2 be 1 ask 1

This has been on my mind for a while now. I was taught and thought the tradition was always ask one to be one. When did it become okay to go recruiting people? I feel some lodges have lost the meaning of certain things that deal with masonry ...its quality not quantity ..plz share your thoughts about this brothers or if you have even witness it.

I don't necessarily believe lodges are outright recruiting new members. But in this day and age with membership dipping and aging brothers, something needs to be done to attract new, youthful members. Now, with that being said, lodges obviously can't run around town recruiting but there should be a certain degree of public interaction to make it known to the community that there is an active masonic lodge in town. After all, that is what the petitioning and investigation process is for. Of course, this is just a matter of my opinion.
Fraternally, Bro. Damon

K.S. said:

Now, with that being said, lodges obviously can't run around town recruiting but there should be a certain degree of public interaction to make it known to the community that there is an active masonic lodge in town.

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This is what I'm big on. If people know we exist, we'll get petitioners. Unfortunately, many of us haven't left the lodge building for anything in ages.

Yes i def agree on building interest, and slight reforming to adapt to the present time but done through community service, fund raising, etc. I feel it still begins within the heart. Interest meeting and things of that sort are out if the question. A man should feel honored to be apart of such a great organization. But thats just my thoughts. I believe we all agree that through our service to our communities we should be able to attract good man who are looking to become better man.

We have fundraisers, forums and are visible at local events. I agree that we need to be more visible many times even our neighbors don't know we are masons.

I think visibility is a big key to things. I can speak of my experience when I first came to the Lodge. I didn't really know where the Lodge in my town was. I am not saying this was their fault but more of my own. Our Lodge is involved in our community in places that I did not realize until I was able to be a part of the Lodge. Currently we are sponsoring 2 FFA programs for area schools both monetarily and through personel. We have a great group of Shriners that the community always sees in every local parade. We do several types of fundraisers throught the year including bean dinners,fish frys, and BBQs. We try to be active in the community but we do not advertise in such a way that it could be called self promotion. So far this has been good for us. We have lost 4 Brothers this year that have travelled to the Great Lodge above yet our membership has increased by a net of 5 Brothers and we are now sitting at 170 members. Not bad for a town of 25,000 people. We try to hold to the idea of 2 be 1 ask 1. There is no active recruitment or advertising done on our part yet we still see a fairly steady flow of petitions. We have a few Brothers that are super guys and know ritual inside and out and we are looked to by other Lodges in the area for help with degrees. I think that says a lot for us. I feel that if Masonry in general can get over the idea that large numbers are better and realize that it is truly a matter of quality we will see the numbers come back.

Completely agree.

It is important Masonry is sought out, recruiting is prohibited anywhere here in the US. A bustling lodge is important as well but is meaningless in the end if the laborers are not working on their temple. Lodges come and go but the Mason and what he does is what matters most. If people want to "know" they will find us, that I have the utmost of faith in.

brothers, I would like to chime in on this: my name is matt elam, and I am a fellow craft from the al e. Orton #628 lodge in dawson springs, kentucky. I spoke 22 members of this lodge during a raffle they put on for a gas grill. when I asked what it was for, I was subsequently invited to a cookout the next week at the lodge. once I arrive I discovered many people live been friends with for years that were very like minded, community oriented, an upstanding men. naturally, that aroused my interest, and I begin to make my inquiries . some of my questions were answered, and some I was told I would have to wait for if I decided to petition. 2 other current fellow craft brothers and myself, begin our journey that day. I mentioned this to say that man of the particular masonic barrett m frame of mind will naturally seek one another's company. granted, I am not a master mason yet, it seems to me that this is the way to build a solid brotherhood both within the lodge and as a free mason. the rituals see more meaningful since it was my choice to be there, and I would wager that my fellow brothers, in particular our worshipful master and senior warden wood wholeheartedly agree. in some of our meetings in fact, the age of most of our brotherhood in general is discussed in the prior to my 2 brothers and I submitting our petitions and studying 4 our lectures, power lodges youngest member is in his 50s. my second thoughts on this is, if today's youth were as strong or as faithful as the youth from previous generations this might actually be a non issue. I still have a long way to go, but that is just my opinion.