices in life. The young adults today we're, and still are I imagine, weaned on an outdated education system that creates more dichotomyues than it solves. Leaving the graduate formed and cured for a world that has visibly already passed them by and moved on to the next generation of pupils weaned for the new world.
Society merely caters for most millennials and they dine on a platter of false promises and hidden clauses they never signed up too. They are disillusioned before the race has even begun, therefore haven't turned up at the starting line.
The youth of today can't even see us shine our light in the clutter of their darkness. Do the youth believe in themselves anymore let alone a Supreme Being ?
Therein lies the problem....
I think it's time for the Square and Compasses to be shone like a Batman logo once more.
Truth doesn't lie, are we the keepers of Truth or not ?
Thank you Brother. I appreciate you sharing this perspective. You are certainly correct, let's get our Batman Logo out there!
MW, my brother. Great topic, but I have another perspective to perhaps add to this conversation. I think before we concentrate on recruiting we need to concentrate on ourselves and I’m mainly speaking in our lodges. As I teach in my leadership training classes, employees don’t leave companies they leave leaders. Leaders of a lodge can impact any lodge, any person, young or old in a positive or negative direction. Young people want to look up to someone of substance, they do it all the time to actors, musicians, athletes and many others. We need to recreate our leadership training to enhance the molding of these leaders so that they can leave a positive lasting impression.
We also need to not shy away from masons being involved and helping each other. If I’m a mason and I help another mason get a job or I support that brother’s business, that shouldn’t be looked down upon by anyone in the fraternity. I’m my blood brother had a restaurant I would support him why is it looked at as wrong if we support each other. This I think will be a good recruiting tool to use when attempting to attract new members, who doesn’t want to enhance their social network while enhancing themselves as men at the same time.
MW
As you know North Bank is rural.
Many pass our building which is a draw.
We maintain a land line which when searched shows up.
Last night we had (7) Seekers an historic first.
Of the (7) (6) had a Masonic history and (1) was a friend of two of our EA’s.
I handle each inquiry. I started with a phone call, then “What’s a Mason” from the Masonic Association, then a 5 Min Ben Franklin video.
I will meet and offer up meeting with the Spouse or significant others.
Dist 19 is very pro active Friday 5-7 get togethers and open home events during the Summer.
Of the (7) two were in their low 20’s, (2) in their 30’s, (2) in their 40’s and (1) 58.
Two of our (5) Lodges are very “social”…nice meals and beverages.
It is tough to compete with.
When you find a Lodge in decline it needs to be stated it’s cyclical and your effort to make this ‘your’ Lodge and regenerate it is a choice.
I am finding to avoid the obvious difference in one Lodge versus another and head this off is very enticing.
I love hearing Seekers and newly Initiated offer suggestions.
There will always be the “Old Guard”…they were young once and will concede to change.
The lore of no Religion, Politics and Equality stands out.
The presence of a Home Lodge and visitation along with a core respect of patience for change to me is a winning combination.