Living Stones

Third Time Is A Charm ????

2011-12-28T17:25:00.000-08:00

Well tis the season for elections and one never knows....

This past year was my first year in ten years that I was not an officer, while I appreciated the lack of pressure to attend since I "did not need to be there" I also knew what I've always known and that is I'm not a good passenger. So when I was asked if I would consider becoming a Junior Warden, I said hmmmmm. Then when I was asked if I would be willing to do the east for the degrees, oh really. And if you want to be Master the following year.......well well well.

So I'm off to my third lodge with hope that I can have the same impact I had on my second lodge, a now vibrant lodge with a strong officer line and great degree work.

So here's to 2012: Third Time's a Charm

Driving The Bus

2011-01-08T12:49:00.000-08:00

I was Master of my home lodge for two years, normally it was a progressive line and everyone served one year but my senior deacon had to drop out and we decided to keep the top three officers the same and move everyone else up behind us as opposed to trying to fill the whole.

The brother who served as my SW for two years took over and a few months into his term he commented that " it was much easier riding on the bus as opposed to driving the bus". He said I made it look so easy to be Master that he expected it to be easy. I think alot of officers watch and ride along and don't think much about what they would do when they are behind the wheel. And yes you are driving the bus; you are deciding the direction of your lodge and a lot of brothers are coming along for the ride.

So you have to decide when it is your turn to drive, are you going to hit cruise control or put the pedal down ? Of course with any big journey, pre-planning makes the trip all that smoother, so mapping out your course well ahead of time makes it go all the better.

Most of all, enjoy the journey on the path you pick, when it is your turn.

1-1-11 A New Beginning

2011-01-01T17:57:00.000-08:00

2010 I did not do a single post, as they say, sometimes life comes at you fast. As I start 2011 I have no offices elected or appointed for the first time in ten years. Ten years ago I started in the officer line of my home lodge, through the years I joined the Scottish Rite, the Shrine, The York Rite and served as President of Blue Lodge Council. As I was reaching the end of my journey in my home lodge I affiliated with another Blue Lodge. I served as Master of my home lodge for two years and then as Master of my affiliate lodge for two years. Now I have time to reflect on this journey and share my thoughts.

As I said I served as Master for four years, a great honor and privilege. What I learned in those years is that to be effective a Master should: communicate, energize and socialize. Simply sending out two trestle boards a year does not cut it for communication. E-mail is quick and easy and is a great supplement to keep members up to date on upcoming events. Energize, the Master should be the biggest cheerleader, if the Master doesn't believe no one will believe. Socialize, get the members to get to know eachother through social activities such as dinners, CHIP programs, anything than just sitting there watching the Master blabbing.

POWER

2009-10-12T11:02:00.000-07:00

I am Master hear me roar !!! I am Potentate bow before me !!! I am Grand (you fill in the blank) kiss my ring.............

Luckily most men don't seek power and even luckier most that do humbly seek not for their own benefit. But history is full of those who seek it for their own glory or who once get it become intoxicated with its effect. Our fraternity is set up with a system of government that is a dictatorship, one of the most abused systems in the history of the world since in this system the man at the top is the "The Man". To think that because of the nature and philosophy of our fraternity that we are immune to abuse would be naive. Now I still believe this is the right form of government for our fraternity and it has worked well for centuries. Most Masters only have one year to govern and any other form of government would simply be to cumbersome to operate under. Hopefully the cream still rises to the top but with thinning numbers and less willing to step up to the plate I think the odds have greatly increased for the wrong people to succeed.

I recently listened to a horror story that happened in one of our appendent bodies, the "leader" did so much damage in his one year that the ramifications will be felt for years to come. In a recent blog by a fellow mason he accounts on how after a degree a Grand Line officer suddenly quizzed his candidate on proficiency. I found this outrageous, what would possess a brother to potentially embarrass a candidate, the Master and the Lodge. I am sorry but talk about drunk with power, hopefully I will only be sitting on the sidelines when this one comes to power. I watched in disgust earlier this year after serving as Master on an elite degree team how the peacocks fluffed each other after the degree. I left thinking this is not the fraternity I know and love, will I serve again ????????

I guess us purest can still can still be proud of what we accomplish at the local level and help ensure that brotherly love still prevails. I will end with this word of caution: When you select Stewards this year, is this a man you want to lead your lodge ?

