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Why do people leave/ become inactive?

Aeelorty

Registered User
I think the group you're looking for meets in the park at dusk. The meetings end when the ring leader's mom picks everyone up and drops them off at home. :)

sweet homie now i can get what i always wanted from masonry, that is an excuse for why i am so pale. Now no one can make fun of me!
 

Brother_Steve

Premium Member
Some may watch shows on the History Channel and feel that being a Freemason is cryptic in some way and that you will be shown the underbelly of society.

I watched a three hour Youtube documentary "Freemasons Revealed" and some of the claims by anti masons are ... wow.

Now, who knows what goes on in individual lodges? Freemasonry in and of itself is innocent. It is the man or men that shape it to their will and doing whether overtly or subversively.

Once one discovers that the water and utility bills are of top priority, they might become disenchanted.

The best thing for a lodge is education officers and contacts to get outside speakers in.

Our WM likes to take our lodge to travel to other lodges in our district to maintain contacts for that very purpose. I have yet to do this as I was raised the last night before going dark but look forward to a travel night.
 

Aeelorty

Registered User
Freemasonry is cryptic and pretending it is not is detrimental to the craft. If freemasonry is not cryptic then there is little value in it.
 

Brother_Steve

Premium Member
Freemasonry is cryptic and pretending it is not is detrimental to the craft. If freemasonry is not cryptic then there is little value in it.
I agree it is cryptic but I think it is cryptic in its own right and not the way it is portrayed by sensationalistic shows.
 

cemab4y

Premium Member
There are many reasons why men join the Craft, and then drop out. I find it interesting (but sad) that more men leave due to resignations, demits, and suspension for non-payment of dues, than leave due to death. See http://www.freemasoninformation.com/2009/06/there’s-a-hole-in-our-bucket/

Dues are cheap, (in most cases) dues have not kept up with inflation. My lodge charges $85 per year, which in inflation-adjusted dollars, is less than what it was in 1930. Lodges often have fund-raisers to meet their expenses. So there is no reason to blame costs for men dropping out.

I believe that if a man does not get "value" for the money and time that he invests in Freemasonry, he will leave. If a man finds his masonic experience valuable, and he derives enjoyment from Masonry, he will be coming back.
 

Aeelorty

Registered User
I think it is a mix of feeling out of place, disappointment and other obligations. Any multifaceted problem needs a multifaceted solution.
 

Brian Morton

Registered User
I was led to believe that I'd receive my share of the templar treasure every lodge has in their hidden basement after I became a MM. :1:

Still waiting on that check...

On a more serious note though, there is a wide range of reasons for people to go inactive but I personally feel the biggest reason is the disappointment from each lodge not living up to the expectations of the new brother...I know that's why I went inactive for a few years after being raised. Many people join expecting something marvelous but end up with something that appears mundane on the surface...poor ritual, a wide open west gate, and fish fries are part of the culprit.

I concur, in the words of Ben and Jerry "if it's not fun why do it?"

Freemason Connect HD
 

coachn

Coach John S. Nagy
Premium Member
Was just wondering about the question in the topic.

Do people go through the degrees until MM and maybe even side degrees and get the teachings like someone who goes to university and learn the things, and then leave because they have now learned the main "basics" of what can be learned at lodge level, or what would the general reasons be?


Freemason Connect HD

Aside from participating in ritual and hanging out with good men, there are no functional educational aspects to the Lodge that actually make good men better. Many do not come back because they come to find that they are expected to run the gym and keep the equipment maintained rather than get the Workouts and education that they signed up for.
 

Kaseman

Registered User
I believe in many thing for the reason. I have heard air of them. Getting into position brothers help learning the teaching or lack there of. My concern in my area you here a lot about the work our Shriner brothers do in the area but never the blue lodge. My understanding is out lodges are suppose to very active in our community and I just don't see that happening. Making connection with other brother to help. It's even harder for me now because my lodge is on hour away from where I live son there is no involvement for me. I have high aspiration on why I would like to do in masonry but I am concern. That's when money becomes an issue when I can't justify in me what I am getting back is worth it. I hope to transfer lodges and be reenergized. I want to finish my journey an reach my original goal in the York rite and Scottish rite so brother pray for me as I struggle in my journey.
 

