When I was Senior Deacon, I took a class to become an Ambassador for my lodge. During the course, we were told that only 15% of all men who are Raised to the Sublime Degree can be found in lodge a year later. There were various reasons given mostly saying the person had joined for the wrong reasons.
I got a list of brothers who had not been to lodge in a while and started calling them. I made it clear that I was only calling to find out why they had not been around, not to ask for anything but their honesty. The vast majority of those who did not have "legitimate" reasons for not coming (moved away, health challenges, etc.) told me they were not getting any "Masonry" out of the meetings. They thought it was a waste of time to get dressed up, drive to lodge and sit around paying bills and listening to reports.
When I sat as Senior Warden and was planning my time in the East i decided to address that issue. My lodge meets twice a month. The first meeting is our Stated Communication. We only do business at this meeting. We meet a couple of weeks after to confer the degrees. I introduced a new item to our meetings, the "Masonic Minute". I asked the Brethren to bring something to lodge that inspired them: a poem essay or even a joke. They could present it to the lodge. I always have something on my tablet in case nobody brings something to share. I shortly started seeing the sidelines grow and started getting calls from "Rusty Brothers" asking for a quick refresher on the Due Guards and Signs. Several brothers have affiliated from other lodges.
The idea has spread to other lodges and I just found out the DDGm is now bringing the Masonic Minute to Lodge of Instruction.
Men come to us for more than an evening away from home. They want to look forward to learning something or just walking out feeling better than they did when they came in. Sometimes the simple ideas are the best ones.
------------- Master, Webmaster, Lodge Ambassador Ancient York Lodge AF&AM
Lowell, MA
God never sends us anything we can't handle. Sometimes I wish He didn't trust me so much. - Mother Teresa
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