Charles M. Ingram, 33°
PO Box 10, Kenansville, North Carolina, 28349–0010

We don't need to change the tenets of Freemasonry, but we do need to change many of the things we do and how we do them.

Today, the only thing certain is change. Indeed, change has been the chief characteristic of the 20th Century. In 1900, we were still in the horse-and-buggy days. The fledgling automobile industry was in its infancy. Only the very rich had electricity, running water, or indoor plumbing. The Wright brothers' first flight at Kitty Hawk occurred in 1903, yet only 66 years later, man walked on the moon!

As we begin the new millennium, it seems change is coming even more quickly. We are experiencing exponential change. When we buy new computers, we know that whatever we get is already obsolete before we take it out of the box. It is only natural to dislike, even fear, change. We like things that are familiar and comfortable. However, change is inevitable. So, if we are to survive, we must learn to change.

The October 26, 1998, issue of Fortune contained the magazine's annual article "The World's Most Admired Companies." It included names we all recognize: GE, Coca-Cola, Microsoft, Disney, Johnson & Johnson, Caterpillar, AT&T, and IBM. The attributes common to the best companies include their ability to attract and retain talented people, financial soundness, global effectiveness, the quality of their products and services, and innovation. All of these companies had the vision to create a plan and the confidence to stick to it despite economic uncertainty. Indeed, Jack Welch, the CEO of GE, stated that "anytime there is change, there is opportunity. So it is paramount that an organization get energized rather than paralyzed."

The magazine also carried a related article entitled "What Makes a Company Great?" Bruce Pfau, one of the study consultants, noted that "the corporate cultures of high-performing companies are dramatically different from those of average companies." In average companies, the top priorities are minimizing risk, maintaining status quo, and not overspending the budget. In the most admired companies, the key priorities are teamwork, customer focus, fair treatment of employees, initiative, and innovation.

All of that sounds good, you might say, but what does it have to do with Freemasonry? It has everything to do with Freemasonry. See if you recognize any of the following characteristics as applicable to our Fraternity. They relate to the Craft in North Carolina, but are generally applicable to Masonry everywhere.

• Our membership is down about 22% from 17 years ago.
• We suffer a significant loss of members each year.
• Our average age is 66.6, up from 62.5 only five years ago.
• Deaths and demits exceed new initiates.
• Many of our members and Lodges resist new ideas and are much the same as they were 10 or 20 years ago.
• Interest among younger men and professional or businessmen is almost nonexistent.
• Many new initiates never return for the Second Degree.

I fail to see how anyone can consider the problems we are facing and not recognize our need to change. It is obvious that what we are doing—or the way we are doing it—simply is not working. Yet we continue in the same old way.

Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes noted: "It is revolting to have no better reason for a rule of law than that it was laid down in the time of Henry IV. It is still more revolting if the grounds upon which it was laid down have vanished long since, and the rule simply persists from blind imitation of the past."

I agree. We must not blindly and routinely do things the same way simply because "that is the way we have always done it." As Bill Mathis, our Junior Grand Warden, is fond of quoting: "If you keep on doing what you've always done, you'll keep on getting what you've always got!"

I am concerned that we may be doing things that we should not be doing, but, more importantly, I believe we are not doing things that we should be doing. We are well aware that the resources of this Grand Lodge and of any Masonic Bodies are not unlimited. We all have finite budgets. Therefore, it is imperative we do those things for which there is a demonstrated need and that we do them in the most efficient and effective manner possible.

Masonry must be like the most-admired companies and have a vision for what we want our Fraternity to be and a plan for what we need to do to get there. This year, the Grand Lodge of North Carolina will put in place a Strategic Planning Committee, as every Masonic Body should, to study the problems and issues confronting us. This review should accent the opportunities available to us. We need to be innovative and aggressive, energized and not paralyzed.

Like the most-admired companies, we need teamwork and consensus regarding our priorities and our programs. No one has a monopoly on wisdom. Often, the best decisions are reached through the judgement of the group. It is absolutely critical that we have teamwork among our leadership with coordination and continuity in our programs at every level of Freemasonry. Grand Lodges as well as Blue Lodges must be more responsible and more responsive to the Brethren.

Naturally, there will be opposition, and new talent will have to replace those who have isolated themselves from change for whatever reason. I want our Fraternity to be one of the world's most admired organizations. I want it to attract and retain talented, able, dedicated people. I want it to be focused on you, its members. I want it to be innovative and have quality programs. I want it to be financially sound. I want it to get energized rather than paralyzed, and I want it to be prepared to take advantage of the opportunities that are presented by change. In short, I want to revitalize and renew Freemasonry.

In the movie Field of Dreams, the main character wanted to see baseball heroes like those of by-gone days. He dreamed that if he built a baseball field in his cornfield, they would come. "If you build it, they will come," he kept repeating. It is the same with Freemasonry. If we build a quality program, good men will come. Members who have left will come back. New members will come to join us. And Freemasonry will survive and thrive.

"If you build it, they will come!"