This is a little lesson that I put in our monthly news letter, and used it as a Masonic education presentation erly last year... It's taken directly from a presentation at Shriners International's 3rd Marketing & Membership conference last February...
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THE MAGIC PILL OF MEMBERSHIP
Long, long ago, a study was conducted….
What was everyone looking for in their life??
Answer:
To be happy.
They wanted:
-- Fellowship
-- Friends
-- Role with the family
--Role with the community
--Chance to be a leader.
Today…
--Masonic membership has been declining since 1950.
-- Shriners membership has been declining since 1979.
Loneliness among men has been increasing. Today, 20% of men have
no close friends – not one!
Who really cares if men are lonely?
Because, we are all social creatures… The closer your relationships are, the better your life will be.
What difference does it really make if men have friends or not? With friends, everything goes better.
--You’ll live a longer life (>30%)
-- You’ll have fewer illnesses
-- Friendship triggers positive, mood-enhancing chemicals in your brain
-- You’ll be less stressed
-- Lower blood pressure
-- More resilient
--More optimistic
--More likely to have a healthier weight
Is your temple (or lodge) lodge in motion, or at rest?
What happens when your core membership declines to a point when you can hardly do the things you want to do?
If men are so lonely, why don’t they just make new ones?
-- Frankly, men stink at building social relationships. How long is the average phone call for a man?
-- Men struggle to maintain current friends, much less make new ones.
-- Worries about daily life and requirements
-- “I just don’t have time to socialize.”
-- Increased turn to alcohol or drugs
-- Isolation: working from home,
Reliance on Social Media
-- Isolation: TV/cell phone addiction
Start doing things at the Lodge or Temple that build/strengthen relationships. Social excursions with the brothers & families; game playing, golfing, fishing, hiking, biking, etc. Time spent doing something in your club, group, or lodge. Good example, the old Laurel & Hardy movie, “
Sons of the Desert”. You can be a fool if you want – you are among friends!
We can make new friends!
Calculate, and budget some time to spend with a friend.
“I am XX years old… I have about 20 years left. How do I want to spend the time I have left?” Spend it with friends!!
In 2019, the average American spent 11 hours EACH DAY involved in “media” – either broadcast or social – 70-80 hours a week. What part of your remaining hours does this comprise?
FOCUS ON BUILDING/MAINTAINING FRIENDSHIP
The “Magic Pill” is FRIENDSHIP.
Are there any side effects – Unintended consequences?
Freemasonry, and the Shrine are places where we meet friends and deal with people on a person-to-person, face-to-face basis. You can’t join on-line, or sign up to a Facebook group.
Our members (Shrine, Scottish Rite, and other appendant bodies) come from Blue lodges. We ae fishing in a very small pond.
If you want to pick an ear of corn, where do you go? You go to a cornfield – where corn grows. Same principle works here, you go to a corn field if you want to pick an ear of corn. You go to a blue lodge if you want to make a Shriner.
DON’T WAIT -- YOU CAN’T WAIT FOR THAT EAR OF CORN TO COME TO YOU.
MAKE MEMBERSHIP MORE THAN JUST A CONFERENCE THAT YOU ATTEND NOW AND THEN.
-- Ask questions – be curious.
-- Put time in with people.
-- Find common ground with people.
-- Check in with people.
-- Sing your heart out… The old club of Chanters was probably the best relationship-building group ever.
-- Make your lodge or temple a place where men can find friends, make relationships, and end loneliness.
-- Open your doors!
May Peace be with you....