jwhoff

Premium Member
Should one look to the lodge to keep him devoted to masonry he is barking up the wrong tree. Masonry is best learned in those quiet, introspective times when you stand face-to-face with yourself and the GOATU. I have taken to teaching other members of my lodge to do the degree parts and be active participants while I lend them encouragement from the sideline. This will keep them involved for a period of time. And, hopefully that extra time will bring a few to the discovery of masonry. Even that is not assured to keep them active. Sad as it may be, I am a believer that there may just be too many men in masonry. Maybe it should be a smaller group and a tighter nit organization. Yes, I think we should have special evenings where we talk, discuss, and offer masonry to those brothers most interested who do not, for whatever reason, search for themselves. AND there are those magic moments that come around three or four times a year (IF YOU BELONG TO AN EXCEPTIONAL LODGE) when masonry pops up like a bright sunny day. For these I live and for these I never fail to be in a lodge room somewhere at least twice a week. Yes, my wife will tell you those two-a-weeks are rare. She'd rather dwell on those as frequent four-night weeks. She thinks I am a lodge room junkie! :eek:hmy:
 

widows son

Premium Member
I think most people leave the lodge is because of lack of Masonic education. Our fraternity is founded on ancient principles and philosophies that have in some way shape or form, existed from time immemorial. Our ritual is of a great importance to our Craft and within it contains these teachings. To disregard this and make it as one brother put it "Rotary with a ritual" then the very reason for the ritual is not needed. Giving to charity and helping the community comes with living the life of a Master Mason, but is not the sole focus for his reason to be a Master Mason.

We need to educate our new brothers so they can perpetuate the Craft into the future, and to do so without diverging from the time honored standards that has been maintained since its inception. The ancient philosophies and principles that are within our ritual are what legitimize our Craft, and without education on those teachings we only serve to dilute its existence.

I know too many Masons that would much rather fly through a meeting, not have any education, just to go and have some refreshment. This bothers me as a young Mason. I did not become a Mason to find another venue to have drinks and eat mediocre food, when I have plenty of friend to do that with already. I really do enjoy the fellowship with my brothers and enjoy having drinks and eating mediocre food with them, but it seems that everything else is emphasized except the education.

I try to do my part by bringing in some work, but is usually someone else's work, however I am working in my writing skills and am trying to produce something of my own. I think if I didn't have a previous background knowledge of Freemasonry prior to joining, I would have left by now. But my love for what Masonry is, or at least what I think it is, has kept me from leaving.
 

dfreybur

Premium Member
I think most people leave the lodge is because of lack of Masonic education. Our fraternity is founded on ancient principles and philosophies that have in some way shape or form, existed from time immemorial....

Some lodges have tried education and were successful. Other lodges have tried it with no success. The only pattern I see is the amount of direct personal mentoring has an effect of attendance.

Many men seem to join so they can be a part of our history. I'm okay with cashing their dues checks. many men join because it is required so they can join an appendent body. I'm okay with cashing their checks.

I joined for the civic activities. There are some of those. I kept coming back for the fellowship. Men with highly social jobs don't need that.
 

widows son

Premium Member
"Some lodges have tried education and were successful. Other lodges have tried it with no success. The only pattern I see is the amount of direct personal mentoring has an effect of attendance."

• I couldn't agree more. I think both mentoring and education are two side of the same coin, and when one side lacks so will the other. If an experienced and knowledgable Mason is not willing to imparting his knowledge for the good of the order, what drive will he have to mentor the newly made Masons? It just seems like a waste if all this experienced is gained and its not put to good use. Masonic knowledge is only good when other Masons learn from it.

"Many men seem to join so they can be a part of our history. I'm okay with cashing their dues checks. many men join because it is required so they can join an appendent body. I'm okay with cashing their checks."

• the problem is if those are the only reasons why someone wants to join. It is hard to know just what the end result of being in the fraternity is if you are not a Mason, but I think there is enough info out there to suggest that it's not just a fork and knife club.
 

dfreybur

Premium Member
We need to educate our new brothers so they can perpetuate the Craft into the future, and to do so without diverging from the time honored standards that has been maintained since its inception. The ancient philosophies and principles that are within our ritual are what legitimize our Craft, and without education on those teachings we only serve to dilute its existence.

To me this sounds like "More masonry in men".

I know too many Masons that would much rather fly through a meeting, not have any education, just to go and have some refreshment. This bothers me as a young Mason. I did not become a Mason to find another venue to have drinks and eat mediocre food, when I have plenty of friend to do that with already. I really do enjoy the fellowship with my brothers and enjoy having drinks and eating mediocre food with them, but it seems that everything else is emphasized except the education.

To me this sounds like "More men in Masonry".

When discussing "More Masonry in men" versus "More men in Masonry" we really do need both. It's like discussing if the purpose of a lodge is to make more Masons. Of course that's the purpose of a lodge. Without that we're the last generation of Masons. But the expression of "making Masons" means something more than the degrees.

When we were a candidate our purpose was more men in Masonry, ourselves. When we were an EA and FC our purpose was more Masonry in men, ourselves. Remember that the date of our Master Mason degree is called our "Masonic birthday". Our journey goes from our life leading up to becoming a MM to our life living as a MM. We reboot into a new spiritual life and the whole question starts over. We learn about masonry, more Masonry in men. We offer petitions, more men in Masonry. We go through the line and/or the degree team and our duty is to move the lodge into the future, more men in Masonry. We mentor new brothers, more Masonry in men. And all the while we live our lives out in the mundane world acting with more Masonry in ourselves hopefully with the side effect that someone will petition because they have observed our example and wish to be among men like us.

