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Conferring Degrees

Does your Lodge Confer Degrees?

  • No, we have a district degree team

    Votes: 1 1.1%
  • Yes, we confer degrees in house

    Votes: 90 98.9%

  • Total voters
    91

Dow Mathis

Premium Member
And, after the graded degree is over, the CoW member proceeds to critique the degree in the presence of the Brother who otherwise was suppose to have just experienced one of the high points of his life. A degree is supposed to be about the candidate. Graded degrees take that focus away from him and communicate the idea that his experience was of secondary importance to the lodge getting a certificate.

I don't know about that... I was raised at a graded degree. I found the whole explanation of the grading to be very interesting, and the fact that someone was watching to make sure that the brothers got it right was kind of neat as well.

Like most things in life, what you take away from the experience tends to track pretty well with the amount of effort put into it. In my case, the degree team was really focused on putting on a good degree. I think that I benefited from that focus in a way that I may not have had the degree not been graded. Additionally, even though I knew that it would be graded before hand, I had no concept of what the grading would consist of, just like I had no concept of what the degree would consist of. Did the grading color or change the degree experience at all? How should I know... Like growing up, you only do it once, so the question of what would have happened if you could go back and do it another way is purely academic.

In my opinion, the practice of grading degrees helps insure that all lodges do it the same way, or at least as close as is possible to the same way. It can also encourage the degree team to give it their best effort and do a better job of learning and performing the work. I don't think this is a bad thing at all. Of course, this, like all opinions, is worth exactly what you've paid for it. :biggrin:
 

Companion Joe

Premium Member
We confer all our degrees, and to be honest, I'd put our lodge up against any in the state. We confer quite a few degrees, so we get plenty of practice.
Our York Rite College also has a third degree team that travels to confer the MM degree when requested for special occasions.
 

jwhoff

Premium Member
We confer but give visitors first choice of parts when they come. Lately, we have had many visitors at Cypress degrees.

Billy W. Tinsley 1458 does graded degrees every so often. We're doing a graded FC Degree mid-April.
 

otherstar

Registered User
We confer but give visitors first choice of parts when they come. Lately, we have had many visitors at Cypress degrees.

Billy W. Tinsley 1458 does graded degrees every so often. We're doing a graded FC Degree mid-April.

I'd love to go to a graded degree. Brother Ken Spann told me about it, but didn't remember when it was. I also know Brothers Artz (my original teacher), and Randle!
 

jwhoff

Premium Member
I'd love to go to a graded degree. Brother Ken Spann told me about it, but didn't remember when it was. I also know Brothers Artz (my original teacher), and Randle!

WOW! Brother you just named three heavy-hitters from the NW side of Houston. You are truly blessed. Get with Frank, he will know the date certain. It will be a Thursday evening: feed on at 6 p.m. Degree at seven. We'd love to have you. Come up and introduce yourself. I'll be the Big Ugly setting in the Master of Ceremony's post during the degree. Just another no-hair with no place else to go.
 

otherstar

Registered User
WOW! Brother you just named three heavy-hitters from the NW side of Houston. You are truly blessed. Get with Frank, he will know the date certain. It will be a Thursday evening: feed on at 6 p.m. Degree at seven. We'd love to have you. Come up and introduce yourself. I'll be the Big Ugly setting in the Master of Ceremony's post during the degree. Just another no-hair with no place else to go.

I'll see what I can do. I was Entered/Passed/Raised in Oak Forest Lodge. I'm currently a member of Humble Lodge. I'll ask Brother Frank when the degree is.
 
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