OFFICIAL VISIT – DORIC
LODGE
APRIL 12, 2016
Brethren:
As I
have outlined and reiterated on many occasions, my theme as DDGM for the year, deals
with membership, attendance and participation.
I have
talked at length on this subject at 7 official visits and at the DDGM reception
last September. In addition, I have
attempted whenever possible this year to promote this theme in all my
activities.
So why do
I think this so important?
I could
provide you with stimulating readings of Masonic papers written by famous Masonic
educators; I could try to provide enlightening dissertations, but I will wager
that 5 minutes after you walk out that door you will forget most of what I
said.
I am
not saying that this other material does not have value, but what I want to
talk about is something that I believe is fundamentally important to the
existence of Masonry in the future. I
believe that if we are not successful in addressing our membership and
participation challenges, there will become a time in the future where we cease
to be viable as an organization and fraternity.
You
need players to play the game, you need fans/supporters to watch the game, without
both, we reach a stage that there is simply no point in continuing. I mention players and fans in my analogy, in
that I want to stress that participation takes many forms and exists on many,
many levels. Never under estimate those
who take on small roles, as collectively these roles add up to the
participation that a lodge so desperately needs.
We
simply cannot do things as we did in the past, we must find ways to increase
participation in our activities, to increase membership and ensure we continue
to bring the right candidates to the West Gate.
Tonight
we mentioned the significant membership milestone of one of the stalwarts of
Doric Lodge, Brother Andy Watson, 70 years a Mason. What an absolutely fantastic
achievement. But more importantly to my
discussion this evening, was that for
most of this time, Brother Watson was an active participant in the activities
of the lodge. Perhaps to answer some
of the questions I am asking we should just sit Brother Watson down and ask him
what made him such an integral part of the activities of Doric Lodge?
As I
previously said, we need to examine the way we do things and change as
required. So let’s ask some questions
again.
So we
have three major membership situations under consideration with some
overlap…..one directed at the new Mason who has just entered through the West
Gate; the second is the new Master Mason and the third is towards the longer
serving Master Mason.
For
both the new Mason and new Master Mason we are faced with keeping them
involved, finding their participation level and keeping them interested. What is strongly in our favour here is that
the interest shown in applying to join is still, or should be, fresh. Thus it is more a question of keeping the
interest going, keeping the commitment, rather than installing it.
However,
almost every lodge has Masons who either never got their second or third
degrees or stopped attending soon after becoming a Master Mason. In today’s society, there is an incredible
amount of pressure on a man’s time; work, family and other obligations compete
directly with the craft for the few spare hours in the day.
Simply
put, Masonry needs to be enough of a priority to make it near the top of the
priority game. The desire to
participate, to be part of something must be strong enough to make one want to
continue giving of one’s time. We cannot
simply sit back and hope he is interested enough; we need to take an active
role in instilling in the newer Mason the desire to come to lodge regularly and
participate to the best of his ability and that which his private avocation and
family will allow.
We need
to get the new Mason involved in ritual, get him to attend GP meetings, social
activities, get him to sit on committees.
We need to instill in him that he is part of the great Masonic
fraternity, and that this lodge is his
lodge. I believe that the new mason has to
be immersed in the lodge as soon as is possible. If this is done, the chances of him becoming
a regular contributor are far greater.
All of
this is of course subject to the abilities and wants of the individual; the
important thing is “opening the door”.
So what
of the longer serving Mason? Why does he
not come out to lodge anymore? What if
anything is different in his private or lodge “life”? What has changed? You can guess that there are a myriad of
possible answers here. But what is important
is to try to find out why? To ask the
question, to care, and to do everything in one’s power to bring the Mason back
into the fold.
In my
own lodge we have Past Masters and Masons who were once extremely active within
the Craft. So why not so much now? Is their memory failing so ritual work does
not appeal to them anymore? If so, is
there another role they can take on, such as a Mentor. Bottom line is that their participation; even
on the lower level of attending, is extremely valuable to the success of the
lodge.
Often I
hear excuses for not attending which all have the common thread of “that I will
not be missed”….we need to change this; the brother needs to know he WILL be
missed and that he is a valued and appreciated member of the lodge.
The
lodge has numerous roles for its membership, ranging from leadership to merely
attending, with a varied number of roles in between. Yes, some require greater “participation”
than others, yes different or higher skill levels are required, but what is
fundamental, is that all of the roles have value.
One way
I can describe this is to go back to an earlier comment, and use the degree
work here tonight. The brethren doing
the ritual are extremely important in that they are conveying lessons for the candidate. But it is not just about the candidate and
the ritualistic cast; it is equally about each and every one of you that took
the time to attend here this evening. A
successful evening? I would say yes, an
extremely enjoyable Official Visit and more importantly an Initiation, but a
great deal of the success of the evening is attributable to the attendees no
matter what their role was.
We
attend lodge, we see the Master and his officers go through the work; we have
the blue and gold of Grand Lodge, but none of this is important if we do not
have people who attend and to varying degrees participate.
So my
message is that participation takes many forms, and yes some may be more
significant than others….notice I do not say more valuable than others…..all
participation adds to the mosaic that makes a lodge and ultimately the craft
successful.
So
brethren, the next time you think about not attending a meeting, I hope that
you might remember a little of what I am trying to convey tonight…..by your attendance,
you are participating, and through this you are adding to the well being of
your lodge and the craft.
Worshipful
Master.... I thank you for your
indulgencies this evening and my Brethren I thank each and every one of you for
your kind attention.
R.W.
Bro. Clive D. Stephenson
District
Deputy Grand Master
Sudbury-Manitoulin
District
April
12, 2016
