# Why Texas Masonry is not surviving in the 21st century



## eagle1966 (Aug 21, 2012)

Brethren bear with me I am going to get on my soap box and vent. I juust got back from going into town (a 7 mile drive) to attend a practice night at my Lodge.  Well guess what, I was the only one to show up, this make the 3rd time I have made the effort to be there to practice anything in the last month.  I am the only one who comes to practice night (when we have one) who holds a certificate (B) and am willing to assist any brother who wants to improve in his esoteric work.  I am far from perfect but I do attend practice in another lodge where I engage in working on degrees, opening/closing and all phases of ceremonies involved in the Lodge.
It fustrates me that in stated meeting the subject of attendence is always being discussed, yet no one wants to practice or even show up, so why try to get members to come to a boring stated meeting. At least at a practice there is an opportunity to learn/relearn the work involved in getting more light.
Okay now I feel a little better but wondering what if.......


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## Brent Heilman (Aug 21, 2012)

I understand your feelings. We have a similar situation at my Lodge also. It is getting better but it still isn't what I would like to see. When I first started going to things like that after I was raised we had very few if any one show up. Now we have more showing. If you can get one or two Brothers to follow your lead others will see the desire to be there and learn and will follow suit. All it took for us to get more people interested was for them to see that some wanted more and I guess they felt like they were being left out. Anways, good luck Brother and I wish you the best. Feel free to vent anytime. We al need the release every now and then.


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## Benton (Aug 21, 2012)

If people would show up and simply shoot the bull more, it would help. Fraternal bonds are not formed in meeting notices, they're formed in sitting and talking to brothers, sharing stories. Just sitting at the lodge and spreading the cement of brotherly love. I think if we would just try to do more of that, it would help some other things fall into place.


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## Kenneth Lottman (Aug 22, 2012)

I will tell you guys one thing I enjoy practice nights more than stated meeting.  We avg. about a doz or so guys on practice night and about triple that on stated meetings. One thing that we do and the group has been growing since we started is after the hr or so of practice we head to the local DQ or soon to be whataburger (we are sooo stoked to be getting one in our little town) and that where we solve the worlds problems!


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## Dow Mathis (Aug 22, 2012)

Hmm... we had 39 at our last stated meeting, but that was for the official DDGM visit.  There were about a half dozen who were visiting from other lodges in the district.  For practice we seem to average (at least since I've been going) somewhere around 10 or 12.  I'm not sure what the difference is between our lodge and others, although I seem to sense a fairly constant rumble of complaints about falling numbers and lack of interest.  My suspicion is that the attitude of the lodge is greatly influenced by the attitude of the WM. If he's pumped then the lodge tends to follow.  In the short time since I've been raised (April 2011) I've seen what amounts to three different lodges in my own lodge.  Each WM impacted the whole feel of the lodge.  One thing that had an impact on me is that I'm Tiler for this year, and my duties include (in writing) that I attend ALL degrees and at least one practice per week.  I don't know if this is the norm, but it is in my lodge.  All of our officers have the same requirement, I believe.  Another thing that we do is an esoteric roundtable each Saturday morning before floor practice.  I've been learning heaps and gobs since I started attending those.  Maybe you could do something similar.  Have coffee and donuts or something like that to get them in.  We all like stuff to stuff our faces with along with good company. :21:

Something else just came to mind.  Did you check around to make sure that other guys would be there before you drove in?  Could be that everybody thought that nobody else would be there so they didn't go.  Communication is extremely important, especially if you're trying to drum up interest.  Talk it up, find some of the brothers who are interested and then find a time that will work for them and you.  Could be that the scheduled time isn't a good time any more, and it needs to be rescheduled.


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## Michael Hatley (Aug 22, 2012)

I'd love to get a dozen on practice night.  We have 4-5 regulars, including myself and our resident A license holder. 

I've started brainstorming about incentives - stogies after, cookin up some bbq for before, etc.  Poker.  There is a TV  in the building, thought about maybe sittin and watchin Monday night football together this season and runnin through the work.  Mebbe order a pizza.  Whatever works to get a group of us together in a room very regularly.


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## jvarnell (Aug 22, 2012)

As a newbe to all of this I will say that the problems is not enough open events at the lodge were a EA or FC can be invalved. I know I am taking longer as an old guy to turn in my work but I find my self looking at the lodge calander trying to find stuff that is open. When two of my frinds found out I was starting my jurney they ask me when the next thing was happening so they could go check it out before positioning. There is nothing. After starting my work been longing for stuff I could do to be apart of this world. My wife thought I was crazy when I was counting down the days until a Lodge cleanup and work day. what I would say is:

Make the lodge website calander have at least once a month some open.
Put together a list of things that EA and FC can volunteer for and publish it.
Put videos on local lodge websites like from the Grand Lodge of Massashusetts of Ben Franklin.
Publish information on FMRC rides and meeting locations.


