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Kind of a Roll Call- 4 questions

Txmason32

Registered User
Most at 65 are normally endowed ... too bad they voted down raising endowment to 1000. My sr and shrine endowments are more than lodge and it should be the other way

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Txmason32

Registered User
I would think most sec. Would be more than happy to learn new stuff ... that's what the fraternity is about any ways

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dfreybur

Premium Member
I've only been a mason for about ten years but I've found that all petitioners my age were really surprised by how cheap the craft is.

Twenty years ago when I was raised they handed me my dues bill as a part of the usual presentations after a raising. My response was "This is per month, right?" The dues situation has been low for a long enough time even the elderly guys laughed at my expectations. For all I know it was that many silver dollars back when dollar coins were approximately an ounce of silver (1964) and had been dropping close to inflation ever since.

If you can afford the annual dues monthly I suggest you do exactly that. In many jurisdictions that offer life/endowed memberships it costs 22 times dues or less. That's 24 monthly payments including the dues in advance for the first and second years. Here's the fun part - You're used to paying that much so petition the next order and do it there, too.
 

Txmason32

Registered User
In Texas the endowment is only 500 ... funny when I was raised they said the dues were 45 and I too thought that was per month lol in 2002

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JJones

Moderator
There's a local lodge that's over 90% endowed members. A few decades ago a well meaning (and apparantly wealthy) brother bought endowments for everyone and, as a result, the lodge has no income from dues and has to rely completely on fund raising to get by.

I think part of the problem is that many brothers think an endowed membership equals a lifetime membership. Texas doesn't actually offer lifetime memberships if I understand correctly, endowments were intended to be more of a long term investment in your lodge than a means to avoid paying dues.

Keep in mind that endowments don't have to be kept at 500, especially if they prove detrimental to your lodges financial health. We raised ours to 1k last year.
 

tomoso

Registered User
I remember reading an article in the Illinois Freemasonry magazine several years ago that said that dues were originally set at about one month's wages with the rationale that it should be enough to be important to you. Traveling abroad has taught me that the cost of membership is much higher, even in lower income countries.
 

Brandon Smith

Registered User
Our dues are $120. I believe that to be on the low side. Think about it, thats only $10 a month. Most people pay over $100 for their cable bill
 

Txmason32

Registered User
Brother Jones didn't they try to raise endowment from 500 to 1k at Grand lodge and it was voted down

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JJones

Moderator
Brother Jones didn't they try to raise endowment from 500 to 1k at Grand lodge and it was voted down

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I believe so. GL sets minimums but they don't usually set maximums (as far as I know). If passed it would have raised the minimum cost for endowments to 1k but, as you know, it didn't pass for whatever reason. A lodge can still raise it, the cost just has to be in certain increments (I think increments of 100 but I don't have a law book handy right now).
 

Companion Joe

Premium Member
I salute everyone on their apparent ability to pay. As nixxon2000 said, you have to consider your local market. Here, $100+ dues would be very high. Just thinking of our officers alone, three are retired, and three are young and under employed. It would be tough on them. It's not as much a matter of what you think Masonry is "worth" as much it is you can't spend what you don't have. Of course it is a Masonic virtue to help your brother, and we regularly vote to commute the dues of elderly brothers' who are in bad physical and financial shape. But if half of the members are regularly paying twice the dues because others can't, that goes beyond helping, aiding, and assisting.

As for how much dues cost way back when compared to now, yes they were considerably more expensive. I call your attention to the fact that at the time, Freemasonry was quite elitist - and I suspect that in a number of other countries it still is. As great as our founding fathers were, they were mostly wealthy/upper crust. It is said that Freemasonry is the only place where a prince and a pauper can meet on the level. Well, I suspect that wasn't really the case up until the post WWII boom. Do we want Freemasonry to be elitist going forward by pricing it beyond working people?

It's easy to say "if it's worth it to you, you'll find a way" when you have money. That's the song of politicians born into wealthy families as they pass laws impacting Americans, whose shoes they've never walked in. Can I and would I pay more, yes, thankfully. I am blessed with a good job, and so is my wife. I just remember being young and struggling. That's why I will do a lifetime membership for as many bodies as possible sooner rather than later so I don't have to worry about it when I retire. I had a Past Grand Illustrious Master tell me that exact thing the other day, how glad he was that he did lifetime memberships, or it would be tough on him now paying all his dues in his 70s.

Our lifetime memberships are 20x whatever your dues+per capita tax is. My Chapter and Council lifetime memberships were $600 for both. When I do my Lodge lifetime membership this year, it will be about $1300; then I won't have to worry about it. About 10 years ago, the the same Past Grand Illustrious Master advised me to do a lifetime membership then. I would have loved to, but there was no way I had what then would have been about $1100 to spend. It would be paying for itself by now. It didn't matter how much I wanted to do it, or how I thought is was worth, that was dang near what I brought home in a month.
 

Brother JC

Moderating Staff
Staff Member
I'm on my way to discuss the term "elitist" with my lodge right now. The fact that we require a petition, an investigation, and a unanimous ballot makes us, by at least one definition, elitist. (Not trying to hijack the thread...)
 

Txmason32

Registered User
I don't see anything elitist about any of this . It's called keeping the doors open and doing more than carrying a card . The folks in the 20s and 30s weren't the founding fathers and paid much more because it was important to them . We were important to them because they wanted to leave us their great fraternity . What's funny is most of the people griping will spend way more on a hobby or coffee or TV . I admit it's hard to see the value because most people don't attend lodge because they get nothing from it and they don't quit because it's cheap and nothing they miss . The younger guys demit because value isn't built and they get tired of some guy yelling about the word being that instead of the lol .... elitist no ... selective yes ... sorry even in the old days they did not let everyone in like they do now . Secretive no private yes .... even IBM won't let you in a board meeting but it's not secret or elitist . But hey what we are doing has been working great ....

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JJones

Moderator
I agree that it isn't elitism. I also don't think elite is a dirty word, heck, if we were elite then we wouldn't have to worry about membership would we? We could have our pick of good men. :)
 

Brother JC

Moderating Staff
Staff Member
Going to answer the original questions for Paideia 852 only:
Q1- What is the initiation fee? $250.00
Q2- What is the dues for your lodge? $336.10
Q3- How many members do you have at a stated or call meeting vs. total membership? 50-75% of the membership, plus a regular selection of visitors.
Q4- What kinds of meetings do you have? i.e. 2 stated or 1 stated & family night etc. Three meetings; School of Perfection, Stated Communication, and Lodge of Instruction followed by Agape.
 

dfreybur

Premium Member
I'm on my way to discuss the term "elitist" with my lodge right now. The fact that we require a petition, an investigation, and a unanimous ballot makes us, by at least one definition, elitist. (Not trying to hijack the thread...)

We also keep lists of famous Masons.

We teach personal excellence and "we make good men better". How could we possibly be anything other than elitist?

There are many conundrums for how Masonry works. This is one of them - We are openly and blatantly elitist yet we lead the world in teaching the equality of all men. Is this like a Zen koan where you can meditate on it for years with no answer? I don't think so. I think our lessons about equality and about excellence are about what any one person CAN do. I think our elitism is about what any one person ACTUALLY does. We hold each other to to high standards. Most reach them. Some exceed them dramatically.

{For the Tao to prevail in the Empire, the Emperor must encourage personal excellence} - paraphrase from the Tao Te Ching

Masonry leads us to this principle. Masons aren't horses. We all drink some at least during our degrees. Some drink more than others of the font of excellence.
 
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