Keith C
Registered User
As of St John's Day last my Blue Lodge has changed Masonic Districts due to some shuffling of District assignments here in PA.
We have had some informal meetings between members of the Lodges in our new District over the past few months but Last night was the first "official" event as part of the new District. The event was a District School of Instruction, which happens Monthly.
The district we moved into is smaller in number of Lodges and significantly smaller in number of Members than the previous District. First impression was WOW, there are a LOT of guys here. Attendance was great with at least 4 Brothers form Each Lodge in attendance. The atmosphere was far more casual and everyone from the DDGM, to the Principal and Brothers of the other Lodges were quite welcoming and excited at having us there. Especially of note was the way the actual work of the School was conducted. Officers from the Lodge assigned to exemplify the work along with others from the district needed to fill in chairs, went through the Ritual being Instructed (In this case Business of The Lodge) and the Instructor were excellent at adding advice or corrections in a positive and informational way. Also of note was that no one from the sidelines interjected. Although it felt more "laid back" than my previous experiences at Schools of Instruction" The important aspects of the work were well emphasized and several "do-overs" as well as "after school" discussions showed the way the instruction was done actually stuck.
I think we are going to fit in well with the new District. NOT that there is anything wrong at all with how things are done in our previous District, the "feel" is just a bit different and seems to me to be more fitting with the "personality" of our Lodge.
Once again the aspects of Freemasonry that differ between parts of the overall fascinate me and in this case the differences are not "Because Pennsylvania!"
We have had some informal meetings between members of the Lodges in our new District over the past few months but Last night was the first "official" event as part of the new District. The event was a District School of Instruction, which happens Monthly.
The district we moved into is smaller in number of Lodges and significantly smaller in number of Members than the previous District. First impression was WOW, there are a LOT of guys here. Attendance was great with at least 4 Brothers form Each Lodge in attendance. The atmosphere was far more casual and everyone from the DDGM, to the Principal and Brothers of the other Lodges were quite welcoming and excited at having us there. Especially of note was the way the actual work of the School was conducted. Officers from the Lodge assigned to exemplify the work along with others from the district needed to fill in chairs, went through the Ritual being Instructed (In this case Business of The Lodge) and the Instructor were excellent at adding advice or corrections in a positive and informational way. Also of note was that no one from the sidelines interjected. Although it felt more "laid back" than my previous experiences at Schools of Instruction" The important aspects of the work were well emphasized and several "do-overs" as well as "after school" discussions showed the way the instruction was done actually stuck.
I think we are going to fit in well with the new District. NOT that there is anything wrong at all with how things are done in our previous District, the "feel" is just a bit different and seems to me to be more fitting with the "personality" of our Lodge.
Once again the aspects of Freemasonry that differ between parts of the overall fascinate me and in this case the differences are not "Because Pennsylvania!"