This is my starting list and there are a lot of guys out there that are wanting to belong to an orgination that has morals.

When I decided to ask to become a Mason it was after doing a lot of resurch into my family roots and what deferances there were in the american and french revolutions.   The main thing I found in that was that the leaders in the US had the idea that there were moral consequences to how they operated.  It looked to me like this came from the Freemasons.   So the GL's need to have more stuff published on there websites pointing to places where resurch like this can be done online.  If every time some one resurched high moral values google would point them to an GL's webpage that pointed out online libarary's.


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## Michael Hatley (Aug 22, 2012)

Brother jvarnell, might I suggest that rather than looking for more activities for EAs and FCs specifically, you arrange to meet regularly with a brother to learn the work.  I don't mean that to sound snarky, but as genuine advice.  The time I spent with my mentor was among the most peaceful and contructive hours in my life.  Simple recitation of good and useful words together and the time spent sitting with one another established a friendship that I have no doubt will be life long.  It is truly enjoyable.

So I urge you to find someone at your lodge and make a similar arrangement with them, you'll be glad you did. Once you work out a schedule with them to meet 3+ times a week, you will not want for activities nearly as much.

I reckon thats why some of us lament the attention to esoteric work practice night.  We are seeking to recreate and build upon our very favorable impression of that brother to brother practice for the trial lectures.  Everything in masonry, in my opinion, flows from that experience.  

I think that requires a shift from thinking of the memory work of the trial lectures from a chore and into the very rewarding activity you are looking for.  It is that, I promise you.  Just takes finding a good match for a mentor.


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## jvarnell (Aug 22, 2012)

Michael Hatley said:


> Brother jvarnell, might I suggest that rather than looking for more activities for EAs and FCs specifically, you arrange to meet regularly with a brother to learn the work. I don't mean that to sound snarky, but as genuine advice. The time I spent with my mentor was among the most peaceful and contructive hours in my life. Simple recitation of good and useful words together and the time spent sitting with one another established a friendship that I have no doubt will be life long. It is truly enjoyable.
> 
> So I urge you to find someone at your lodge and make a similar arrangement with them, you'll be glad you did. Once you work out a schedule with them to meet 3+ times a week, you will not want for activities nearly as much.
> 
> ...



I am doing the work as fast as I can.  In business I never even want to remember anything word for word I want to remember where I can get to the data in the document fast as I can.  I deal with documents that are several thousand pages long.  I spend 30 hours a week discusing these long document with 20 or 30 people at a time. I can tell you the details of every lectures and what they mean but that is not what the work is. I am having to forget 30+ years of not memorizing to memorizing.  My mentor is working very hard to help me with this process.   This thread was started to help change things so there are more good men in Texas.  When ideas are asked for someone my want to look at the ideas and not the person that had it.  I don't mind spilling my mind to help and that is what I thought I was doing.  There are other professional out there that have the same problems as I that would like to join if you don't want to add another 10% to your membership don't listen.  Your experances are not the same as everone elses so that is why I thought I could help mine must be very different.


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## Dow Mathis (Aug 22, 2012)

> ... I am doing the work as fast as I can...


 
I think that this statement is one that we all have suffered under.  Only after being raised and having some time to consider where I had been and where I now am did I really understand that the work should be looked at from another angle.  Remember that in the Operative work, a man would remain an apprentice for years, not weeks or months.  He would remain an apprentice until he knew enough to be allowed to be made a Fellow in the Craft.  Perhaps these thoughts will help:

You have embarked on a journey, but a journey is so much more than a destination.  This journey is not a race.  It takes as long as it takes.  For me, the journey will take the rest of my life.  I hope that it will be as long for you as well.  The question is not "where are you going?" but "WHY are you going?"  Improving yourself in Masonry is about growing in honor and wisdom.  That takes time.  As you learn the work, consider WHY the words are like they are.  Ask your mentor or instructor for more light on the subject.  The knowledge of WHY they are what they are will help cement the words in your memory.  I understand that the memorization is hard.  It was hard for me and many others as well.  The thing to consider, though, is that most things worth having in life are hard.  It's not the finished product that's important, as much as the process.  This process is molding you into what you will someday be.  Learn from the process, so that, as you work to perfect your ashlar, you will know what you're trying to perfect.​ 
I hope that some of this rambling is of use to you.  It certainly was for me, as it forced me to take a hard look at where I came from, where I am now, where I hope to be some day, and perhaps more importantly, WHY I hope to be there.


