My Freemasonry | Freemason Information and Discussion Forum

Register a free account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!

Assistance with Organization

Joseph_OConnor

Registered User
Good Afternoon Brothers,

I don't post a ton on in MoT, but I do read them quite a bit. Over the last year or so I it has been an invaluable resource in my own personal journey towards the Light because someone, somewhere, has had the same questions as I have and fortunately for me, they have posted them to this great group of brethren. I would like to post a request for aid, if you all can give me some opinion/ideas.

I am a young M.M. and was raised in January 2012. I love the craft and very much enjoy the brethren here in my local community in Fairbanks, AK. There are a couple of issues that I would like to help fix up here if I can, and from reading these forums, they seem to be quite common: Attendance and Communication. I was reading an article by Bro. Blake Bodwen, "The Definitive Guide On Improving Lodge Attendance" and there is a TON of great suggestions here. While I personally cannot take them all on, one of the ideas in the guide that immediately posed some real opportunity was the idea of a news letter.

We have three lodges in a fairly small area, Tanana No. 3, Fairbanks No. 12, and North Pole No 16, all filled with some really great folks. Although we all same the same work from the Grand Lodge of Alaska, they are definitely different when it comes to culture and environment (not in a bad way, just different). As you all notice in your own lodges, there is a variety of personalities, from all walks of life, experiences, talents, and all valuable members of the Masonic community. There also exists the various appending bodies (Shrine, SR, YR, Amaranth, etc) that many members from all three lodges are a part of. What I hope to accomplish is to have some coordination for events, communication for news and happenings, as well as to provide an outlet for the various appending bodies to let folks know what is going on with them as well. The attendance for events and meetings I feel will be a natural result of getting people more involved.

Chiefly I want to facilitate this communication for the three Blue Lodges. I have spoken with my WM about this and he thinks it is a great idea and will call a meeting with the other two WMs in the area. Before I get this meeting going, I want to have a very well flushed out template of a newsletter which I want to call "The Level". The title is meant to convey that while we all have our own (individual lodge) things going on, we are all brethren, and together, we are greater as a group. Many stories from some of the older members of my lodge about how in the past at this event or that, there was a huge attendance, or on the weekend, it was not uncommon for the shrine folks to go out to the lake, grill up some steaks etc and how we just don't do it anymore. I have always asked why don't we do this anymore? The answer is usually something to the effect of "Well it just stopped x amount of years ago". I don't presume that this newsletter will change everything but it is an effort that I feel over time can make a material difference. For myself, I want to get all these folks together and just get out and have good times with my brothers for no other reason that having a good time. I want to know when special events are going on at the other two lodges that I can help with, or someone who got some recognition at another lodge that i could call up and congratulate them. I think you get the general idea of where I am going with all of this. I don't know about y'all but even within my own lodge, let alone the other two, many brothers don't really know each other for basic bits of information like how many kids they have, or their wife's name or birthday etc. So below I have listed a couple of ideas that I have and I would very sincerely appreciate any ideas that I can add as sections to the newsletter. I want to get a very well made template that I can drop information into as I get it sent to me from the other lodges.

So here it goes (section titles very rough at this point):

1. Old Business (by lodge)
2. New business (by lodge)
3. Featured members (get to know a brother from each lodge) - bios of Bros that are confortable being featured
4. Educational Articles
5. For the good of the Order
6. Appending Bodies info
7. Comunity Outreach
8. ....More ideas...place yours here

That is a very rough sketch but I think you might see where I am headed. Any and all feedback is welcome and thank you so much in advance!

Blessings!

~Bro. Joseph O'Connor
 

Spring TX MM

Premium Member
Pm me an email and I'll send you the several templates that I have. The one I use for my lodge is just a single page but I have templates that I messaged around with that allow for multiple pages. I think you'll have a very good response by implementing a news letter. Please keep me informed as to how it goes and I'm happy to assist if needed.

S&F
Kyle
 

Joseph_OConnor

Registered User
Thanks Brother! I just got the template and it helps me think about how to write a newsletter in general, masonic or otherwise. Very helpful!

For the rest of the brothers out there I thought of a new way to ask my question. if you had a newsletter about your local lodge or lodges what kinds of things would you like to see in it? Thanks in advance all!
 

Blake Bowden

Administrator
Staff Member
When I did our newsletter, I designed it with tri-fold layout. This gave me enough room to post educational articles, upcoming events, trivia, etc, without having a ton of empty space to fill in, plus I could send the newsletter without an envelope, which saved money. Not to brag about this site, but there are SOOOOO many articles, poems, trivia that would give you fresh content for years to come! Here's an example of our newsletter....

View attachment May2011-Newsletter.pdf
 

Blake Bowden

Administrator
Staff Member
Word of advice, don't make the newsletter too big otherwise it will become a burden. Focus on education, trivia, upcoming events, etc. I tried to include appendant bodies, but after two years, not a single member submitted an article for publishing. Offer them a spot in the newsletter, but don't make it your job to fill in their section! Also, have the WM form a Newsletter or Communication committee with reliable Brethren AND a budget.

I got burned out because I designed, printed, folded, stamped, addressed, etc. all of our newsletters for two years. I suggest tasking Brethren to design and print, others to fold and label and another to stamp and mail them off. Spread the workload! Also, it's not cheap to produce a newsletter, especially in color. If your Lodge cannot afford it, propose sending out 2 or 3 "trial" newsletters asking for a small subscription fee or have Brethren signup for a e-newsletter via email vs. snail mail. That'll save money as well!

One last bit, I recommend taking things slowly, especially since you're a new Master Mason. There's no rush and it's VERY easy to get burned out. I'm telling you this because I've been there.

FYI...I LOVE Alaska! I've visited Anchorage twice in the past 5 years and loved it. We drove up to Alyeska and on the way we pulled over twice to enjoy the waterfalls from the Glaciers, fresh air and streams. I chartered a private plane to see the glaciers, not sure I would do that again. The views were amazing, but the feeling of meeting my Creator at any time due to the winds scared the crap out of me..lol
 
Last edited:

Joseph_OConnor

Registered User
Thanks Bro. Blake for the example and the good advice! For now, the newsletter will be digital and maybe a couple copies printed out for some of the older members that don't use email at all. I also appreciate the advice about taking it slow---there just seems like there is so much that I could do to help, but I will try to focus on one thing at a time.

I am glad you like Alaska! Been here on and off since 91' and I LOVE it. God willing I will be able to live her indefinitely!

Thanks so much again for your help.

Blessings!

Joseph
 
Last edited:

Brent Heilman

Premium Member
I know that if you have Word 2010 there are a ton of templates to use already there. You could also go online and download some from Microsoft also. Once you get it fixed up in Word you can export it to Adobe to make it PDF format. This is the route I am going for my Lodge. Good luck in your efforts.
 

Joseph_OConnor

Registered User
I know that if you have Word 2010 there are a ton of templates to use already there. You could also go online and download some from Microsoft also. Once you get it fixed up in Word you can export it to Adobe to make it PDF format. This is the route I am going for my Lodge. Good luck in your efforts.

Thanks Bro. Brent! I have 2010 and was just looking into the different templates. I am working on designing the header as well as the various sections of the newsletter itself. It is a lot of work to set it up initially, but should be pretty easy to maintain once it is set up. When I am all done, or have our first newsletter, I will make sure to post a copy in this thread.

Thanks again, all!
 
Top