California answers.
1. Total number of members in your Grand Jurisdiction - Are the numbers up or down? (As compared to 10 years ago)
Down. 53136 end of 2013, 50781 end of 2014. The 2015 report is not yet out and I don't keep older reports.
2. On the whole, do you feel the lodges in your jurisdiction are prospering or declining?
Some lodges in each situation. Individual lodges move back and forth between the two situations. My mother lodge has been through 2 up and down cycles in my 20 years of membership when counting the number of degrees confirmed, though the total membership continues to decline because of the giant boom that ended about 1960.
3. What are the causes of this prosperity, or decline?
Number of activities each year has a large influence but local economy has also been a large driver.
4. Which segments of the population/professions constitute the membership in your area?
I don't know how to answer this as the data on profession only appears in petitions and is not tracked in any database.
5. What is the average age now found among the members? Is the age average now changed (up or down) as compared to the past?
69.31 right now for my mother lodge. There is no report that I could find for past or for the entire jurisdiction. I think average age is falling becasue so many elderly brothers from the boom are dying.
6. What is the average membership size of yourLodges?
550 per lodge
7. What percentage of the membership is usually present at the lodge meetings?
Under 10% as usual for American lodges
8. How often do members meet, in lodge or socially, each month?
Monthly family dinner 12 times. Other social and fund raising events 12 times.
Lodge opens at least for practice every Tuesday except the night of the family dinner.
9. Do your lodges meet in the summer months?
Yes. No skipped meetings.
10. With the exception of members who can not attend the meetings, due to illness or distance, what remedies or sanctions are enforced against the defaulting members (e.g. complaint, summons to appear and to justify their absence, expulsion or other ....); how common are these cases?
No sanctions. During the meeting we welcome back any member not a regular for positive reinforcement.
11. Are the temple’s building generally the property of the lodge, co-owned with other lodges, or rented from others (commercial enterprise)?
The temple corporation is a stock company with many owners. Pasadena Lodge holds well over 90% of the stock but we have never been able to gather all shares. Some shares were sold to individuals during the construction fundraising and some of those individuals have no known estate.
12. Are the membership fees sufficient to pay for the maintenance of the Temple, or are some of the Temple facilities rented to the public, to balance income and expenses?
No. A large fraction of the income comes from trust fund proceeds and the profit from building rentals. The life membership fund does not see even interest withdrawals. The combination of building rental profits and trust fund proceeds puts our lodge far above the majority of lodges for income.
13. What is the average cost of admission (Initiation), and the annual fees (proportionally to the the average daily earning from employment in your country)? Are there additional fees charged for each degree?
I'm a life member so I send them checks but I don't pay attention to current fees.
14. What are the most common reasons today in your Grand Jurisdiction that entice a petitioner to join a Lodge?
High opinion of the order.
15. Must the Petitioner be known to one or more members of the Lodge?
In theory yes. In practice if you pull out a petition pens start pointing at you immediately.
16. What investigations about the Applicant for membership are conducted by the lodge after receiving an application for membership – how thorough are these investigations?
California requires character witnesses. They are called by telephone. The committee visits the home of every candidate before the ballot.
Candidates sign permission forms for background checks. Background checks are not required by GL and few lodges conduct them.
17. Is it usual for an Applicant to be rejected - What are usually the reasons for rejection?
Unusual to reject a candidate. It is forbidden to ask why a cube is dropped. No reason is ever announced in the rare cases that the committee's recommendation is a no.
18. How does an Apprentice qualify for the next level; and the Fellow-craft for the Master's degree? How long does it take for these qualification as a rule?
There is a memorized proficiency to be delivered in tiled lodge between EA and FC, between FC and MM. Often this is down before the next degree.
There is a memorized proficiency after the MM degree but it is only required to hold an elected office in a lodge. In California all lodges elect JW. SW, SE, TR, WM and appoint all other officers.
19. Is a Candidate required to present in lodge one or more Papers (Lectures) to qualify for the next level?
No.
20. Are apprentices permitted to speak in Lodge?
Speak yes. Vote no.
21. Is the belief in a “Creator” an indispensable condition for the admission of an applicant?
No. Only belief in the existence of a supreme being.
