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Country and City Lodges

Ashlar

Registered User
I was reading a thread on another forum concerning this topic and I think it is an interesting topic . Now I do not want to turn this into a country VS city lodges , but more on the lines of the differences you have seen .

I am a dual member of both a country and city lodge so I have the opportunity to have the good and bad of both worlds .

In my country lodge (and in other country lodges I have visited) I have found that they have more regular , active members . These members are a tighter knit group because they grown up and/or lived around one another most all of their lives . The Country lodge as a smaller pool of members so they have the opportunity to know each other well .

In my city lodge I have found that they work an older ritual (the original ritual my GL used when they were formed) , they actually dress in suits and tuxes (Master's call) , they seem to take the philosophical aspect of Freemasonry more serious . They are out in the eye of the public more often . They have a more diverse membership of plumbers , welders , stock boys etc; etc; who sit beside lawyers , judges , doctors , businessmen , college professors etc; etc; . We have more young 20 something Masons . We have a far larger bank account .


Now to the pitfalls of each of my lodges (now remember this is my lodges so these are my experiences) ...

In my country lodge , as I stated above , the members have known each other most of their lives so it is hard for an outsider to truly fit in .

In my city lodge , there are too many members on the rolls (a few hundred) . We are far too large to get to know each and every brother well . We are spread out all over the city and there is only a handful of brethren who are actually close , most we only know in passing . (I am not a numbers Mason , I do not worry about membership numbers and actually believe the dropping membership numbers is the Fraternity righting itself and getting back on an even keel)
 
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HKTidwell

Premium Member
I consider my lodge a country lodge, we meet in blue jeans and polo's for the most part. This year the officers are all wearing identical long sleeve button shirts with the lodge name and officer name embroidered and blue jeans. I suspect over the next few years some of the officers will increase what the principle officers wear to the point of a suit. Having said that I like the aspect of blue jeans for the brothers because it allows us to not be rushed when going from work to lodge or perhaps even miss lodge. At the same time Lodge should be a place where respect of the craft is revered. It is a fine line.

The education/philosophical aspect of a city lodge I want to bring to the country lodge. All it takes is one brother bringing up items to make another brother ask questions. Each of us can affect our lodge in a positive manner depending on how we do things. If we go about it with a hammer fist(non-masonic) mentality it will never change. You start small and gradually increase it till one day people look around and are amazed at how things have improved. Sometimes these changes only take place because of another who uses a hammer-fist mentality and everybody wakes up to the fact we need changes.

Each of us can change tomorrow, but will we change it for the better?
 

Ashlar

Registered User
The education/philosophical aspect of a city lodge I want to bring to the country lodge. All it takes is one brother bringing up items to make another brother ask questions. ?

Edit : never mind . All I will say is I tried to get to that one brother and hit a wall . And I know other lodges in the same boat , full of the "our way or no way" crowd . If you do get to that one brother who is interested he is shutdown just as quick as the man trying to introduce the education/philosophy .

I know how to go about bringing change to a lodge as this is far from my first rodeo . But when you try things that an entire lodge of active members is dead set against , you will hit a brick wall .
 
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Dhahranswa

Registered User
I agree it is an interesting topic. I have sat in lodges all around the world and no 2 are alike. I have worn black suites, bow tie and white gloves to lodge and I have worn jeans. No lodge should shun you for how you are dressed. Each lodge has the personality of its members and I have never been to a lodge where an outsider wasn’t welcome. I guess you can say I attend a country lodge and some would say I am an outsider. I don’t drive a Texas Cadillac, I didn’t grow up in Wilson County but I was welcomed with open arms. Country or city lodges?? Doesn’t matter as long as you attend. Change is slow and change comes from within, by attending.
:SNC:
 
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