THE NUMBERS GAME

2009-07-23T18:32:00.000-07:00

In my last blog I commented on the leasons learned from GM, although the issues facing GM are different than the problems facing our fraternity there is a common theme, the numbers game. In GM's case through the years they slowly lost market share and hence the volume necessary to maintain the size of their organization. In our case we have far fewer members than we did decades ago and time seems less available, so lets do the numbers game.......

Let's say I join the fraternity and fall in love with the organization therefore I attend all the meetings, twice a month. The next thing I do is join the officers line which leads to practice nights so lets say one extra night a month so we are up to three nights. Now we decide we want further light in masonry so we join one of the rites, lets say the York Rite. Wow this great, I love every aspect they have to offer so now I attend a night of Chapter, a night of Council, a night of Commandery every month therefore three more nights a month. So now we are up to six nights a month but wait I hear the Shrine has a lot to offer and supports a great cause so we join that, great, wonderful, we join a unit so now we do two nights a month for the Shrine. So lets see now we are up to eight nights a month. Realistic maybe for some but for most not really so what happens we spend our time where we can or devote all our time to the part of the fraternity we enjoy the most and become simply a dues paying member of the others.

Freemasonry - GM

2009-06-22T18:19:00.000-07:00

The failure of GM and the conclusions reached during the reorganization should cause masons to pause and at least take a moment to ponder; do we have too many brands and too many dealerships to support for the size of our current membership ?

Unfortunately our fraternity like many volunteer organizations has shrunk in numbers over the years/decades and yet we still have almost the same number of lodges and appendent bodies. While I am a member in most of the appendent bodies; Scottish Rite, York Rite and the Shrine and I enjoy the aspects that each has to offer, I do question if there is enough brothers to go around to effectively support and perhaps more important lead all these associated organizations......

Yet the appendent bodies is where some of, in my opinion, the most effective charity work is done; Shrine burn hospitals, Scottish Rite Learning Centers, etc....with the blue lodges as the cornerstone of entire thing.

So here is the dilemma, if I only have so much cement (time, members) how thin do I spread it before the whole thing becomes weak? Even on a more micro scale, how long should lodges (dealerships) hold onto charters when they really are no longer effective and no longer create more cement (members) to support the larger picture.

Another aspect which we see throughout lodges and the fraternity as a whole is what we have decided to do, or should I say has been a natural circumstance is water down our cement by having the same leaders throughout multiple lines, multiple lodges, etc....

Like GM, we need to decide can we still effectively manage all these brands the way they are currently structured ? I think the value of the appendent bodies is still there but I do feel some reorganization is needed and perhaps as they say it is time to right size the organization.

Expectations

2009-06-08T14:16:00.000-07:00

How does a volunteer organization establish any consistancy and standards.....expectations. Why are some lodges much stronger than others even with similar membership.....expectations. There is no pay associated with what we do or how well we do it only pride in a job well done.

One of our Past Masters once told me that a lodge is only as good as its ritual. Once you let your ritual slide the whole lodge slides and I have to agree with him since good ritual work is the cornerstone of any lodge. How does a lodge establish good ritual practices......expectations. It should be expected that if you are a Steward you will perform the first section lecture. In my home lodge it is expected that if you are the Senior Deacon you will perform the Middle Chamber lecture. The Junior Warden does the EA Degree, the Senior Warden does the FC Degree and the Master is expected to do all three degrees. Any officer starting in the line knows these expectations, period.

The problem is a lot of lodges have trouble getting brothers to become officers and to do so they often lower the expectation of the position, the any warm body will do syndrome. While this may work for a short while in the long run without developing upcoming officers the seats end up getting filled with Past Masters who eventually burn out. This is what basically happened to my affiliate lodge. I am now proud to say that they have a full progressive line and all the officers know the expectations of the positions.

What changed ? Expectations, plain in simple. How did they change ? New Leadership, as with sports teams what do teams do when they are not getting the desired results, they change managers, they change expectations. All Masters have their own unique style and leading a volunteer organization is not easy since the key word is volunteer. Therefore not all styles work or should I say are effective.

IGNITE OUR PASSIONS

2009-04-12T11:05:00.000-07:00

We as masons are taught to subdue our passions and improve ourselves in masonry....while this has its own unique meaning I suggest that what we need to do "ignite our passions and improve masonry".

As a volunteer organization everyone chooses their personal level of participation. Many join and fade away only to be dropped for NPD a few years later. While becoming an officer is not for everyone, those that choose to do so must realize that when they become Master they are the guiding force for their lodge for a year. It is easy for complacency to set in as anything beyond complacency takes effort. We all have lives that are very busy and time is a precious commodity, it is easy to kick your masonic duties to the curb.

