Scottish Rite Petition Process

Hello Brethren -

I am interested in joining the Scottish Rite Valley in my area. I have obtained a petition, and I am currently in the process of filling in the information. I have a few questions that I hope you can help me with regarding the process:

1. Is there a voting process like the blue lodge
2. Do members of the consistory come out to meet with me (like the investigation committee in the blue lodge)
3. How long does the it take a member to obtain the 32 degrees
4. Have brothers ever been turned down from joining the Scottish Rite

thank you in advance for taking the time to help me with these questions!

Bro. Frank

This varies Valley to Valley, but:

1. Yes, but not usually by ballot box.
2. No, not that I've ever heard of.
3. Depends on the Valley. Degrees are usually conferred during "Reunions" which may span 1-3 days. Sometimes you can get all 29 degrees during it, sometimes just some of the degrees, sometimes just the "terminal" degrees. All of which make you a 32nd degree SR Mason. In my case, I received 25 degrees in my first go round, missing a few middle ones, and had to hit a couple more Reunions (sometimes in other Valleys) to get the missing ones. Though you do not necessarily need all of them, I recommend it nonetheless.
4. Not that I've seen, but I'm sure it has happened before.

In 20 years, I only saw one petition withdrawn when the SGIG was made aware of an issue. In the "non invitational" bodies I rarely see any issue with petitions.

crono782 said:

Degrees are usually conferred during "Reunions" which may span 1-3 days. Sometimes you can get all 29 degrees during it, sometimes just some of the degrees, sometimes just the "terminal" degrees. All of which make you a 32nd degree SR Mason. In my case, I received 25 degrees in my first go round, missing a few middle ones, and had to hit a couple more Reunions (sometimes in other Valleys) to get the missing ones. Though you do not necessarily need all of them, I recommend it nonetheless.

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My first "Reunion" was spread over two weekends. We got the 6 mandatory ones for the AASR-SJ plus one optional one for a total of 7 presented. The other 22 were "communicated" in the form of short lectures. For that valley you might or might not ever see all of them as it takes them decades to cycle through the 21 optional degrees.

It is common for brothers to travel to other valleys because each valley has its own schedule for presenting the optional degrees. I've done a couple of of weekends out of town where my wife linked up with other wives for shopping or sight seeing while we attended the day of the reunion when the optional degree was presented.

Valleys that present more degrees are more active for ritual. That's usually a sign of an active valley.

Thank you for the helpful responses. I am excited with the idea of joining the appendant body. Your responses have been most helpful.

dfreybur said:

My first "Reunion" was spread over two weekends. We got the 6 mandatory ones for the AASR-SJ plus one optional one for a total of 7 presented. The other 22 were "communicated" in the form of short lectures.

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Same here.