So why do men lose interest? Maybe because some lodges or Masons don't do that. Maybe because some lodges or Masons *do* do that but in ways that aren't visible on the surface so it doesn't get noticed. And without noticing what's going on they lose interest. Although smooth waters run deep smooth waters aren't interesting.
 

bjdeverell

Premium Member
I'm with most of you in my belief that it's the lack of education. The catechism is nice but let's face it; you aren't learning Masonry, you're learning the Degrees. My downfall is that my Lodge is in a town of about 500, so most of our Brothers are old and don't see any need in teaching beyond the catechism. Also, in such a small town, all the young men move away as soon as they graduate high school and never look back so there isn't really anyone remotely in my age group of which I can identify on a personal level. These are the main problems I think that are hurting Lodges everywhere. Lack of education and willingness of youth to join because all they see are old guys. It's a vicious cycle. It's kinda like how I am towards Religion. I love Masonry (the Faith) but not really into Lodge (the Church) because it can be a lot of unnecessary politics and the older members aren't willing to listen to any/all of the ideas coming from the younger Brethren. Lodge opened a door for me and gave me a good foundation of knowledge and understanding but almost all of my Masonic knowledge has come from countless hours of private study over the last 5 years.
 

Michael Hatley

Premium Member
I was (mostly) kidding with the vampire/werewolf thing, of course :24:


My real take on the whole thing - well. First of all, a small number of men get rode hard and put up wet. Just is what it is. Those fellas are the ones who are capable and willing to not just do work, but to take ownership of issues. In my experience, just like everywhere else, those men get put into positions of responsibility, a lot - because they are doers. If they join an appendant body or two, they get put to work there too. If they join a masonic discussion group or some kind of masonic thing, they get looked to for answers.

Its just gravity at work and has a lot less to do with being smart, or a "natural leader" or any of that kind of stuff. Its just that this is a very large volunteer organization with many branches and arms, and doers are in high demand in every part of it. And since it takes one to know one, when you are yourself looking to staff a project, you spot other doers and put them to work the same way. So it is a cycle - and those doers get burned out. Masonry becomes like a second job.

And for fellas who understand what I'm saying, thats not so much a Masonry thing - its a life thing. You get that no matter what you turn your hand to until you learn to say no to things and to let some stuff be ran slipshod so you can focus your time, you just can't do it all.

Personally, the education bit - sure, I think that minutes spent not wrangling over what brand of stapler to buy or what kind of seasoning to put on the fish for the fundraiser is good stuff. But the truth is that I've seen men who clamored over having education nod off within five minutes of a good program. So I think it is in theory good, but it isn't a panacea, not really. Its just a necessary component.

And back to my original tongue in cheek bit, I do think that a lot of younger folks are coming in and looking for - if not the Illuminati, magic, and so forth - then at least a certain level of mystery and adventure. What they find is work, and work that seems a lot more like maintenance than shared self improvement if you catch my drift.

Thats a lot to do with the fact that what they envision, in my opinion, is European style Masonry, and what they get is American style Masonry. The sort of Masonry that exploded in popularity after WWII, and has since lost so many members over the last several decades that it is rare to find a truly healthy lodge anymore. So what you have, instead of one healthy lodge with 40 men at a stated meeting, you have four little lodges each with 10 men at their stated meetings - all within a short drive from one another. Because we had lots of men, practicing a far more informal Freemasonry than in the past, with full lodge buildings on every other street corner.

What we as men in our 20s, 30s, and 40s have is a few men, practicing far more informal Freemasonry than in centuries past, with mostly empty lodge buildings on every other street corner - each struggling to hold on to said lodge building.

In my opinion 3 out of 4 lodges could combine with other lodges, harken back to the formal days of centuries past, and retention rates would improve in a big way. Why? Because you wouldn't have to feel as if you had to spend your Masonic time pulling your hair out to fill the chairs in a degree, or to pay the bills so that you weren't the SOB that lost your lodge's building.
 

jwhoff

Premium Member
Agreed Brother Mike. Another thing I'm beginning to notice is that the "bang for your buck" is not being rewarded for the "working class" of masonry. One busts one's butt to get a man through and the man disappears into that unknown oblivion. All the hopes of coming back and teaching a little masonry collapses. Year after year and experience after experience of the same tends to dull one's enthusiasm. Everyone has a responsibility. Too few are fulfilling those responsibilities. Again, oft-times I consider the West Gate ajar.
 

Mac

Moderator
Premium Member
Is it that the west gate is open? Or is the bigger issue the fact that sometimes the gate keeper doesn't know what he's guarding?


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JJones

Moderator
Is it that the west gate is open? Or is the bigger issue the fact that sometimes the gate keeper doesn't know what he's guarding?


Sent via mobile app (Freemason Connect HD)

I'd put forth that both are culprits but if we, as the gate keepers of our lodges, took more pride in what we're guarding then I don't think the west gate would be open quite so wide.
 
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