As with all organizations leadership is the key and passionate leadership ignites the fire of others, which in turn encourages them to invite others. Members need to feel excited about what is happening in their lodge or feel what is happening is worth while and more importantly worth their time. So I say to you up and coming Masters, ignite your passion and make your year worthy of the rank you have achieved.

THE TWO DEGREES OF MASONRY

2009-01-18T17:40:00.000-08:00

I often work with a traveling degree team that performs the Master Mason Degree. In my years working with the team I noticed that we keep going to the same lodges over and over. While I understand many lodges have reached the point where they no longer have the man power to perform this degree or have not built back up to such a level I also feel many lodges simply don't try. It becomes all too easy to have a degree team come in or to farm candidates out to other lodges. One of these most frequented lodges has brought in many new candidates in the past few years and has developed a officer line. As we all know, if you don't perform a degree, you don't learn it. Therefore all they are doing by constantly using a degree team is developing an officer line that only knows the first two degrees.

There are strong lodges and weak lodges in every district and it is not uncommon for neighboring lodges to assist eachother. I think it is far more useful for a lodge to bring in the help needed to perform the degree than to outsource it.

PURPLE AMOUNG US

2009-01-11T17:55:00.000-08:00

Now that most lodges have their new officers installed it is time to get down to business again. Which of course means performing degree work for this years candidates. Along with this of course comes the visit by the purple people. I remember when I was a junior officer this was a big deal and I remember how everyone got so nervous about it. Now as "veteran" officer I realize it is really nothing at all but a formality that is required once a year by the Grand Lodge. I am also willing to bet that the DD will be more nervous about doing the inspection than the lodge will be about doing the degree. Our Grand Lodge is now pushing for that on inspection nights, all officers should be in their installed positions and that work should be performed by members of that lodge only, no outside help. While I realize that lodges should be graded by the work that they perform and not by some outside ringers brought in that night, I also see the other side of this.

What gets lost in all of this is that the degrees are all about the candidates and if the degrees are done much better with outside help so be it. Why should Grand Lodge prove their point at the expense of the candidates, most lodges know where they stand on the quality of their degree work and often take steps to make up for their inadequacies by moving officers around and supplementing with outside help.

I would like to take this one step further and I will propose this to our district that at the end of the inspection period that the scores given to each lodge should be presented at the Blue Lodge Council. Are we not grown men ? Did not most of us go to college and see our grades posted ? There is no greater motivator than peer pressure. How would you like to be the lodge in your district with the lowest score ? Perhaps it is time for a merger if you always are. And you can bet the strong lodges would work hard for the perfect score.

STARDATE12252008

2008-12-25T09:08:00.000-08:00

Having always been an avid Star Trek fan I was watching the movie Generations last night. While it was not one of my favorites there was scene that particularly caught my attention. Kirk and Picard were talking and Kirk told Picard not give up the Captains seat, not for promotion, new opportunities, etc. He said because in that seat you can make difference. I am not by any means saying that Masters should hold on to the East, what I am saying is that Masters should realize they can make a difference. Too often brothers get to the East and count the days until they are out of office. The year or years in office should be cherished and enjoyed and you should finish your term proud of your name being counted among the select few.

My views on lodge leadership have morphed during my time in the officer line. I used to be so proud of my home lodge having a progressive line with no Past Masters and Masters served one year and were done. While still am a strong advocate of the progressive line I no longer view have a few Past Masters in the line if necessary as a bad thing as long as they don't get locked into a position which deters the development of new officers. My philosophy on the officer line is now the same as that of becoming a member; becoming an officer should be an act of their own fee will and accord. Too often lodges in desperation beg new brothers to join the officer line many of whom are not ready to be there, don't belong there or don't really wish to be there. I have seen the effects of these and now conclude that it is better to fill holes in the line with PM's than to try to force square pegs in round holes.

A NEW BEGINNING

2008-12-24T08:52:00.000-08:00

Last week I was installed as Master of my affiliate lodge and even though I just finished being Master of my home lodge for two years I am truly excited about this new opportunity to serve the craft. Being Master is a honor and a position of great responsibility, our fraternity is set up so that Master determines the level of activity of the lodge; hence to set the craft to work and give them good and wholesome instructions for their labors.

Each lodge has its own characteristics and customs. my affiliate lodge is much different than my home lodge and I am trying to take the best of both worlds as I prepare for the upcoming year. They have a full progressive line from JW on down and all the chairs are filled with brothers ready to do the work. This has not been seen in this lodge for many, many years. My main goal will be to continue to build the membership and to keep the new members engaged. We have a very busy year ahead of us as one of our members will be installed as Grand Master in March.

