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)
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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