With a new Grand Master come changes in GLof PA

I attended our District Board of Governors meeting last night (District officers and the WM, SW & JW from each lodge in the district.) Our DDGM went over the changes being put in place by our new Right Worshipful Grand Master, S. Eugene Harritt.

There are quite a few things going away and quite a few new things but the major highlights of interest are:

No more State Wide One Day Classes - ANY one day classes now required special dispensation from the GM, and the candidate(s) must take the Oath & Obligation on an altar with a VSM in the proper position (no more watching one person do it.) One Day classes will be a rare event.

Each Stated Meeting must contain a segment with Masonic education, instruction or a Masonic topic.

Each lodge must have two Stated Meeting a year as an EA lodge, in our District all of the District Visitations will be EA lodges and the second is at the WMs discretion, but PM night is recommended.

What used to be called "Warden's School" is now Officer Education and Mentorship training. This is mandatory for JW, SW and the head of the Lodge Mentorship program.

A program on Leadership Development is being added for WM and any other interested parties. This will be non-masonic, as in it will be applicable both in the Lodge and in the public life of the attendee.

There was a bunch of other stuff, but the above are the biggest changes / most interesting.

Wow! Interesting stuff. I think I like these changes. I think having an EA lodge twice a year will be nice.


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I'm glad to see one day classes going by the wayside. And mandatory Masonic education/discussion is amazing! While on the one hand, it's sad that it has to be a requirement, I wish every GL would do something similar.

Sounds good!

Since I’m a veteran, I tend to like folks who attend to tradition, discipline and their oaths. So I can’t say I disagree with anything this fellow is suggesting. Sounds good to me!


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Is the upcoming line on board with holding to these changes?

Our ODC went away in 2013 and the upcoming wardens were all on the same page

Darn GMs. Always changing things. (wink)

Brother_Steve said:

Is the upcoming line on board with holding to these changes?

Our ODC went away in 2013 and the upcoming wardens were all on the same page

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The DDGM said that the next 3 Officers in the line, DGM, GSW & GJW are all in agreement to continue these initiatives and they are all working on a strategic plan for continuity and growth. The new line in our Blue Lodge have started the same initiative. We are working on a 5 year plan for the Lodge. Currently the 3 elected officers in the line have started the plan for "our 3 years" and once we have that we will pull in the SD & JD and add to it to make the plan reach out to 5 years, with provisions for change as we see programs and initiatives develop.

Sounds like a solid plan with everyone on board.

There were a couple other things I remembered from the meeting that the new GM is instituting.

There will no longer be a "discount" on initiation fees for Military veterans and active duty.

The Grand Lodge will now do a criminal background check on all petitioners.

The "points" system for first line signers, where you accumulate points for being a first line signer and choose gifts based on the "points" you earn is eliminated.

All of this, combined with the elimination of the State Wide one day classes is intentionally designed to make it more difficult to become a Mason in PA. I think of it as more closely guarding the West Gate.

Keith C said:

The Grand Lodge will now do a criminal background check on all petitioners.

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I especially like this.

Keith C said:

There were a couple other things I remembered from the meeting that the new GM is instituting.

There will no longer be a "discount" on initiation fees for Military veterans and active duty.

The Grand Lodge will now do a criminal background check on all petitioners.

The "points" system for first line signers, where you accumulate points for being a first line signer and choose gifts based on the "points" you earn is eliminated.

All of this, combined with the elimination of the State Wide one day classes is intentionally designed to make it more difficult to become a Mason in PA. I think of it as more closely guarding the West Gate.

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I think all of this is very good news. Particularly that first line signer thing. I had never heard of that and I'm glad to see they're getting rid of it. That is just rife with the potential for conflicts of interest.

Keith C said:

The DDGM said that the next 3 Officers in the line, DGM, GSW & GJW are all in agreement to continue these initiatives and they are all working on a strategic plan for continuity and growth. The new line in our Blue Lodge have started the same initiative. We are working on a 5 year plan for the Lodge. Currently the 3 elected officers in the line have started the plan for "our 3 years" and once we have that we will pull in the SD & JD and add to it to make the plan reach out to 5 years, with provisions for change as we see programs and initiatives develop.

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We've actually been doing the same thing and it promotes a cohesive line as well. This is year three out of five so far.

Keith C said:

The "points" system for first line signers, where you accumulate points for being a first line signer and choose gifts based on the "points" you earn is eliminated.

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I remember PA leading the way on "Friend to Friend" which opened the discussion of invitations that still continues. Thanks to "Friend to Friend" GLofPA was the first state to reverse the trend of membership decline. I hope that continues. Most in your list are in place in other states. It's good to see GLs cooperating.

My mother lodge pays an endowed membership for 10 first line signings, 20 other signings or a combination. It's the only sort of points I've heard of and it was copied from an appendent body. But only if the money is available - Many years the life membership trust fund earns good interest so there's enough to buy a Brother an endowment. In recent years interest rates are too low for that.

Keith C said:

There were a couple other things I remembered from the meeting that the new GM is instituting.

There will no longer be a "discount" on initiation fees for Military veterans and active duty.

The Grand Lodge will now do a criminal background check on all petitioners.

The "points" system for first line signers, where you accumulate points for being a first line signer and choose gifts based on the "points" you earn is eliminated.

All of this, combined with the elimination of the State Wide one day classes is intentionally designed to make it more difficult to become a Mason in PA. I think of it as more closely guarding the West Gate.

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I find that interesting. We have in our Lodge by-laws that all members that are active military are forgiven Lodge dues. I think they must pick up their assessment though. Is there a reason for discontinuing the discount outside of the obvious?

Keith C said:

The DDGM said that the next 3 Officers in the line, DGM, GSW & GJW are all in agreement to continue these initiatives and they are all working on a strategic plan for continuity and growth.

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This makes me happy, as these are words you unfortunately hear far to rarely in Masonry. We see so often that it's a new initiative with every new GM. I'm a huge believer in 3 year plans and having continuity between the officers in the line. This is the way that business and most other organizations run, so it would be surprising if it wouldn't work for us as well.

Brother_Steve said:

I find that interesting. We have in our Lodge by-laws that all members that are active military are forgiven Lodge dues. I think they must pick up their assessment though. Is there a reason for discontinuing the discount outside of the obvious?

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I really don't know, there was no specific reason for this in the GMs communication that was published in the Freemasons magazine for this month, and the DDGM did not give a specific reason for this, only included it with the list of other things that were "going away."

Keith C said:

The Grand Lodge will now do a criminal background check on all petitioners.

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We tried to implement this at the 2017 Grand Lodge session. The membership voted it down. I still don't understand why.

Brother_Steve said:

I find that interesting. We have in our Lodge by-laws that all members that are active military are forgiven Lodge dues. I think they must pick up their assessment though. Is there a reason for discontinuing the discount outside of the obvious?

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I can see forgiving dues for military while they're on deployment, because they've got more important things to be concerned about. But (and this comes from someone who did 22 years between active duty and reserves) I'd be opposed to a blanket waiver. It should be case by case. Depending on rank, many military members make a better living than other members of the lodge who don't get a waiver.

Brother_Steve said:

I find that interesting. We have in our Lodge by-laws that all members that are active military are forgiven Lodge dues. I think they must pick up their assessment though. Is there a reason for discontinuing the discount outside of the obvious?

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Same here. My lodge in NM just charges out of state dues to military. My lodge in ORs dues are only 50$ so no need for a discount.....but I too wonder what his reasoning is?


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Here in San Diego, waiving dues for military would in essence bankrupt almost every lodge. To the best of my knowledge, PA doesn't have a significant military presence. Am I correct on that?