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Candidates/Brothers degrees

jermy Bell

Registered User
We will rent out our dining room and kitchen for functions, but no one is allowed upstairs into the lodge room. Unless it's a open house kind of thing.
 

Schuetz

Registered User
When I first went to my future Lodge, they showed me the Lodge room. When my wife joined me for the dinners, they gave her the tour, too.

Q. E. L. Schuetz, M.M.
Shekinah Lodge No. 241 • IL
Murphysboro Lodge No. 498 • IL
 

Brother JC

Moderating Staff
Staff Member
My Mother Lodge loves showing off their rooms. And Grand Lodges like New York and Pennsylvania have tours showing all the elaborate and elegant lodge rooms.
It's just a room until the Three Great Lights are set.
 

Bloke

Premium Member
Another question i had was, when visitors arrive, are they allowed to enter the lodge room? And im not talking about during stated meetings, i mean before the worshpful calls to begin the meeting. Ive been to a lodge in South America, Colombia to be exact, and if you weren’t a brother you were not allowed to enter.
It will vary place to place.
We show non-Freemasons our lodge rooms - indeed I have facilitated over 1,000 people seeing ours.
As to Freemasons at a Lodge Meeting , our local custom is you should either officially enter as a visitor after the Lodge is opened or ask leave of the WM to enter before the Lodge opens and see that proportion of the work.
 

Castro81

Registered User
Yea, same here. The lodge will rent out the kitchen, dining area from time to time. And my lodge will leave the doors open before a stated meeting for non-mason to enter. I just personally feel that the lodge room should stay closed to non-masons. It feels to me that American Masonry has become very lax. Aside from PHA, because ive heard they can be very strict, only thing is they tend to be overly Christiany, from what ive been told.
 

Mark Stockdale

Premium Member
When visiting a lodge here, I can just turn up, but would expect to be tested when the WSW is asked if he is satisfied that all present are Freemasons. If I turn up in the company of other brethren who are known in the lodge, then they may vouch for me, but otherwise I would be tested. Thankfully within my own province, I am known by quite a few brethren. If I intend to visit a new lodge I will make contact to let them know I intend to visit, especially outwith my province.

I have sent emails to the secretaries of the 2 lodges I would like to visit whilst in Washington DC in May, (I have permission from the grand Lodges concerned), but have yet to hear back from the secretaries.
 

CLewey44

Registered User
When visiting a lodge here, I can just turn up, but would expect to be tested when the WSW is asked if he is satisfied that all present are Freemasons. If I turn up in the company of other brethren who are known in the lodge, then they may vouch for me, but otherwise I would be tested. Thankfully within my own province, I am known by quite a few brethren. If I intend to visit a new lodge I will make contact to let them know I intend to visit, especially outwith my province.

I have sent emails to the secretaries of the 2 lodges I would like to visit whilst in Washington DC in May, (I have permission from the grand Lodges concerned), but have yet to hear back from the secretaries.
I like the WSW haha. I've never seen that used but is even more discreet.
 

Mark Stockdale

Premium Member
I like the WSW haha. I've never seen that used but is even more discreet.

If there are enough visitors he is unsure of, he may very well delegate the job of testing to the Deacons, I've been given advanced warning that this may be what happens during our upcoming MMM degree.
 

Winter

Premium Member
Sadly, my own jurisdiction has revived the practice of ODC. And while I prefer not to discuss what goes on within a tyled lodge, I have seen the practice of either an exemplar taking the Ob. while the rest of the "class" remains in their seats or multiple candidates kneeling around the altar. Either way, these practices are reprehensible as they destroy the personal initiatic experience.

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk
 

Warrior1256

Site Benefactor
Sadly, my own jurisdiction has revived the practice of ODC. And while I prefer not to discuss what goes on within a tyled lodge, I have seen the practice of either an exemplar taking the Ob. while the rest of the "class" remains in their seats or multiple candidates kneeling around the altar. Either way, these practices are reprehensible as they destroy the personal initiatic experience.
Agreed. I am certainly no fan of ODC.
 

Mark Stockdale

Premium Member
Thankfully, the only degree I have been involved in with multiple candidates was my MMM degree, (our 4th Degree, as we do EA, FC then MM) thankfully I was the longest serving MM going though at the time, so I was the candidate that walked the degree whilst the other 3 sat at the side and watched.
 
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Castro81

Registered User
Its sad really and pisses me off. It feels like American Masonry has become more of a money thing. The more candidates that come in the more money the lodge gets. Quantity over Quality. Whats happen to freemasonry? From what ive gathered, from how it used to be in the past. Freemasonry went from the brothers asking you to join if you were deemed worthy, too anybody can join you just have to ask to be one.
 

Winter

Premium Member
Its sad really and pisses me off. It feels like American Masonry has become more of a money thing. The more candidates that come in the more money the lodge gets. Quantity over Quality. Whats happen to freemasonry?

Like most anything in Freemasonry the answer is more complicated than that. The push for increased membership usually stems from a need to sustain buildings built when membership numbers were much higher and dues were a proportionally higher portion of the member's income. Coupled with the erroneous belief that membership numbers today should try to return to the artificially high numbers after the world wars and you have a push to increase membership which usually translates to lower standards as a result. So while it does usually come down to money, it is not the whole truth.

From what ive gathered, from how it used to be in the past. Freemasonry went from the brothers asking you to join if you were deemed worthy, too anybody can join you just have to ask to be one.

I think you have it backwards. One of the primary tenets of Freemasonry has always been that a petitioner should knock on the outer door with being asked. It is mostly in recent times we see more active recruitment campaigns where it has become not only acceptable to ask men to join to put a petition in their hand and steer them towards the decision.
 

CLewey44

Registered User
I don't like multiple candidates/brothers on any degree.
At the very least, it takes away chances to stay familiarized with the degrees for our officers so they can present proper ritual and at the most it takes away a great experience from the men receiving the degrees.
 

Warrior1256

Site Benefactor
Agreed. I am certainly no fan of ODC.
I think that I need to clarify this statement. I do not agree with one day classes for the Blue Lodge because of the memorization required. However, I don't have a problem with the one or two day classes for the Scottish Rite or York Rite which are the norm in my area although I went through the York Rite over a period of months.
 

Bloke

Premium Member
Don't think it matters anyway. Most after completing the 3rd degree never comes back.
Seriously ? I think one of my lodges has a retention problem. I tracked out EAs over 10 years, and our retention is just under 60% to the Craft...

If I was in a lodge which saw men get their MM and not come back - I would be delaying their MM degree, and tasking the whole lodge to welcome and mentor and socialise with every man who was not yet a MM...
 
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