Jim Tresner, 33°, Grand Cross
P.O. Box 1019, Guthrie, Oklahoma 73044-1019
While the Supreme Council has carried through
with many of the elements in its 1997 Strategic Planning Report,
only the actions of individual Brethren can build Masonry and
the Rite in their local Lodges and Valleys.
How to find the path? That's been one of the most perplexing
questions in the long history of humanity. Theseus unrolled
a spool of thread as he wended his way through the Labyrinth
in search of the Minotaur. It served him well, bringing him
back to safety after he slew the monster. Hansel and Gretel
left a trail of bread crumbs to mark the way, with less success.
When the birds ate the crumbs and they had to strike out on
their own, they nearly ended up as gingerbread cookies. Today,
a G.P.S. (Global Positioning System) can tell us where we are
within a few feet, making it easy to find our way.
For an organization, a Strategic Plan fulfills many of the
same functions. It links us to the past like the thread; it
is capable of adaptation, like the trail of crumbs; and it points
to the future, like a G.P.S. The Strategic Plan adopted by the
Supreme Council in 1997 does all those things and more. During
the 2002 Scottish Rite Leadership Conferences, a break-out session
was devoted to the plan, reviewing what progress has been made
and, especially, asking the participants to think of ways that
they, as individual Masons and as members of their Valleys,
could further the plan.
The Strategic Plan is too long to discuss here (you can find
its full text printed in the July 1998 issue of the Scottish
Rite Journal), but it is possible to hit some of the highlights.
Perhaps the most important elements of the plan are the Basic
Assumptions and the Basic Questions. They form an understanding
of where we are and what we need to do. There are Four
Basic Assumptions.
The plan discusses each of these questions and suggests answers
and strategies for achieving those answers. For now, we'll consider
only a few.
The Relationship Of The Rite To Society
The world needs what we have to offer. That's clear in many
ways. More and more attention is being given everywhere, from
self-help books and television specials to talk shows, to a
search for personal values and the need of men to share time
and interest with other men. National surveys have shown such
relationships as the primary unmet need of men in their 30s
and 40s. Obviously Freemasonry is in the position to meet that
need. But the same surveys show that, by and large, these men
do not know we exist, let alone know what we have to offer.
The Supreme Council has been taking steps to address this issue.
The Council produced the videotape "Architects of Freedom,
The Story of Freemasonry in America." If you haven't seen
it, buy a copy. The 22-minute tape is offered for only $10.00
and is an excellent promotional tool. It tells men about basic
Masonry, and I have used it many times as part of a Blue Lodge
Friends Night Program. A special membership issue of the Scottish
Rite Journal (October 2001) is available, by request through
your Valley Secretary, for only the cost of shipping. It is
another great tool for telling men about us. Also, the Supreme
Council has given substantial grants to the Masonic Renewal
Committee of North America to help fund general Masonic membership
material and programs.
The Supreme Council's web site (www.srmason-sj.org)
is another important outreach tool, taking our message to society
at large. It is a beautiful site; you can visit it with pride.
Still another very important element of our relationship to
society at large is the RiteCare Childhood Language Program.
There are 161 Clinics, Centers, or Programs across the Southern
Jurisdiction, and more facilities or programs are being opened
every year. Language problems affect more children than any
other condition. Providing treatment for these children is a
major investment in the society of tomorrow.
But all these things are ineffective unless you, personally,
talk to your friends about the Fraternity. If each Scottish
Rite Mason brought two petitions into his Blue Lodge and then
into the Rite, we would have no membership problem.
The Relationship Of The Rite To Other
Masonic Bodies
Most of the activity in this area was covered above, although
the Rite also often shares events with other Bodies and allows
them to use our facilities. But while relationships may be negotiated
between leaders, they are built between individual Masons. It's
up to you.
Member Benefits
Tangible member benefits have increased greatly over the past
few years. For instance, the creation of the Scottish Rite Research
Society (SRRS) has provided members with access to the best
contemporary Masonic research and information being published
anywhere, at very low cost ($30 Annual; $500 Life). Membership
brings with it Heredom, the annual bound transactions
of the Society, which is being eagerly collected by Masons all
over the world. SRRS members also get the Plumbline,
the Society's quarterly newsletter, bonus books or other items,
and opportunities to buy major Masonic books at good discounts.
In addition, many individual Valleys have excellent educational
programs.
And there are major intangible benefits. The Scottish Rite's
biannual sectional Leadership Conferences give members an opportunity
to hone skills and have access to the most current information
in many areas of leadership and management which transfer to
daily life. At these meetings, Scottish Rite Masons have the
chance to form friendships with men over a much larger geographic
area than the Blue Lodge. There is also pride in the accomplishment
of the charities of the Rite, but none of these benefits are
useful to you unless you use them and tell others about them.
Benefits To Non-Scottish Rite Freemasons
Again, most of these have been listed above. Masonic information
and research benefit all Masonry, not just the Rite. You only
need to check the Internet to see that the books published by
the Rite are available to everyone. Our museums benefit everyone,
as does our support of Masonic Renewal. But your Masonic friends
who do not belong to the Rite may not know of the benefits unless
you tell them. Talk to them about the web site and about the
other benefits.
Teaching Our Lessons
The business of the Scottish Rite is teaching and assisting
the individual with self-development. Everything else-the fellowship,
the buildings, the charities, the Masonic research-is secondary
to that. And we teach by the oldest and most powerful teaching
technique known, using symbol and allegory. It works for the
small child learning something about life when he hears the
story of the three little pigs, and it works in the same way,
though on a much more sophisticated level, for the man watching
the 18°. Many Valleys have seminars, discussion groups,
or other means whereby Brethren can explore the ideas of the
Degrees in depth, contributing to each other's understanding.
But the best book or gathering of Brethren is useless, unless
you open the book or attend the meeting.
Funding The Rite
This is a critical issue from the Valley to the Orient to the
Supreme Council. For many years, dues and per capita gave us
more than enough funds. I can clearly remember the time when
the Valley of Guthrie, Oklahoma, didn't bother with a budget.
With 600+ Candidates a year paying the joining fees and the
cost of preparing a really good meal at less than $1.50, who
needed one? 'Tain't so no mo! The Scottish Rite, S.J., must
develop funds and help each Valley develop funds to endow not
only the buildings but the Reunion experience as well. And we
are working at it. Fund-raising and estate planning information
is in nearly every copy of the Scottish Rite Journal,
and Ill. Earl E. Ihle, Jr., 33°, Director of Development
at the Supreme Council, is available for individual consultation
and for Valley seminars on local fund-raising. In addition,
your Valley probably has its own financial programs.
Again, however, while large gifts and gifts from estates are
very helpful, the average Mason can also make an important difference.
If you left your Blue Lodge and the your Valley each just $1,000
in your will, it would make little difference in the estate,
but it would make a world of difference to the Blue Lodge and
Scottish Rite Valley.
The Kind Of Organization We Should
Be
The vision here is clear. The Scottish Rite should be the pre-eminent
branch of the Fraternity, with an elitism based, as always,
not on wealth or social status but on the excellence and quality
of the individual Masons who are its members. We should be and
are the "University of Freemasonry," providing more
information, more Masonic self-development, and more compassion,
honor, and integrity than anyone else. We have the knowledge,
the ability, and the insight to do and be that.
But whether or not that happens fully is up to each individual
Scottish Rite Mason, up to you.
Getting There
Most of the things needed for the program are already in place,
and more are being added. We have the Strategic Plan. Metaphorically,
we have the spool of thread, the trail of bread crumbs, the
G.P.S. We're packed and ready for the trip.
But, it's up to you to start.
