I am a new member for almost three years now. I am a Royal Arch Mason and considering the Preceptory. I have been encouraging our lodge members to liven up our meetings by having more education and getting more involved in the community. What I am running into is that everyone is so busy attending meetings for their Blue Lodge and appellant bodies that nobody has time to cultivate a deeper tie to their Blue Lodge and their Brothers.
I understand that not all countries, that have a masonic fraternity, offer appellant options and it seems that those who do not are heavily involved in their masonry via getting together often (weekly, sometimes more than once), working together (and with other lodges) to support the larger community, and online.
Is this my perception?.....I don't think so.....I am speaking to Brothers from many lodges and its the same message...."Its busy".
A precedence has been set to attend lodge, get your degrees, open and close business, close lodge, eat (sometimes eat first), then go home. Is this Freemasonry?
I understand Shriners have a common objective in supporting the kids which is great.

This is an interesting subject and much to debate. I am currently the Sr. Warden of Red Wing Lodge #8 and a member of a Chapter. I have looked at becoming active in other bodies also but have decided against it as my time with my family would suffer and this is never an option . . . Family First.

As for spending time in the lodge and what the lodge does is dependent on the members of the lodge. Not every lodge is involved in outside activities, family activities or even community activities. Every lodge I know of does what it's active members want. Sometimes this can take a year or two to get a new activity fully accepted by the majority, but as one Brother had told me..."Take the bull by the horns and take ownership of what you would like to see in the lodge."

This statement has motivated me because he was right, as Masons we should be willing to bring something to the lodge and when we do this, we should also be willing to lead that activity (at the will and pleasure of the Master with the consent of the lodge). To many times Brothers want to do something but want everyone else to set it up or make the arrangements and they just want to show up. This is not Masonry to me, rather I have gotten alot out of Masonry because I have been willing to put into Masonry also.

Last year my lodge was constantly involved in different activites, traveling to other lodges, enjoying Masonic education and having our degrees. It was accomplished because most of the active Brethren "took the bull by the horns" and made the activities happen. This year I expect even more activities with the Brothers and our families and I am excited in what I can do to help.

Just my 2 cents.

Bro Carrick,
its great that your lodge members are taking that bull by its horns. I too have been encouraged to do the same thing and have started dialogue in our lodge to do just that, we have a lot of excited brothers looking forward to the foreseeable future.
I am torn between going through the degrees to learn the lessons of the degrees and holding back. I have another 50 years at least in lodge so there is no hurry but you know...
I do agree that not all lodges are the same. I do wonder though if a precedent has been set by a lodge to keep a low profile, if that deters new members from breaking the mold and grabbing those horns.
I am curious to hear what Brothers who have been around for decades have to say about how masonry was when they began and how it has changed.

Bro Seann,
Your question is indeed a question that requires serious contemplation. I have been a mason for 33 years now and have noticed the ups and downs over those years, There seems to be a continuing concern about the "decline in membership" at the various concordant bodies that I belong to by some of the senior brethren. I am not one of them for this reason: I did not become a member to then start joining all sorts of other concordant bodies, I was approached many times, and continually declined. I went through the chairs in my mother lodge far too quickly. I was a lot younger and less experience, Just sort of followed along did the ritual well and the open close/degree process month in month out. After a couple of years as a past master I lost a bit of the enthusiasm for the meetings it seemed to be a little bit too repetitive not very much in the way of real education, cold reading a printed sheet lifted from somewhere just didn't cut it.

However I was enticed back to the lodge by being asked to assist in a number of areas, I helped repair some of the regalia was asked to present a paper. I worked hard on the presentation which included real geometry and a demonstration of laying out a foundation using a large set of compasses. After that presentation I was able to pick up some of the enthusiasm that I had started out with, we are charged in the Fellowcraft degree to "make the study of the liberal arts and sciences your future study" I think this is the key to Freemasonry, One cannot embrace this charge without getting to "know thyself" And therein lies the beauty of our Fraternity. All of our ritual is a guide to "Know thyself" to question who we are, and why we are, and how to govern ourselves. Those members who join our fraternity and then quietly disappear were in all likelihood not ready for this journey or misunderstood what the fraternity was all about. As the current master of my lodge put it recently "brethren if we do not nourish our roots then the whole tree of our fraternity suffers" Brethren the roots of our fraternity is the craft lodge, this is where the work begins.

Take more time to get to know any prospective new members before they are initiated then stay by their side until you can see that the new seed is taking root, "and then will be attained the chief point in freemasonry, namely to be happy ourselves, and to communicate that happiness to others"

Everything else will then take care of itself.

Fraternally Michael Mott

Bro Mott,
I think you got it right on target. Involvement is the key....I guess in everything, isn't it? The other point you made which resonates with me strongly is Brothers joining appellant bodies and getting to busy going to meetings. Then there is no time for extra meetings at the Blue lodge for education, socializing, etc.. Meeting 9 times per year just isn't enough when you consider degree work and changing of the guard, etc..
I am 3 years in now and do feel that we are still being moved up the ladder very quickly. I am in Royal Arch and have been encouraged to take a role there but I declined since I have the Senior Steward chair this year and working on third speech now.
I have had many discussions with our leadership in Alberta about the trend and solutions to reverse it. I do believe that the trend needs to be reversed while some of the older members feel it is fine the way it is....it is that mentality that has created the precedence I see today.
I am preaching to the choir here, I know.
One of the exercises I am working on is developing a provincial initiative with Canadian Blood Services to have a Masonic Blood Donor day and to rally some Brothers to adopt a clinic. Part of me thinks this is a waste of time because of the dismal turn out I think that will occur.....I have been encouraged by the Grand Secretary to press on....we'll see what happens.
Anyway, I believe a new precedence needs to be set to show our Blue Lodge and the Craft the deeper level of attention they deserve.
Well, Brother, have a great week end and lets pray for our Craft and its members.

Brother Seann
Yes your comments about being busy are well noted, I will be going into the chair at Meridian lodge 129 in Stony Plain on Wednesday 13th June and on May 16th this year I was placed in "H" at Stoney Chapter 41. Will you be Attending Grand lodge in Red Deer ? I will be there.

I an working on a presentation that includes the rope stretch lecture and the four tassels an hope to be able to present it at Kananaskis also th make it into a Power Point presentation.

Fraternally Michael Mott

Hey Brother,
Good luck in chapter this year and I look forward to hearing your presentation.
I will be in Red Deer, however, not for the entire week end. My wife has a competition in Red Deer the same time and so I will be busy on saturday. I plan to attend as much as I can as of late Friday morning.
Stoney Plain lodge.....do you Pete Griston? He is my cousin and one of my sponsors. I forgot if he is in Stoney Plain or Whitecourt....
I hope to meet you on Friday.
Fraternally,
Brother Seann Poli