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Traditional Observance Lodges

Bloke

Premium Member

Illuminatio

Premium Member
Every time these lodges come up, it's just depressing knowing there are none anywhere even remotely close to me and that I will likely never get to visit one, much less be a part of one. From everything I've heard and read, to me at least, it sounds like the Freemasonry I had envisioned when my interest was initially piqued.
 

Ripcord22A

Site Benefactor
Every time these lodges come up, it's just depressing knowing there are none anywhere even remotely close to me and that I will likely never get to visit one, much less be a part of one. From everything I've heard and read, to me at least, it sounds like the Freemasonry I had envisioned when my interest was initially piqued.
Well, you can do as we did in my lodge in NM, and start making moves to align with the TO movement, and once you meet enough of the tennants apply eith the Masonic Restoration foundation for recognition, takes about 2 years of hard work

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Warrior1256

Site Benefactor
Well, you can do as we did in my lodge in NM, and start making moves to align with the TO movement, and once you meet enough of the tennants apply eith the Masonic Restoration foundation for recognition, takes about 2 years of hard work
Wow! Didn't know that this could be done. Interesting!
 

Illuminatio

Premium Member
Well, you can do as we did in my lodge in NM, and start making moves to align with the TO movement, and once you meet enough of the tennants apply eith the Masonic Restoration foundation for recognition, takes about 2 years of hard work

Sent from my LG-H918 using My Freemasonry mobile app

I don't see anything on their website about meeting enough tenants and applying with them for recognition. It says they simply provide educational support. I assume you just mean recognition in that they list your lodge on their website?
 

Bloke

Premium Member
I don't see anything on their website about meeting enough tenants and applying with them for recognition. It says they simply provide educational support. I assume you just mean recognition in that they list your lodge on their website?

Who cares about a label, you're just looking for a result and the TO framework a tool to get that result. Many freemasons use the MRF as a shopping list, selecting only what they want. I did that in 1 Lodge- high quality (esp food) festive board and excellence in ritual..

One of the tricks when working with conservative members (PMs, but not always) is often tiny undetected but accumulative change. Reform rather than Revolution- but sometimes one is needed over the other, but think which will work best and which you have the power to drive and which the lodge will most benefit from.

Reform rather than revolution also show what they respond to, because despite the rhetoric (including mine) there's lots of flogging dead horses in lodge...
 

Ripcord22A

Site Benefactor
I don't see anything on their website about meeting enough tenants and applying with them for recognition. It says they simply provide educational support. I assume you just mean recognition in that they list your lodge on their website?
Yes..if you look under New Mexico there's only one lodge listed...that's the lodge I belong to.

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chrmc

Registered User
I don't see anything on their website about meeting enough tenants and applying with them for recognition. It says they simply provide educational support. I assume you just mean recognition in that they list your lodge on their website?

The MRF has a bit of an interesting history. When they set up they were trying to act as a clearing house for TO best practices, and also help lodges get "certified." Now as you can imagine, this ruffled the feathers of a number of Grand Lodges and Grand Masters, who believed that the only one any lodge should be responsible towards, is the Grand Lodge. Because of this MRF have backed off on their approach, but I still think they want some information in order to get listed on their site.

Their main focus is really their yearly conference, which is usually quite excellent. Would recommend going if you guys ever get a chance.
 

Illuminatio

Premium Member
The MRF has a bit of an interesting history. When they set up they were trying to act as a clearing house for TO best practices, and also help lodges get "certified." Now as you can imagine, this ruffled the feathers of a number of Grand Lodges and Grand Masters, who believed that the only one any lodge should be responsible towards, is the Grand Lodge. Because of this MRF have backed off on their approach, but I still think they want some information in order to get listed on their site.

Their main focus is really their yearly conference, which is usually quite excellent. Would recommend going if you guys ever get a chance.

Well that makes a bit more sense. I think it's completely understandable that some feathers would get ruffled in that situation, and I don't think they're wrong. Thanks!
 

BullDozer Harrell

Registered User
Every time these lodges come up, it's just depressing knowing there are none anywhere even remotely close to me and that I will likely never get to visit one, much less be a part of one. From everything I've heard and read, to me at least, it sounds like the Freemasonry I had envisioned when my interest was initially piqued.
Well Brother, i'm not aware of your travel budget but maybe you can start to plan a visit to those lodges?

Personally i've found that when i wanted something strong enough, i made a way to fulfill my wish.

If you reach out, you just might find help from a Brother who would facilitate your visit in some measure.

It happens.
 

JJones

Moderator
I don't see anything on their website about meeting enough tenants and applying with them for recognition. It says they simply provide educational support. I assume you just mean recognition in that they list your lodge on their website?

They don't do this anymore, at least not last I heard. The problem they ran into with this is that by requiring lodges to meet certain requirements to gain recognition, the MRF starts to look and sound a lot like a Grand Lodge, which most established Grand Lodges would not be happy about.
 

Ripcord22A

Site Benefactor
They don't do this anymore, at least not last I heard. The problem they ran into with this is that by requiring lodges to meet certain requirements to gain recognition, the MRF starts to look and sound a lot like a Grand Lodge, which most established Grand Lodges would not be happy about.
Just last yr we got recognized

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Bloke

Premium Member
.....Kent Henderson of Australia seemed to be often talked about in this conversation, esp for his lodge at Geelong, Lodge Epicurean.. .. ...

I wrote the above on 15 May and I see Chris H mentioned Bro Kent in Freemasonry for Dummies Blog on 21 May

"Kent Henderson in Australia first noodled some of these ideas in a paper called Back To the Future back in 1992, along the lines of a “European concept," and he and a handful of brethren established Lodge Epicurean 906 there"

See. I dont always talk sh@# :)

http://freemasonsfordummies.blogspot.com.au/2017/05/lodge-vitruvian-at-age-15.html
http://freemasonsfordummies.blogspot.com.au/2017/05/lodge-vitruvian-at-age-15.html
"We agreed to meet quarterly, not monthly. We also informally agreed that we would deliberately not accept more than 36 members, because a man can't truly get to know and care about more than three dozen members or so. "

I didnt know that about Vitruvian, or I'd forgotten it. I'm always saying I a fan of small lodges.. largely because of the reason quoted above..

"Perhaps that is the most satisfying aspect of what Vitruvian's example has accomplished in these 15 official years in Indiana. Maybe we haven't turned the whole U.S. Masonic culture on its ear or solved every issue. But we are influencing the leaders of tomorrow to go home and make their own lodges the very best they can be, along whatever path that leads them. By doing so, a rising tide raises all boats - or lodges, as the case may be. And that is a success our little lodge has hopefully been a contributor to."

As I say, evolution not revolution.. but the sort of thinking these lodges and groups like the MRF inspire a lot of Brothers to work at making their lodges places men want to be and bring their friends too.

Happy Belated B'day Vitruvian.
 
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