I was fortunate to have the Past Master who served my home lodge the year before me affiliate as well and will serve as SW this year. We are both solid ritualists and will be able to set the example for the junior officers. He however has no interest in serving as Master so I will be in the East for two years. I am confident that if the lodge continues along its current course in two years they will be one of the strongest lodges in the district and my work will have been well worth the effort.

Then I will be looking for my next new beginning..........

Masonic Management 101

2008-10-23T16:11:00.000-07:00

Both the local and state lodges are set up as progressive lines in that, in a fully functional lodge, you start at the bottom of the line and progress one chair each year. In the local lodges that means you serve six years before you are Master and then one year and done. As much as you anticipate your "year" it is hard to learn the new position and accomplish much in that short period of time. Most of the time the Master simply survives his year everyone pats him on the back and its time for the next Master.

Although this system has worked for hundreds of years you have to ask; does it really ? Would you expect your favorite sports team to change Managers every year and get good results ? Does GE change CEO's every year ? Do we change Presidents every year ? You get the point, it often takes time to establish a direction therefore continuity is important.

Lodges often have a hard time filling the chairs and are willing to put any one in regardless of whether they will do a good job or not and often allow them to progress upward without doing the necessary work. It has come to the point where Masters now need to be certified to open and close, a basic duty because we allowed so many non-functional Masters to progress that the Grand Lodge said enough. Often brothers fly through the line, two or three years and bam they are Master another reason for poorly prepared leaders.

I have served as Master for two years since one of our officers dropped out and we did not want to throw a Past Master in the hole. I started out at the bottom and served in every chair and did all the duties, rituals associated with each chair. I have enjoyed my second year much more since I knew what to expect and could
focus on what I wanted to get done. During my year as Senior Warden I affiliated with a neighboring lodge and I will now head to the East there next year.

So I will be a recycle officer which if you asked me five years ago I would of said it was bad. I was proud of our lodge having a progressive line with no Past Masters in the line. At this point I am more convinced that the weak lodges need good leadership regardless of the source. While the need to develop new leaders is essential, we should be careful to select brothers who truly want to do the work. The rule of thumb should be the same as when one joins a lodge; becoming an officer should be of their own free will and accord.

BACK UP AND RUNNING

2008-09-28T09:04:00.000-07:00

The first month of the masonic fall season is now almost over and the batteries are recharged. Two CHIP programs, a major construction project, a degree and a Blue Lodge council, busy, busy month but that is what gets the old fires burning. I now have five meetings as Master before I head off to my affiliate lodge and serve there. I had the pleasure of serving for two years as Master of my home lodge and I feel my term was very successful. We will have raised twenty two new brothers and did some major construction projects around the lodge. The construction projects showed me that there are some great leaders coming through the line behind me so I am confident that the lodge will continue to be a leader in our district.

My affiliate lodge continues to make progress as the new young officers continue to develop. There s much work ahead of us but slow steady progress shall prevail.

CORNERSTONES

2008-07-28T14:36:00.000-07:00

Unfortunately every once in a while we get a call, letter or an e-mail regarding the passing of one of our brothers. The fraternity is full of so many brothers that have been members for decades and of these brothers there are a select few brothers who have been cornerstones for their respective lodges. The brother that you know will always be there and does all the little things behind the scenes. I received an e-mail this past week regarding one such brother from a lodge in my district. Even though this brother was not a member of my lodge I felt obligated to attend his masonic service. The brothers from his lodge were truly saddened by his sudden passing and appreciated the support.

On the way home my SW and I discussed this topic and it was clear based on the age of a few of our cornerstones that we were in for some sad occasions of our own in the coming years. The dedication and devotion to the craft by some of these brothers is simply amazing. Although I feel I make an impact, I ask myself if I can sustain the effort as many of these brothers have.

So I ask, are you a cornerstone ?

ONE LUMP OR TWO

2008-07-04T13:55:00.000-07:00

As we have now reached the point of summer break and I am now preparing my fall Trestle Board I have been reflecting on being Master for a second year. Our lodge has had a progressive line for ten years however last year we had an officer who was unable to continue so we held the top three officers the same and moved everyone else up a chair. This gave me the unique opportunity to serve a second year.

