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Consolidation of Lodges

Warrior1256

Site Benefactor
Last night my home lodge, St. Matthews 906, merged with another lodge, Pleasure Ridge Park 959. The ceremony of consolidation was performed by the Grand Master and the rest of the officers of the Grand Line. The new lodge is St. Matthews / PRP Lodge 906. I was Master of St. Matthews and will continue as Master of the new lodge until regular elections which will be held in December. I have the honor of being the last Master of St. Matthews Lodge 906 and the first of St. Matthews / PRP Lodge 906. This has been in the works for months and I can foresee good things ahead for this new lodge. Both lodges voted unanimously for this consolidation. We are all very excited!
 

dfreybur

Premium Member
I've been through a number of consolidations and so far none have been close to parity. Each time it was very clear one lodge was absorbing another. I've been on both sides of that experience.

How mutual or one sided was yours?
 

Warrior1256

Site Benefactor
How mutual or one sided was yours?
Actually it was pretty much mutual. Each lodge had about the same amount of over all members as well as active members. My lodge had more financial resources but the other lodge was far from destitute. It was mostly a mutually beneficial consolidation.
 

Keith C

Registered User
My Lodge is the result of a consolidation of 2 Lodges that took place in 2014. There are still a few folks from each original Lodge that think things should be done the way THEY did them, but, for the most part things are very harmonious.

The two Lodges had symbiotic assets. One had a building where both Lodges met, a good number of active brothers, but not a lot of financial resources. The second Lodge had a healthy financial status, due to the proceeds from the (forced by eminent domain) sale of the Lodge building and a larger number of active members. The resultant combined Lodge has an active group of members, a lovely Lodge building that needs some TLC and enough financial resources to carry out the necessary renovations and have a healthy nest egg for the future.

I have seen a few Lodges that were essentially forced to merge due to declining membership and financial resources in both Lodges. I think these merged lodges are the ones that lack harmony and good will, as they both resent that they HAD to merge or close.
 

CLewey44

Registered User
There were two lodges here where I'm at that were recently going to consolidate. Not sure what happened but they went elsewhere. Someone must have been unhappy about something.
 

Warrior1256

Site Benefactor
I have seen a few Lodges that were essentially forced to merge due to declining membership and financial resources in both Lodges. I think these merged lodges are the ones that lack harmony and good will, as they both resent that they HAD to merge or close.
Could very well be.
There were two lodges here where I'm at that were recently going to consolidate. Not sure what happened but they went elsewhere. Someone must have been unhappy about something.
We talked to another lodge about consolidation but we just could not agree on terms.
 

Matt L

Site Benefactor
We've had two mergers in my district in the last ten years. Both have gone very well. Really good Brothers in rural lodges that did their best to keep the doors open. Both merged with larger lodges and are doing well. They also donated a lot of their lodge material to other lodges around the state, which was most appreciated.
 
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