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## jvarnell (Aug 22, 2012)

Thank you for the words.


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## jwhoff (Aug 30, 2012)

There's nothing quite as boring as a stated meeting.  

There's nothing more invigorating as traveling to another lodge for a stated meeting; especially if it takes an hour or more to traverse the distance.

Ever notice someone variably mentions the fact that it was so much fun just hanging out together ... when there's just visiting and no structured agenda?

Brethren, me thinks we should stop and smell the roses ever so often.

:39:


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## Blake Bowden (Aug 30, 2012)

The other day I was looking at the Wikipedia page for the GLofTX and it lists 105,000 members with 890 Lodges.


In 2010 we had 91,632
According to the GLofTX Lodge Locater, there are 872 Lodges


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## Humble Mason (Aug 31, 2012)

One thing you might try is contacting your district instructor and DDGM to set up a workshop at your lodge and invite the lodges in your district to attend.  It might spark an interest in your own membership to attend and maybe it will be more attended from there.


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## raad (Jun 15, 2013)

Hi


Freemason Connect Mobile


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## raad (Jun 15, 2013)

My name is raad am from yemen


Freemason Connect Mobile


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## raad (Jun 16, 2013)

Hi


Freemason Connect Mobile


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## widows son (Jun 17, 2013)

Hello Raad. Welcome!


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## cemab4y (Dec 10, 2013)

*Re: Why Texas Masonry is not surviving in the 21st*

When people ask me, what do you do in yourlodge meetings? I usually answer, sleep! Most stated meetings are BORING, and why go to lodge and be bored, when you can stay home and watch the cable TV? 

When meetings are exciting and give VALUE to men who attend, your lodge meetings will be FULL.


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## Blake Bowden (Dec 10, 2013)

*Re: Why Texas Masonry is not surviving in the 21st*



cemab4y said:


> When people ask me, what do you do in yourlodge meetings? I usually answer, sleep! Most stated meetings are BORING, and why go to lodge and be bored, when you can stay home and watch the cable TV?
> 
> When meetings are exciting and give VALUE to men who attend, your lodge meetings will be FULL.



EXACTLY!!!! There are so many resources available on this site and others. Share videos from our Media Library or print out an article from the Education Library. During meals, why not entertain the Brethren by sharing some humor or poetry? Make meetings worthwhile.


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## cemab4y (Dec 10, 2013)

*Re: Why Texas Masonry is not surviving in the 21st*

I visit lodges in Maryland frequently. Maryland has a tradition of having exciting and informative programs at their stated meetings. They might have someone come in and talk about the Civil War, or how we got our flag, or how to select a nursing home, or UFOs, etc. Their meetings are terrific! 

A decent meal, will also increase your attendance.


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## Bro. Michael (Dec 10, 2013)

*Re: Why Texas Masonry is not surviving in the 21st*



Blake Bowden said:


> EXACTLY!!!! There are so many resources available on this site and others. Share videos from our Media Library or print out an article from the Education Library. During meals, why not entertain the Brethren by sharing some humor or poetry? Make meetings worthwhile.



I agree wholeheartedly, but I would advise caution. In some places (I have been a victim of this personally) a Brother can be tried and convicted of unmasonic conduct for even possessing poetry (or anything else) that alludes to masonry if it is in a form that can be proven (there are some places where it is claimed that such things violate our obligations by alluding to Masonry even if they don't reveal anything). I am not complaining or looking for sympathy, but I must warn my Brothers of potential danger.


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## otherstar (Dec 10, 2013)

*Re: Why Texas Masonry is not surviving in the 21st*

My lodge must be an exception to the rule. 

We regularly have around 30-35 at our stated meetings and almost every Monday and/or Tuesday night you can pop into the lodge and find a few brothers sitting around chatting, and a few of our EAs and FCs learning their work. Sometimes brothers will use the lodge room to practice. We invite all EAs and FCs to come to dinner on stated meeting nights for the fellowship. Wives and families are also welcome to come to dinner on stated meeting nights (some do, some don't), and some even stay downstairs while the meeting is going on upstairs. It's also very clear that EAs and FCs are welcome to all non-tiled lodge activities as well. The Lodge is having our Christmas party this Saturday and there is a good chance that the turnout will be around 60 people of all ages. 