22. Are any believers of other (not mainstream) faiths excluded from membership?
No. The religious diversity in California is vast.
23. Is the belief that the Scriptures (of any religion) constitute the will of God - a determining factor for the approval of an applicant?
No. Not consistent with religious diversity.
24.
Universality. - for example: Would a just, righteous and reputable North American Indian (true believer in its traditional spirituality) be admitted in a lodge of your Grand Jurisdiction? - such an Indian having no Bible or equivalent Holy Scriptures, but his spirituality and his faithfulness is represented by the Eagle Feather, holding which he swears and feels bound by it. You will find the reasons for this strange question here:
http://www.freemasonryresearchforumqsa.com/the-eagle-feather.php
As I posted elsewhere if he wants to bring his own VSL it would have to be a book. The book would have to be approved by vote of the lodge members at the initiation. The GL publishes a list of pre-approved VSLs of numerous well known faiths. Some lodge members might prefer the book be vetted by members of Lodge of Research. I know that a book on Scientology has been declined by local vote at one point. Putting a feather into the book would not be an issue.
25. Besides the Bible, what other holy writings are permitted to be displayed on the altar of the Lodges in your Grand Jurisdiction?
§402.060. ALTERNATE HOLY WRITINGS
...
A.
If the candidate does not wish to be obligated on the Holy Bible, he must select an
alternate Holy Writings in book form from a list promulgated from time to time by the
Grand Master of the Holy Writings of those recognized religions whose theology is
notinconsistent with a belief in a Supreme Being and a future existence. The Grand Master’s
list shall at all times include the al-Kitab al-Aqdas of Bahaism, the Tripitaka of
Buddhism, the Analects of Confucianism, the Vedas of Hinduism, the Koran of Islam,
the Tanach of Judaism, the Koji-ki of Shintoism, the Adi Granth of Sikhism, the Tao-te
Ching of Taoism and the Zend Avesta of Zoroastrianism. In selecting an alternate Holy
Writings, the candidate must state that the book chosen is the Holy Writings of his
religious faith;
...
E.
When an alternate Holy Writings is used during a degree, a closed Holy Bible of any size
must be on the altar; and
...
I note this list is not exhaustive as it provides a means to add VSLs. The current list has not changed since it was passed back in the late 1990s.
26. Except for the conferral of degrees (Rituals), what other activities are usually undertaken by the lodge?
Social events. Charity fund raisers. District meetings don't always teach ritual. Regional conferences generally don't include rituals.
27. What public activities for the benefit of the community do the lodges carry on?
Some volunteer events like painting a school. Blood drives at the district level.
28. What is the perception of Freemasonry by the general public in your area? (City, State, Province or Country)
Very high in California.
29. Does the assertion: “Masonry is not only the most ancient, but the
most moral human institution that ever existed” still sounds true to your members?
I've never heard the expression before so the word "still" makes no sense. Masonry has never tried to compete with other orders.
30. Does this assertion sound true to the general (profane) public in your area?
I have no idea.
31. Is any activity of the lodge made public in the media?
Our charity fund raising events are listed in the local newspaper. Rental events at our building are often listed in the local building.
32. Do lodges advertise in their website or in the media, to entice new candidates to join the lodge? (To join Freemasonry.)
The GLofCA has a published PR program with camera ready artwork. No lodge I know of has ever used the material.
33. After a Brother has completed his term as Master of the Lodge, does he keep his W. Bro. title, or is addressed simply as Brother?
Worshipful. It is very common for a PM to wear his own PM apron from then on.
34. How common is the resignation of a brother? What are usually the reasons for resigning?
Rare. I have seen brothers go to appendent bodies and never attend again but I don't think that's what you mean.
Because California does multiple and plural memberships it is not common to demit to other lodges.
35. Is there any other information about the present practice of Masonry in your Grand Jurisdiction that would render this study more complete and useful?
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For further information on this Study, feel free to contact me: Bro. Vincent Lombardo – P.M. Quinte St. Alban’s Lodge No. 620 G.R.C., Thornhill, Ontario, Canada, +1 905 - 731-0504
vince.lombardo.to@gmail.com