the State of your Lodge

At my lodge we don't have a problem filling the chairs to open. Our officers know that if they can't make it, they are to notify the JW. Attendance by non officers is rather disappointing,usually about 15 to 25 members. Overall membership is down. When I joined in '95 our membership was nearly 1,000 and that was down from a high a few years earlier of about 1,200. Now we are down to 600 and continuing to slide. We are not taking in enough new members to offset deaths and suspensions for non payment of dues. Presently dues are $75 per year.

The last couple of years in my lodge were rough.  Since the "changing of the guard" in January, we have initiated and passed 3, 2 of which are scheduled for raising in 2 weeks at our monthly, at which time we have yet another petition to read.  So at this time, things are looking up.  Regular meetings are decently attended, (that is to say we fill the chairs and usually have a few scattered on the sidelines) and members that had not been attending are slowly returning.

The lodge I was raised in had about 20 active members.  We had (back in 2008-9) a declining attendance of maybe 12 brothers a meeting.  Being the youngest guy by far I took the advice of the WM and went traveling with the District rep and got to see much bigger gathering.

I think this could sum it up quickly.  We may be able to continue as a fraternity, and a charitable organization of good works if we would drop the "god" requirement.  Other than that... It is my belief that, much like religion itself; our organization is doomed to die out over the next century or so...

Our fraternity ballooned in size during the period after the second world war. "Fraternalism" was popular and many, many men became masons for the wrong reasons.  What we see now, at least to some degree, is the natural resizing of the lodges as the "sunshine patriots and summer soldiers" fall by the wayside and those who are seeking light in the truest sense take control of the craft.  Look for wonderful growth in our fraternity in the future, albeit at an abbreviated pace, as young men come to us for the right reasons.

Sec'yBob wrote: I wonder if it is a sign of the times.

Hi Sec'yBob,

Sorry, but I need to chime in here.

I think you hit it. All fraternities in America seem to be declining: college fraternities are dwindling; Veterans associations are falling; here in Boston several 'Boy's Clubs' have closed; Elk clubs, Beaver Clubs, Rotary Clubs, etc.. are shrinking; yacht clubs are struggling; libraries are underutilized; museums are closing doors. Religion: the Catholic Church [my faith] has less than a 13% turnout and fewer young men are opting for the priesthood.

Other once popular fraternities such as: Odd Fellows, Knights of Pythias, Junior Order United American Mechanics, Modern Woodman of America, Knights of the Maccabees, Knights of Honor, Improved Order of Red Men, Royal Arcanum, et. al... are all but extinct.   

So its not just Masonry that is being affected by 'secular humanism'.

Examine which 'fraternal' type organizations are healthy and active? Political and Business associations seem to be thriving. Sci Fi fantasy clubs are booming. Computer 'hacker' and 'gamers' are extremely popular. Young minds are lined up to join Anonymous and other underground 'dark net' activities.

In college, for example, at MIT: there are about 1200 Computer science majors, about 900 Electrical engineering majors, an entire business school full of students (Sloan), about 500 physics majors - yet only 12 Philosophy majors and 5 English majors and 10 History majors, etc. etc. etc.

So in my estimate, anything that has to do with liberal arts or 'existential' activities seems to be on the wane.

It appears that some 'marketing' must be done by Masons to boost membership without compromising what it is that makes Masonry special.

Not being a Mason I consider this to be an objective opinion. Hope this helps.

Edited by MarkMaster - May/10/2016 at 3:16pm

Edited by Sec'yBob - May/14/2016 at 7:41pm