I think what lodges need to do to thrive is to be welcoming of all members and guests and be a place where the brothers want to go. There are no set answers for what programs will work because every lodge is different because their members are different and their interests are different.


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## Dow Mathis (Dec 10, 2013)

*Re: Why Texas Masonry is not surviving in the 21st*

My thoughts exactly, Jeff.  Our lodge has a good meal each stated  meeting night, and EAs and FCs are encouraged to attend as are men who  are interested in learning more about the craft.  There's usually a fair  number of families there as well. Granted, I'd like to see the number  of brethren at the meetings rise to the point where the PM's were in the  minority, but it's the nature of the beast that those who invest their  time most tend to move through the chairs.  With that said, there's  usually between 25-30 at our stated meetings, and changes are being  made.  This masonic year, our WM began inviting speakers to give talks  on subjects of interest to the community during the meal.  We've had a  detective talk about crime in Boerne, the fire chief, an MD who talked  about insurance issues, a representative of Blessing in a backpack, and  others.  It's been a great addition.  In addition, we've also been  having more brothers present Masonic talks during the stated meeting  proper.  All this takes is someone committing to lining up the speakers.   Our meetings have become much more interesting, and we've been seeing  attendance improve.  It is my hope that this practice of having speakers  in for the meal and meeting will continue.

Additionally, we have practice on Monday nights, where you can come and  work on ritual or floorwork.   OES meets in our lodge as do the  Daughters of the Nile, DeMolay, Rainbow Girls, and Commandery (I think  that's everybody).  

Honestly, I read the words of my grumbling brethren here and all I can  think is, "Well, why the Dickens don't they DO something about it  instead of sitting there complaining?"  If you don't like the way that  your lodge meetings are going, then find an article that you like and  give a talk on it.  If you start, then others may follow.  To my way of  thinking, if you're not part of the solution, then you're part of the  problem.


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## otherstar (Dec 10, 2013)

*Re: Why Texas Masonry is not surviving in the 21st*

Very nice! We also invite potential candidates, men who've submitted petitions (what a great way to get to know who you are voting on), etc. Our SW gives a short masonic talk every stated meeting, and a JW presents a portion of the law as well. We have several different community events we sponsor, so there is often quite of business to do at stated meetings beyond paying bills that we don't always have time for speakers. (though I've been to lodges that have had speakers and that was always nice too--again, what works, works!)


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## Dow Mathis (Dec 10, 2013)

*Re: Why Texas Masonry is not surviving in the 21st*

Pretty much all of our potential candidates come for meals.  That's actually the recommendation that we give when someone asks about the fraternity.  Come to our meals and get to know the guys.  Oh, and they're encouraged to bring their families as well.  I know that I went to two dinners before submitting my petition, and then every stated meeting meal after that.  Monday nights pretty much belong to the lodge now, and will for the foreseeable future.  After all, what am I giving up?  Football?  Nah, we turned the dish off about three or four years ago.  It just stole too much of our time.  I'd much rather spend time with people than the idiot tube anyway.


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## Zaden (Dec 11, 2013)

*Re: Why Texas Masonry is not surviving in the 21st*

Jmflores and I have been welcomed to all of the stated meetings since we were first initiated. The WM and Officers have happily opened in EA specifically so that we could attend. The most recent SM, the JW even read the section from the Law book stipulating the allowance of EA and FC Stated Meetings. There are also practice nights on all other weeks except the monthly Family Night (the latter being the most densely attended event other than Installation and Service Award presentations that I have seen since July). There was also a FC lecture that from what I saw of the parking lot was heavily attended.


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## otherstar (Dec 11, 2013)

*Re: Why Texas Masonry is not surviving in the 21st*



Zaden said:


> Jmflores and I have been welcomed to all of the stated meetings since we were first initiated. The WM and Officers have happily opened in EA specifically so that we could attend. The most recent SM, the JW even read the section from the Law book stipulating the allowance of EA and FC Stated Meetings. There are also practice nights on all other weeks except the monthly Family Night (the latter being the most densely attended event other than Installation and Service Award presentations that I have seen since July). There was also a FC lecture that from what I saw of the parking lot was heavily attended.



Zaden, very nice! I'm glad to see that Oak Forest Lodge in Houston is doing so well! I was Raised there in 1997 and I'm still friends with your Secretary and Chaplain (Robert and Bill), and John Artz! I was out of the Craft from 2004, until 2013, and Robert (the Secretary) helped me re-affiliate in Humble (which is closer to where I live now).


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