We are not where we want to be.
Such is the sad truth of our once proud, now decaying, Order. Each and every one of us finds some value in Freemasonry, something which makes us happy to wear the Square and Compasses, something which makes us glad to say "I am a Mason." Yet our membership numbers are dwindling. We have fewer and fewer young members and less people willing to take positions of leadership. In short, Freemasonry, as an organization, is dying.
But there is something very valuable in the teachings of Freemasonry, and none of us wants to see this perish. The real problems the Fraternity faces in moving into the 21st century are systemic. They are problems we created by ourselves and for ourselves, and we must be the ones to solve them. Masonry needs to address the issues of recruitment, retention, outreach, and public relations. We must take positive steps to affirm that Freemasonry is an organization people will want to join.
Masonry can realistically claim itself a forerunner of the 18th-century Enlightenment movement, and it has had many notable members who have influenced society over the past several centuries. It does good deeds to the tune of nearly $2 million dollars a day. Still, relatively few people outside the Fraternity know what Masonry is about. As an organization, we need to shed outdated notions of letting people come to us. Passive membership recruitment will not work when there are so many other things people can do with their time. We need to actively pursue members.
Once we get members, then we have to keep them. Currently, someone is made an Entered Apprentice, and he has to wait a month or two to be passed to Fellowcraft, and then another month or two to be raised a Master Mason. In the meantime, the only contact he has with his Lodge is a Trestleboard and a catechism instructor.
In Europe, all meetings open and conduct business in the First Degree. The Lodge only opens in the Second and Third Degree when they have business, ritual work, which can only be conducted in that particular Degree. American Lodges may want to consider something similar. More than that, though, Lodges need to change the way they meet. Every Lodge I have been to opens, conducts whatever business it has, holds a program or, more often, has no program, and sometimes performs a Degree. Then the Lodge closes, and apple pie, hot dogs, or some other bland refreshment is served. Then the members go home and do not meet again for a couple of weeks. Then there is another meeting with, again, the same routine. Occasionally, the Lodge may have an activity, but they are few and far between. Most organizations use meetings as a means to an end, a place and time to plan events which benefit members. In the Masonic Order, the meetings seem to be an end unto themselves, the first and last duty of a Mason.
We call ourselves a Brotherhood, yet that is based on our initiation and on our calling ourselves Masons. There is a greater Brotherhood to which we should strive. We must create for ourselves some common task, some mutual goal, some group activity to unite us and give us purpose as an organization. Masons are very proud of the fact that we give $2 million a day to charity, but that is, in a sense, an empty donation because it merely involves going into our pockets and removing some greenbacks. A true donation to the social good comes not from money, but from time, energy, and sweat. There is a bonding process that occurs when people work together for the common good to achieve some pertinent goal. It is a heartwarming feeling, as opposed to the empty satisfaction of giving a monetary donation.
Think of how much exposure the Masonic Order could receive if it worked with Habitat for Humanity, as is done in some states, such as Tennessee, where the Grand Lodge encourages each Lodge to have its members work toward building houses for the needy or homeless. (See Journal, September 1999.) Or what if an army of Masons went into the inner city to paint over graffiti and plant trees? Or what if every Lodge collected toys and food for the poor, not just during the holidays, but all year-round? What if every Mason chose to "adopt" a "grand-child" from a single-parent family in order to provide that child with some sort of father figure? Think of all of the things the Masonic Fraternity could do if it only chose to reach out instead of wither on the vine.
These are the sorts of positive acts we need to perform to take Freemasonry into the future. We cannot merely hold fast to the same old concepts which we have used for decades. That simply will not work. We have to make Freemasonry visible, show the good things that we are doing, and do more of those good things. Masons need to prove by actions, not words, that they truly believe in what it means to be a member of the Masonic Fraternity.
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