My Freemasonry | Freemason Information and Discussion Forum

Register a free account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!

Life Membership for outgoing Masters

dbindel

Registered User
Brethren,

Under Grand Lodge of Texas law, is it appropriate to award a Life Membership to each Master of a lodge upon completing his term?

I seem to recall reading that Life Membership was intended for truly exceptional service and was not intended to become something commonplace (this may have been opinion or something from another jurisdiction - I cannot recall the source.)

I searched through my lodge's copy of the law book and could not find this guideline, but I believe our copy might not be 100% up-to-date.

Can anyone clarify this point with references to the law?

Thanks,
David
 
Last edited:

Beathard

Premium Member
I will look when I get home, but it is uncommon to give life memberships out on a regular basis. If some of the lodges I belonged to gave them out to PMs, everyone in the lodge would have multiple life memberships.
 

Bill Lins

Moderating Staff
Staff Member
dbindel asked "Under Grand Lodge of Texas law, is it appropriate to award a Life Membership to each Master of a lodge upon completing his term?"

No.

Art. 315. Life Membership.
A Lodge may grant only one life membership in any one Masonic year and only for distinguished service rendered to the Lodge; and one additional life membership during any consecutive Masonic three-year period and only for long and distinguished service.....

As you can see, a Lodge may not issue life memberships every year. If a Lodge wishes to honor its Past Masters, it may vote to purchase endowed memberships in the Brethren's names.
 

Beathard

Premium Member
Differences between life and endowed:
- Life is free (except for certificates)
- Life doesn't cost the lodge per capita each year
- Life pays no returns since there is no investment
- Endowed costs a minimum of $500
- Endowed members cost the lodge a per capita fee each year ($14.25 this year, $25 next year)
- Endowed memberships are supposed to pay a return each year (recently they have not)

Did I miss anything?
 

Bill Lins

Moderating Staff
Staff Member
Differences between life and endowed:

- Life doesn't cost the lodge per capita each year

Not so. Again from Art. 315: "Life members are exempt from paying dues to the Lodge; but the Lodge is not exempt from paying to the Grand Lodge its per capita contributions on account of its life members."
 

Bro. Stewart P.M.

Lead Moderator Emeritus
Staff Member
dbindel asked "Under Grand Lodge of Texas law, is it appropriate to award a Life Membership to each Master of a lodge upon completing his term?"

No.

Art. 315. Life Membership.
A Lodge may grant only one life membership in any one Masonic year and only for distinguished service rendered to the Lodge; and one additional life membership during any consecutive Masonic three-year period and only for long and distinguished service.....

As you can see, a Lodge may not issue life memberships every year. If a Lodge wishes to honor its Past Masters, it may vote to purchase endowed memberships in the Brethren's names.

We vote each year to purchase an Endowed Membership for the outgoing Master at the end of his year.
 

Beathard

Premium Member
Bill_Lins77488 said:
Not so. Again from Art. 315: "Life members are exempt from paying dues to the Lodge; but the Lodge is not exempt from paying to the Grand Lodge its per capita contributions on account of its life members."

Oops, it was late at night. I confused it with art. 316 which says 50 year members don't pay per diem. Good catch Bill. Sorry for the misstated info.
 

dbindel

Registered User
Art. 315. Life Membership.
A Lodge may grant only one life membership in any one Masonic year and only for distinguished service rendered to the Lodge; and one additional life membership during any consecutive Masonic three-year period and only for long and distinguished service.....

As you can see, a Lodge may not issue life memberships every year.

It sounds like a Lodge may issue at least one life membership each year, and a possible second (in one year) on a triennial schedule.
 

dbindel

Registered User
Oops... I misread the law. Here's my take on it now, illustrated by example:

Year - Life Membership Awarded?
2000 - Awarded
2001 - Awarded
2002 - Can't Award (2 awards in a 3-year window have already been made)
...

Thanks for the clarification Bro. Bill!
 

Timothy Fleischer

Registered User
My two cents for this discussion is this:
Why would a lodge want to either spend the money for an Endowed Membership ($500) or issue a Life Membership to its Past Masters. The title Past Master is more than sufficient honor, in my opinion, than either of these two. The privilege of being a Worshipful Master is one that should be highly regarded. A Worshipful Master should be humbled by the vote of his brethren to sit in the East.

Now, I am from a small lodge in which many of our members have sat in the East more than once (including myself), so the issuing of a Life Membership or and Endowed Membership each year would have very detrimental effects on the lodge bank accounts.

However, I still feel that the honor of having been elected as Worshipful Master, which means much more than being elected President of any other social or service group, is so great that no further honor is required of the brothers.
 

Ashlar

Registered User
Though I am not a Texas Mason , if this was brought up on the floor of my lodge to award outgoing Masters a life or endowed membership , I would be very vocal in voting it down and I am a PM and now sitting Master . As Timothy stated , in the long run it would be detrimental to the lodge . As the price of utilities , insurance etc etc grows , that would mean less income going into the lodge's coffers to cover it's expenses and every dollar counts . And I would hope that a Past Master , with the economy the way it is , would turn it down if their Lodge/GL had this option and support their lodges . We have 50 year members in my lodge who have received their gold cards (life memberships) from the Grand Lodge who still faithfully pay their dues every year .
 

Bill Lins

Moderating Staff
Staff Member
The title Past Master is more than sufficient honor, in my opinion, than either of these two. The privilege of being a Worshipful Master is one that should be highly regarded. A Worshipful Master should be humbled by the vote of his brethren to sit in the East....
<snip> the honor of having been elected as Worshipful Master <snip> is so great that no further honor is required of the brothers.

I agree entirely. Save the honor of an endowed or life membership for those who have truly gone far "above & beyond".
 

Bill Lins

Moderating Staff
Staff Member
Isn't that what the Golden Trowel is for?

It should be but so many Lodges have decided to give GT's out every year that the honor has been devalued. If it was only given out for exceptional service to the Lodge and the community, as intended, it would mean much more.
 

Timothy Fleischer

Registered User
I agree Brother. When we hand out the Golden Trowel on an annual basis, we devalue it completely. A Lodge can have a Mason of the Year if it wants to give out awards on an annual basis.
 

owls84

Moderator
Premium Member
It sounds like a Lodge may issue at least one life membership each year, and a possible second (in one year) on a triennial schedule.

I am thinking this is the way it is to be done. You can do one each year but only one additional one every 3 year period.
 
Top