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Worship Attendance, Off or From?

JamesMichael

Premium Member
Question: since you became a mason, has your attendance at weekly worship service (church, synagogue, temple) varied?

If so, has it increased or become less frequent?

If less frequent or not at all, why do you think this happened?

If more, why do you think that happened?

Curious to hear from brothers around the country/world on your experience.

I will add my answer: No change, once per week on Sunday morning.

UPDATE: Brothers, please note that I am not inferring any right, wrong or best answer. My question stems from my personal research on the relationship between religion and Freemasonry. I personally value my private worship above any public worship experience. In fact I have worked as a clergyman for over 14 years and have actually a slight disdain for organized religion but also have not thrown out the baby with the bathwater. My research is actually to hopefully show that Freemasonry for some men has become a steadying force in his faith. I added this update and maybe should have explained more on the original post. Here my out, I ask with no judgments attached. Just looking for personal experiences either direction. Thank you for your honesty.
 
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Sammcd

Premium Member
My Church attendance has stayed the same ( twice a week ). Masonry is not a substitute for my religion. My lodge and my church are a block away from one another and share a parking lot.
 

dfreybur

Premium Member
My attendance not changed at all but my eagerness to look deeper into the bible had increased.

My attendance raises and falls over the years.

The benefit of Masonry "Stiffen the back and soften the heart" has lead me to more of something the words work poorly for. Individual contact with the divine plus decreased interest in organizational topics. Paradoxically this has led me to want to be of more service to the organization and thus more volunteering for the organization with at the same time less interest in the outcome of any doctrinal discussions or hierarchical changes. I'd like to say I'm more devote but less doctrinal but neither of those words quite match the "stiffen the back and soften the heart" description.
 

Bill Rose

Premium Member
Due to my work schedule, I don't get to attend church often... I do enjoy sitting down in my recliner with my Bible several nights a week, after the wife and our daughter are asleep... This helps me unwind from the long days of work
 

BroBook

Premium Member
My answer is kind of off, I was irregularly I.,P&R at 25 in 1984, publicly confessed my faith in Jesus as the Christ at 33 in 1992 at St. John's Day event and was baptized a week later, at the church where the event took place, started going to church regularly at 44 and refuse to miss any services almost and my present pastor is the son of the pastor/mason that baptized me back then different church. Healing in progress!!!
 

JamesMichael

Premium Member
Thanks for the comments, keep them coming. Interesting to read about the varying experiences.

Try to keep on topic by referring to ATTENDANCE at weekly or Regular PUBLIC worship.
 
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JohnnyFlotsam

Premium Member
Thanks for the comments, keep them coming. Interesting to read about the varying experiences.

Try to keep on topic by referring to ATTENDANCE at weekly worship.

Then why limit the discussion to those sects that confine their formal worship to once a week?
 

JamesMichael

Premium Member
Sorry. I mean to inquire about the frequency of attending a formal worship service only and nothing more. I totally understand the concept of private worship. However there is an argument by some fundamental religious groups that Freemasonry pulls men away from public worship activities. I only hope to find evidence of the contrary.

Sent From My Freemasonry Pro App
 

crono782

Premium Member
I suppose that depends on the day(s) the formal worship service is on. I know that my lodge does not conduct any type of work or business on Sundays for such a reason.
I would say that men who are easily swayed away from their normal worship services would be just as easily swayed by any other activity such as sports, reading, writing, exercising, etc. Masonry is just often used as a convenient scape-goat IMO.
 

crono782

Premium Member
The reason I do not believe watching sports, PTA, Netflix, TV series, vacations, working overtime, etc are ever blamed is because it is really hard to condemn something when everyone is guilty of it including the condemner. Couple the fact that not everybody is a mason with the surplus of misinformation and it becomes a easy target to lay blame on. That's just how I've viewed it.

For my own part, I attend a public formal worship service once weekly and a small study group as time allows and twice weekly devotionals with my wife at home. Prior to masonry, we attended once weekly and the off study group, but I rarely prepared devotionals for us. Masonry has increased my want to actually study, digest, and discuss my religion.
 

JamesMichael

Premium Member
"The reason I do not believe watching sports, PTA, Netflix, TV series, vacations, working overtime, etc are ever blamed is because it is really hard to condemn something when everyone is guilty of it including the condemner."

In addition, those listed have not condemned Freemasonry. While certain sects of the church have.

Thanks for response.
 

Perry

Registered User
After joining Masonry and studying the mysteries, organized religion no longer satisfies my soul, now attend meditation groups.


Sent From My Freemasonry Pro App
 

Devyn

Registered User
My form of worship most often takes place out-of-doors and on an inexact schedule, but since my initiation I've become more interested in the worship styles of others. Every now and then, I may attend a service from one of various denominations just to enjoy the experience.

Sent From My Freemasonry Pro App
 

dfreybur

Premium Member
However there is an argument by some fundamental religious groups that Freemasonry pulls men away from public worship activities. I only hope to find evidence of the contrary.

I figure if we Masons draw the ire of fundies and their complaints happen to be accurate in some way other than "even a broken clock is right twice a day" then I am proud that we are living up to our principles. There are certain groups I would rather dislike us than like us and I have no interest in apologies. Those groups are the fundies and tyrants.

As to public worship my groups tend to be so small we can all gather in a living room so we tend to cycle locations among our members. When your group is too small to own a facility the line between public and private is blurred. We meet in homes because of funding reasons not for privacy reasons.
 

JohnnyFlotsam

Premium Member
Sorry. I mean to inquire about the frequency of attending a formal worship service only and nothing more. I totally understand the concept of private worship. However there is an argument by some fundamental religious groups that Freemasonry pulls men away from public worship activities. I only hope to find evidence of the contrary.
Fair enough, and anything that pokes the anti's is a worthy pursuit. :30:

Like Brother Perry, I found early on that the lesson of the 24 inch gauge compelled me to seek something more meaningful than "once a week on Sunday". So in that, the anti's are right, though I would defend as the more devout any Brother who diligently uses that tool (24 inch gauge).
 
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