Still need masonic education topic ideas!

[Spring TX MM]

Brothers,

I still need Masonic Education topic ideas. Please refer to my original post for more info. Also, I would still like to do some type of joint education classes with another Lodge in the commuting area. If anyone out there is interested. I think that it would really expand the knowledge base of all Lodges involved. Below is my original post. Still new at this so I'm not sure how to attach the original post in the neat little box. Keep it square.

Kyle


Brothers,

Does anyone have any Masonic Education Game Ideas? I have come up with some that I use in my Lodge. The most liked one was a Masonic Jeopardy game that I made with power point. We play it on a large screen with a projector attached to the laptop. I would like some more ideas if anyone can help. Masonic Education is one of the highest priorities at our Lodge and keeping things interesting is important to keep Brothers coming back excited to learn. I was also thinking about starting some kind of traveling education team if there is another Lodge within the commuting area interested in doing the same thing. We could schedule an education night to be taught by the visiting Lodge and the return the same courtesy. I think it would promote Masonic Education and help develope relationships between Lodges. This would then help the Lodges grow and expand by sharing ideas and information. If anyone is interested, please let me know.

Fraternally,
Kyle Humphries
Senior Deacon
Spring Lodge #1174
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[Payne]

I'm interested...I think it's a great idea to get Masonic Education Game I mean I know there is a lot that can't be written but there is History that could be. I'd like to help.

 

[Spring TX MM]

Payne 3

Thanks for your reply. Sorry it has taken me so long to get back with you. I have been working on some Education stuff for a while now and have got a lot of information for you. PM me and we can exchange contact info or you can e-mail me directly at kbhumphries@yahoo.com. For the sake of sharing, I will post info about our progress on this forum. This forum is the best that I have found so far and I have gained a lot from it. I am still figuring this forum thing out so be patient with me and I will try to PM you.

Kyle

 

[Payne]

Payne 3

Thanks for your reply. Sorry it has taken me so long to get back with you. I have been working on some Education stuff for a while now and have got a lot of information for you. PM me and we can exchange contact info or you can e-mail me directly at kbhumphries@yahoo.com. For the sake of sharing, I will post info about our progress on this forum. This forum is the best that I have found so far and I have gained a lot from it. I am still figuring this forum thing out so be patient with me and I will try to PM you.

Kyle

You have a PM....

 

[David Duke]

Kyle,
Very interesting ideas, I too have given thought about having an "educational night" at lodge. The main problem as we all know is lack of time, between stated meetings (we have 2 per month), degree nights, and other regular scheduled lodge events there is really not enough time to have sufficient work/floor study so most brothers are hesitant to devote another night to lodge. No matter how much we all love to attend we still must devote the necessary time to our families and vocation or we fail our obligations.

I suppose that the educational program could be incorporated into a stated meeting, most stated meetings should not run very long (notice I said most) and I'm sure many brothers would love to spend time learning about our craft. It may be that the program would start "after" the closing of lodge so those wanting to leave early could.

 

[Spring TX MM]

David,

I definitely understand the dilemma your lodge has with two stated meetings. Looking at it from the outside, I have a few thoughts about your Lodge's particular situation. I think that a Lodge must evaluate what is most important or what priorities they have. I can see the benefit of having more than one stated meeting per month but I also think that it really limits the Lodge. Don't get me wrong, I've thought before that I wished we had more stated meetings. Our Lodge has started to take a new Masonic direction. We have made education one of our top priorities now. After all, what are we doing if we are not seeking "More Light"! I have found through much research that the chief complaint from Brothers who no longer attend Lodge is that they felt like there was nothing for them after the 3rd Degree. Many studies have also shown that Brothers are bored and tired of just paying bills at stated meetings and many EA's never finish their work. I think the problem is universal and revolves a lot around the Masonic Education of the Brothers. Anyone can repeat after me what I say but it takes significantly more to learn the symbolic meaning of our work. There is even more than just the esoteric portions of Masonry. What about the history? Brothers should know where Masonry came from, or how the Speculative developed from the Operative sciences. I think it is even important to know some of the neat historical facts. I do understand about being short on time and not wanting to add another night to the schedule. Our Lodge is very busy when it comes to Degrees. I'm not sure about other Lodges but we perform a lot of them. I would have to say that on average this last year, we probably did 4 or 5 Degrees per month. With that said, know that we still do thorough investigations, we believe in quality over quantity and we don't sell Masonry for the price of the Degree. We are just a very active Lodge and have a lot of petitioning interest. To make room for education, we will conduct 2 EA Degrees in one night or 2 FC Degrees in one night. That helps some but what we have had to realize is that candidates can and will wait for their Degree. I don't think they should wait longer than 45 days after they are elected but if it had to be done then so be it. We need to explain up front that this process does not happen over night and that Masonry is forever, so if they have to wait a little while, it's nothing when viewed from the big picture.

