Brethren, there seems to be a number of very intelligent brothers who, by their contributions, seem to be saying a lot of the same things.
"How can I improve the Craft in my area?"
"How can I give back to the Craft, what it has given to me?"
"How can I enact positive and progressive changes in the Craft?"
"How can I create a Masonic environment, that will attract new Masons?"
"Where do I go to find Masons my age, who share my perspectives and my interests?"
These kinds of questions seem to be coming up more and more frequently in discussions amongst brothers everywhere, and there is no easy answer.
However, there does exist an opportunity to perhaps explore these kinds of questions in a new light.
If you know other Masons like yourself, who are as motivated as you are, who are seeking more light in Masonry, and are dedicated and dependable brothers, then I have a suggestion for you...
Form a new Blue Lodge in your jurisdiction.
Create your own Lodge. Build a Masonic Temple around the shared interests and pursuits that you and brothers like you, share and enjoy as Masons and as friends.
Most of us have never even considered the prospect of forming our own Blue Lodge, but I am here to tell you brothers, that it is not really that difficult a task to accomplish.
Where do you think all the Lodges in your area came from in the first place? Brothers just like you, thats where.
If you feel like you're "banging your head against the wall" in your Lodge and there doesn't seem to be an opportunity for you to make a contribution of your own unique talents and abilities to the established practices and Landmarks of your Lodge, then start your own.
Every Grand Jurisdiction has it's own individual requirements for forming new Lodges, but there are a few things that are necessary which are the same everywhere, and here is a shopping list:
1) A like-minded group of twenty or so Master Masons
2) A progressive Grand Lodge, willing to support growth and change in their own backyard.
3) A "Petition for Dispensation" available from the respective Grand Lodge administration office.
4) Money. Starting your own Lodge requires resources and money, you will have expenses, foreseeable and unforeseen.
5) Brothers who are proficient and can confer the 3 Degrees of Masonry.
6) Brothers who can chair the elected and appointed offices of the Lodge.
7) An appropriate place to meet as a Masonic Lodge.
8) Lodge furniture and regalia, most of which can be collected as donations of surplus items from supportive and established Lodges in your area.
9) A meeting schedule that all of the members of your effort can abide by and commit to.
10) The gumption and dedication to see your project through to conclusion and constitution of your very own Blue Lodge.
There you have it, brothers. For those of you who feel like you are being held back in your current Lodge, and would like to do more than the average bear to strengthen and improve Freemasonry in your neighborhood, round up the brothers who you already know feel as you do and start your own Blue Lodge.
You will never regret it, because it is easier to build a new Lodge from the ground up, than it is to try and fix an old broken Lodge that doesn't want to help itself.
Freemasonry is an individual journey, brethren. Don't ever stop looking for new and undiscovered roads to take in your travels.
Sunday, February 10, 2008
Form Your Own Blue Lodge, by WB William A. Isabelle
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1 comment:
I wanted to address, to some small extent, not the process of starting a new lodge; but the more important essence running just below the surface, a rip tide of both emotion and substance, that leads to the article at hand.
The newest riposte to an individual brother or group of brother’s frustration with the current state of freemasonry that the only way of making meaningful change within the craft is by starting a new lodge. I would respond to this with a “definite maybe”.
Before you begin to nock an arrow to let loose your volley, let me add some qualifying points to my last statement:
Yes, I am the crusty, Past Master secretary (47 years old at the current time) that you have come to know and love.
However, I am one brother who left the lodge where I was initiated, passed and raised, was Worshipful Master of and joined a group of like minded masons from 24 – 74, and did in fact create the first lodge in our jurisdiction in over 25 years.
I did volunteer to be the new secretary, partly because being a crusty old bastard dies hard and more importantly I knew enough of our constitution to help prepare the vast amount of paperwork needed to complete the journey; but I digress.
There are some other avenues that I would like to suggest to the brethren, which are more often than naught, overlooked.
When we take a somber look at the problems we face, we often fail to notice some very basic aspects in their proper sense.
Brethren very often seem to look at our leadership in black and white, dividing them into two different dipolar categories. One camp is that the old members and especially Past Masters have some special knowledge and ability to lead and they were/are too ignorant or lackadaisical to run lodges suitably. The other camp is that these same brothers are so entrenched in their ways, that they are so completely implacable in there current situation, they have no interest in change.
As always the true answer lies somewhere in between. We did not have an infallible leadership who knew the right path to take; this simply did not exist. They tried to make the best decisions they could, tried to do the best for the craft in difficult circumstances. Brethren who have been Masons for many a year had, and still have, a desire for change, they just have no idea how to effect that change.
I would say that these brethren may not have been blessed with an extraordinary insight of how to preserve an institution that was in a dire state of affairs, but they have done a valuable service, they have kept a rasping leaking boat afloat until others, such as yourself, could come to their aid.
We now stand at the crossroads.
I have been in a myriad of lodge meetings were I see the young masons bored to tears and practically driven from the room by boredom and the perpetuation of the status quo. On the inverse I can count on one hand the number of brethren, who have taken the bull by the horns and stood in a stated meeting (not the often had, “after meeting” in a local tavern or lodge parking lot) but before all the officers and brothers gathered and offer up their most earnest thoughts. Tell all who their most ardent wishes of what they want to see their Lodge evolve into, the path to recovery.
These new brethren have a right to be upset and disillusioned about the craft. They were told about Freemasonry, but about a kind of Freemasonry that has not existed in the United States since before World War II. We, those damn “old guys”, have perpetuated a lie, not that we did this with malice of foresight, but we were unaware that we had become a mere shadow of our former glory, looking beyond the tarnish to the gold beneath. The morals that we have always stood for.
The wish to create a lodge is a much more seductive and subtle option. It is the quickest and in most cases the easiest way for rapid and radical change, but there are several drawbacks to avoid.
I would say that our own experience was taken after literally years of trying to effect change. We continue to effect as much change with the old lodges we can, using the new lodges in our jurisdiction and elsewhere, as both a carrot and a stick, depending what is needed.
We have done all of this with the full knowledge and cooperation of our Grand Lodge.
Initially, we decided it would be best to try to take over a failing lodge that was about to surrender its charter. We were asked by our Grand Lodge to not do this. They saw our lodge as a desirable example of the future; they did not want to mire our lodge down with the possible problems that the old lodge may have dealt us. We opted for this choice for the economics involved, a complete building, all the needed lodge paraphernalia, maybe even some minimal amount of funds. For those looking to start a new lodge, please look for one of these lodges, and give haven to brethren who have kept that lodge alive with their dues. There are many who do not come to the lodge, more often because they too did not find the philosophical, esoteric and social outlet that they had been promised when entering our hallowed halls.
I would also like to point out that I have almost never been to a meeting of a lodge that a dedicated few could not make any change by 2/3 vote or not, just by being present. If we have the ability to join enough brethren together to create a new lodge (20 or more) we most certainly have the ability to make change within our own lodges. I grant that this path is slower, but can be even more satisfying having brought something most consecrated back from the brink. You have more support than you would think, those who do not come to lodge anymore have given up looking for the exact same thing you wish to bring to it. We have the ability to restore their faith, provide you and them with the lodge we have all wished for and thank them for their fidelity over these many long years of social upheaval.
I hope that I have not offended too many, I just want to point out that taking the best and brightest away from many lodges leaves all our lodges lesser than they were and we risk tearing apart the entire fabric of our institution.
My best wishes to your endeavors and please keep the best interests of our craft in your heart.
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