Any one who has ever been Master probably will agree that as much as you plan and anticipate your year as Master nothing can truly prepare you for the task at hand. The year goes by so fast that next thing you know it is over and you say to yourself I wish I had another year knowing what I know now. Well I have had that chance and it has been much more relaxing than my first year. I think I have learned to expect the unexpected in a volunteer organization and to go with the flow better. I know also that there are many Masters that are happy when their year is over, one lump is fine by them

Next year I will move up the street as we say to my affiliate lodge and serve as Master for that lodge, if elected of course. I will face new challenges and hopefully provide steady leadership as they develop their junior officers. Being Master is a privilege and I only hope that I do well by the brethren and I don't mind taking a few lumps for the good of the craft.

ANSWERING THE CALL

2008-06-15T19:04:00.000-07:00

In my last post I recalled how I was asked to join the officer line and how I answered the call. Having not been active in the lodge I knew nothing about lodge function or the ritual, it might as well been my first year in the lodge. Each year in the line I did a little extra, I learned extra ritual parts and eventually the charges as well. Now in my second year as Master I think most brothers would agree that I am a solid ritualist. I can also say that my time in the line has been one of the most positive expriences of my life.

Once again I have been asked to answer the call and under very similar circumstances. After I became active in the officer line of my blue lodge I decided to seek further light by joining the appendent bodies of the Scottish and York Rite as well as the Shrine. Since I have dedicated my time to my work in the blue lodge I have spent very little time in the appendent bodies. The other day I was asked to be appointed Grand Custodian which is the equivelent of DD for the blue lodge in York Rite Chapter. The brother recommending me knew that I had not been active in this body and yet felt that I was the right man for the job, despite my agruements otherwise.....so I accepted. So I laid the first stone upon which to build a new chapter in my masonic journey.

THE FIRST STONE

2008-06-11T17:14:00.000-07:00

I joined the fraternity when I was 21 as the male members of my family were Masons for four generations and it was the thing to do. At 21 I had little interest but still respected the tradition and paid my dues and donated to the various activities of the lodge throughout the years. I came to awards nights for other family members and some dinners but never attended any degrees or regular meetings for my first fifteen years in the fraternity. After one of the awards nights I was asked if I wanted to help out on the fellowcraft team for an MM degree and I agreed. After working on the degree team I started attending once in awhile when I had the chance, Then in the fall of 2000 I was asked if I wanted to be a Steward by the incoming Master. After great personal debate I finally agreed and thus the first stone.

In our lodge it is a progressive line so you spend six years progressing through the chairs until your year as Master. So I became Master in 2007, the first of my family to do so.

MEMORIAL DAY

2008-05-26T16:34:00.000-07:00

Today we marched in the local parade as has been the custom of our lodge for generations. This year we had a nice new banner out in front of us which seemed to make a big difference instead of a bunch of guys marching in suits they actually knew who we were and we received greater applause. We have been fortunate in that we have a nice mix of young and old so we have enough guys willing to march to look respectable. Events like the parade and Saints John Day celebrations are important since they are one of the few times that the public gets to see who the Masons in their community are which may create interest.

This memorial day I'd like to take this time to remember all the brothers of the lodge who were members of our fine lodge for centuries now. My Great Grandfather and Grandfather were members of this lodge as were many of my other relatives, long my their memory live on in the hearts of their fellow brothers.

TURNING THE TIDE

2008-05-06T15:55:00.000-07:00

I recently did an in depth evaluation of the our lodge membership going back 50 years, yes 50 years. As an engineer by trade I tend to want to look at the numbers. What I found was that our lodge had reached its membership high of 327 members back in 1958. Since that time it has been a steady decline of about 50 to 60 members per decade until we reached a low of 127 members in 2005. Yes the 60's, 70's, 80's and 90's were not kind to our lodge.

However in the last three years we have been turning the tide, 2006 we gained 9 new members, 2007 we gained 12 new members the largest single year gain since the 50's and in 2008 we will have gained 9 new members through the first half of the year. If we maintain our current pace this decade should easily be the first decade in fifty years that we have net positive growth. This is my second year as Master and it is my hope to finish my term having 25 new members in my two years.

How...........well momentum is a funny thing, again as an engineer it is all a matter of physics. it takes great energy to turn the tide. If you as Master believe, others will believe, energy is contagious, you can't just "try to make it through your year", you have to embrace it, enjoy it after all you have put in many years to get the East. Set the craft to work, most lodges are old and need maintenance, updating, painting, cleaning, etc this gives the members a chance to work side by side and get to know eachother better. Maintain the programs that work and add to the social atmosphere of the lodge and maintain good ritual practices no body enjoys watching sloppy work.