My suggestion is that your Lodge evaluates the positive and negative aspects of having two stated meetings every month and if need be, make a by-law change to once per month. This would allow your Lodge more time for Degree work, education and fun activities without adding another night to the schedule. I'm not certain about the legal aspects of changing the number of stated meetings or the day but it should be examined. If brought up for discussion, you will most certainly hear comments such as; why are we trying to change Masonry or that's not how we did it in my year or what do we need education for. Masonry would not be changed by opting for 1 stated meeting over 2. Brothers need to understand that Masonry is unchangeable; it is the Brothers who have to change themselves to conform to Masonry. Times do change though and it’s okay to adapt to the times and move toward the future. We say that Masonry takes good men and makes them better. That is through facilitating personal change within ones self. Just a simple act of Brotherly Love or Relief can change a Brother. It is all about the perspective that you view things in. I would rather have a Brothers at my Lodge who know more about the symbolic meanings of Masonry and how to apply them to daily life then a Lodge full of esoteric, Q&A know it alls! Don't get me wrong on this one either. I have attended the forum and exam the last 2 years and certificated in the C and B and plan on receiving an "A" next time so I think esoteric Q&A is important but it's not the most important thing we do or teach. There are a lot of Brothers out there who don't know or remember much of the esoteric portions and have know desire to study them but if we teach them the meaning behind the words and different ways of applying it to a Masonic life style, they will in turn learn some of the esoteric and become better men. I could go on and on about this but I will try to keep my passions within due bounds. Education is important, especially Masonic education and I think that more and more Lodges will be making it a priority in the near future. I really appreciate your response to the post and look forward to future communications with you.

Keep it Square,
Kyle

 

[David Duke]

Kyle,
I agree with virtually everything you have said and have been "testing the water" in regards to changing our bylaws to alow just one stated meeting per month. To date I have not received a single positive response from anyone I have broched the subject with and I have talked with many.

I do not want to hijack this thread discussing time issues at our lodge because I am extremely interested in hereing what others are doing in regards to masonic education programs at their lodges and don't want to get off discussion.

As I stated earlier in this thread I think that we would have sufficient time after a stated meeting for this educational purposes, be it watching a DVD of masonic nature, having a guest speaker, book discussions, games or whatever the case may be.

 

[Frater Cliff Porter]

Brother TSS, www.thesanctumsanctorum.com can help pay to bring speakers to your lodge. PM me for details but we can bring leadership speakers, philosophical, etc....

 

[Spring TX MM]

Okay, you have a PM.

Thanks,
Kyle

 

[Papatom]

My 2 cents worth, How about teaching the brothers the due guard and penal sign. I have seen it done so many ways and most brothers don't or have never been taught the correct way. Get with your district instuctor or the CoW R W Anthony to learn the correct way, then teach it correctly.

 

[Spring TX MM]

Thanks for your reply Brother. Teaching the proper due guards and signs was part of the first class I taught. We did an open forum with EA - MM where anyone could ask questions about anything with respect to EA and FC being present. The discussion topic also included proper pronunciation of words such as "Operative" (Op-er-A-tiv) as defined in the index of the Texas Monitor. Many word pronunciations and definitions were discussed. "Speculative"; (SPECK-u-LA-tiv) in both words the "A" is commonly mispronounced with "ah" instead of a well annunciated "A". “SHEWEDâ€; “Thus he shewed me, the word “Shewed is the ancient spelling for the word (SHOW) as defined by the Monitor. You get the point, I just wanted to give you some examples of how we cover these topics. We still go over that kind of stuff because it is important for all to understand what and why they are staying these things. Definitions of words such as Cowan, edifice, superfluous and so forth. All explanations were found in the index of the Monitor. Also, with the due guards, I see a lot of Brothers doing it rather sloppy. The emphasis is on sloppy and we teach them the proper way. One way we show them is to have them in the same position as in the Degree and then stand up so they can see where the proper placement of (you know) should be. I have talked with R W Anthony to verify the correct way and so we continue in that manner. This class was the first such class that we have ever done. It was talked about and still is so much that it spurred on our education program. Another class that I enjoy is pertaining to the obligations and charges. We break them down, give various examples and put them into an everyday life perspective. Masonic Jeopardy is a fun game we play. Education doesn't just have to be the meat and potatoes stuff. It is also interesting to learn about our history, famous Freemasons and much more. I spoke with Brother Payne about some of this and now we are going to share information and ideas to further educate the Brethren. Thanks again for responding and I look forward to our future correspondence.

Keep Square,
Kyle