Michaelstedman81
Premium Member
I have noticed something in my smaller lodge here in Burnet, and wanted to know if the same thing is going on elsewhere. Lately, there has been sort of a "surge" of new younger Mason's petitioning at our lodge. Now, some of you in the larger lodges may think of a surge as being like 15-20 guys petitioning at one time, or even more. But in the past couple of months our small lodge has began receiving more petitions from more and more young men interested in joining. We have initiated three, there have been another five that have petitioned, and this isn't including any of the older men that have petitioned and the older men that have been accepted in the same amount of time.
By younger, I am mean men that are around my age and younger. Basically, from 18-35 is the range I am talking about here. Like I said, that number may seem pretty small to other lodges, but it has kept our little lodge busy as heck. I mean, we are starting to get pretty thin on instructor availability and we still havent initiated all of them yet...lol I don't want, and won't, take credit for any of this, but this started out with a couple of close buddys of mine that I helped bring into our Fraternity. The rest can be linked somewhere down the line.
Anyway, I know the very nature of a surge is to come and go, but I'm hoping that this is something that we can ride for a good while. I really like to see new men walking through the door and asking about joining, but I really love it when I see another man my age entering our gates. This next Masonic year, I am supposed to be going into the South. Even though my duties as JW are other things, I want to be able to do what I can to make sure that we keep this interest going. And by that, I am meaning I want to keep these young Brothers interested in coming regularly and helping out. I want to keep the interest going for the uninitiated.
So, this post basically has two questions to it. First, is anyone else experiencing this same thing in their lodge? The second, does anyone have any ideas or thoughts on how to keep the interest going of these younger Brothers coming in, and keeping the interest going for those that want to join? I know what keeps me interested in Masonry and I use that whenever I am talking to the newer and younger Brothers and those that express interest in joining, but I know that there has got to be some other Brothers out there that have some other likes that they share with with these guys. Lol, I mean wouldn't it be pretty doggone awesome if we were on the beggining steps of another one of those time periods where all these good men flocked to join our ranks? (haha I know, just dreaming)
By younger, I am mean men that are around my age and younger. Basically, from 18-35 is the range I am talking about here. Like I said, that number may seem pretty small to other lodges, but it has kept our little lodge busy as heck. I mean, we are starting to get pretty thin on instructor availability and we still havent initiated all of them yet...lol I don't want, and won't, take credit for any of this, but this started out with a couple of close buddys of mine that I helped bring into our Fraternity. The rest can be linked somewhere down the line.
Anyway, I know the very nature of a surge is to come and go, but I'm hoping that this is something that we can ride for a good while. I really like to see new men walking through the door and asking about joining, but I really love it when I see another man my age entering our gates. This next Masonic year, I am supposed to be going into the South. Even though my duties as JW are other things, I want to be able to do what I can to make sure that we keep this interest going. And by that, I am meaning I want to keep these young Brothers interested in coming regularly and helping out. I want to keep the interest going for the uninitiated.
So, this post basically has two questions to it. First, is anyone else experiencing this same thing in their lodge? The second, does anyone have any ideas or thoughts on how to keep the interest going of these younger Brothers coming in, and keeping the interest going for those that want to join? I know what keeps me interested in Masonry and I use that whenever I am talking to the newer and younger Brothers and those that express interest in joining, but I know that there has got to be some other Brothers out there that have some other likes that they share with with these guys. Lol, I mean wouldn't it be pretty doggone awesome if we were on the beggining steps of another one of those time periods where all these good men flocked to join our ranks? (haha I know, just dreaming)