Remember things don't happen over night but as long as we keep adding one stone at a time....

TRAVEL AND WORK AS SUCH

2008-05-04T17:35:00.000-07:00

Are you a Master Mason...are you able to prove yourself as one and work and travel as such...well this is by far my favorite aspect of the fraternity. I recently had the pleasure of traveling and working at St John's #6 in Norwalk.

I had recently took the time to check out the local lodge in Norwalk where I a few months ago I had taken a new job. Although this lodge was typical of many of the struggling lodges I have seen in my travels I saw some glimmering hope. They were bringing in new candidates, had active Past Masters and a group of non-past Masters were active and did impressive work. They mentioned that they were doing an EA degree the following month and I told them if my schedule allowed I would be happy to attend and it would be my pleasure to do the second section lecture for the degree.

On the night of the degree I found that three brothers from Southington Lodge, Friendship 33 had also came down having meet the acting Master at the Grand Lodge session. Two of the Southington brothers served as Stewards and I helped as a third escourt. The degree went well and everyone had a fun time performing the work, the Southington brothers did an impressive lecture and I am looking forward to visiting their lodge. There was strong fraternal feel to the evening and everyone left feeling good about the work done.

As an officer in two lodges my free travel time is limited and I look forward to the day that I am able to travel and work as such....

THE CHALLENGE OF SOLOMON

2008-04-22T16:24:00.000-07:00

As you progress through the officer line you are beset with many mental challenges along the way. In your first few years the utmost proficiency of the first section lectures torments the mind as you try to keep your cool while all eyes watch for the slightest stumble... As you reach the mid-point of the line you face the rigors of the Middle Chamber an obstacle not for the faint of heart and a dead end to many journeys in lodges where this is a requirement. For this reason many lodges do not require their members to learn this lecture and designate brothers who have mastered it to perform it when required. Right, Wrong, Indifferent, Undecided.....

In the final stations we master the three degrees or do we ? The first stumbling block is an ackward little piece called the letter "G" which again I have seen delegated away. Then the ultimate challenge, one of both endurance and mental toughness, the Challenge of Solomon. Any Master who has conducted both sections of the sublime degree know they are in for a long night. Again for this reason many lodges have one Master do the first section and another Master do the second section. I choose this path my first year as Master, I figured I had enough to deal with learning to run the lodge. So this year as I have had a second opportunity to serve I decided that this was the year to take on this challenge.... So last night I took my seat with a nervousness that I had not experienced since I mastered the Middle Chamber. All in all I was happy with my performance especially knowing that I will have two more opportunities to perform it. With five candidates in waiting, yes five, it was going to be a long one....and it was.

My second reason for taking on this task goes back to first blog "BUILDING A LINE"...since my new lodge has not performed this degree for decades I doubt there are many Masters who took the time to learn it and are also active, someone has to meet the challenge. I have always believed in being part of the solution and not part of the problem. Therefore by learning this part I now can be the cornerstone for the performance of this degree by my new lodge.

Always remembering everything is built one stone at a time.....

REBUILDING THE LINE

2008-04-13T17:10:00.000-07:00

A couple of years ago as I was reaching the end of my journey in the officer line of my home lodge I decided to affiliate with a neighboring lodge. I had found my years in the line to be a positive experience and was not quite ready to sit on the sidelines again. The contrast between the two lodges is pretty dramatic and a lot of the things that I simply took as a norm in my home lodge are not so in my new lodge. Primarily my home lodge has a progressive line which has been working effectively for over ten years now. My new lodge had all Past Masters in the principle officer stations and very little participation by non-officers. Fortunately in my first year as an officer (SD) in my new lodge we raised several good candidates who immediately took an interest in the lodge. Now in my second year as an officer (SW) we now have new members in the line as junior officers and are raising more good candidates.

Recently we began discussing a MM degree, the lodge had not done a MM degree in many years having relied on a local degree team to perform the degree or by outsourcing our candidates to other lodges perming the degree. As the JW was wise to point out we cannot develop an effective line only performing two degrees. But how....the lodge does not have enough participation to conduct a degree with the level involvement necessary. I have always been a firm believer that the needs of the candidates comes first and foremost. Now I find myself trying find a balance between the needs of the candidates and the need to develop new officers effectively.

For years my home lodge has helped my new lodge on their degree nights and that was one of the reasons I affiliated. I think the best plan is to try to perform the MM with the help of the Past Masters and my home lodge. I'll let you know how this works out.........