MasonicMinute.com

emeraldi42| Freemasonry is NOT a corporation!!!

Posted at: 1:25 am

   The title of this blog should be self-explanatory, but to those who do not know what I’m talking about, let me explain.  There are at least six states (that I know of) that have implemented “programs” to improve the current conditions of the fraternity in one way or another.  Now, there are probably more jurisdictions doing the same type of thing and if they are then reflect on the following sentiments and consider whether or not they are what is really needed.  Now, I do not have any problem with people coming up with new, innovative ideas to improve the fraternity.  The problem I have is when these ideas are based on corporate models, inspired by books of a business nature or implemented in a corporate manner.  There are fundamental problems with trying to take a business approach to our fraternity.  One is that we consider ourselves a non-profit organization, meaning that making money is not our goal.  Okay, fine with me, but how in the world can you apply corporate models (who are out to sell a product, make money and improve capital) to an organization that works completely differently?  I will not read “Jack, Straight From The Gut” and then try to apply Jack’s business models in my lodge.  Also, I was appalled to hear that a Masonic organization in my state hired an advertising firm to critique the fraternity.  WHAT?!!! What were they thinking?!?!  To no surprise I heard that their first recommendation was to get rid of the square and compasses as our prominemt symbol for whatever reasons, but the audacity to hire (pay for) a non-masonic, corporate advertising firm to critique the oldest and largest fraternal organization in the world was distgustng in my opinion.  We don’t need advertisments!  We are not selling a product!   We don’t need to recruit!  We don’t need mission statements!  The phrase “Making Good Men Better” is no different than “Like A Rock” in my opinion.  Come on guys, let’s get a little more creative here.  That is the laziest answer to “what do you guys do?” that I can think of.  I will NEVER say that Freemasonry, this fraternity that I love and live by everyday and will cherish for the rest of my life, is as simple as “Making Good Men Better”.  I read Aedificos’s blog about badges and I loved it.  Badges play into this a little as well.  I personally think that they are tacky and make us look like assistant managers at the local Walgreens.    If you see a man in your lodge that you don’t know, go and talk to them.  How simple is that?  Now, back to business.  If trustee members want to apply investment programs that are the fad of the time, then that’s appropriate.  Trustees need to know how to work with money and stay ahead of the game with investments.  But, as far as the membership goes our concerns should not be presented or addressed in such a manner as they would with Pepsi Co.  This one program was being pitched to me and this Brother had all these bar graphs, charts and statistics regarding membership decline and all this other stuff and I truly had to keep my passions within due bounds after it was done.  I will tell you what I told him.  I do not live Freemasonry by pie charts and bar graphs.  I don’t care about a so-called declining membership nor do I think that it is a problem.  All I can focus on is my duty to my Brethren and those around me.  When I first joined I worked for a bank and the last thing I wanted to do after my days work was to go to the lodge and get fed the same corporate structure building crap that I listened to everyday. 

   So, what is my final summation?  It is this; ask yourself, your lodge, your Grand Lodge, WHAT IS OUR GOAL?  Do we need more money?  Fine, get rid of the whole non-profit thing and stop denying that lodges need to make money on a regualr basis.  Do we need more members?  NO! Enough said about that.  Do we need a higher member retention?  YES! But I think taking retention cues from occupational giants is a mistake because employees have a little thing called “necessity” that lodge members don’t have to deal with.  Do we need a stronger community presence?  Depends on who you ask, but if you want to put yourself out there DO NOT do it in the name of Freemasonry or your lodge, do it in the name of your community and do it because your community needs it, not because your lodge does.

   Now, I am not trying to disrespect any Brother who has suggested a corporate-model program.  I KNOW their hearts are in the right places, but I believe that the only way to improve the conditions of the fraternity as it is now is to first establish a goal (whatever it may be, whether it is retention, community service, education, etc), then look internally to the guys you see every week at the lodge and improve from the inside out.  As any  architect will tell you, superstructures are built from the ground up, not the top down.

LEARN, THINK, AND DON’T STOP.

MasonicMinute.com