Yet, you post a thread entitled "what would you like to see changed in the masonic experience"? You must change what occurs in meetings if you're to keep the interest of those returning members. You yourself said this in this thread. Your words are conflicting.
==Title of the thread: "what would you like to see changed in the masonic experience"?
My repeated statement : That is why I am NOT interested in changing Masonry.
There is one word in the thread title, that is very important. This word is obvious. I cherish the ancient landmarks and the rituals and traditions of the Craft. I have no wish at all to alter the basic foundations of Freemasonry.
Yet, you wish to drag members, very satisfied with being dues payers only, back into meetings without first changing the very thing that caused them to stay away?
==Not at all. I have no wish at all to "drag" anyone anywhere. There are some people who choose to be "dues payers". Retired Masons who live in Florida, but belong to a New Jersey lodge, for example. Masons like myself, who belong to a lodge in one state, but reside out of state.
And you are putting proverbial cart before the horse. As I stated previously, inactive Masons need to be "interviewed" , to determine WHY they are inactive. Then it can be determined, HOW to encourage them to be active again.
Inactive Masons can be invited to a "rusty nail night". The fun degree can be performed. AND, the inactives can be interviewed and/or be given an anonymous survey. The information can be used to possibly modify the Masonic experience, and then these men could possibly become active again. The rusty nail night, is a "two-way street". Maybe the inactive man is just unaware of what the lodge is up to. Since print newsletters are obsolete (my lodge has not had one for many years), and not all lodges have an on-line newsletter, the inactive man may not know what sort of programs the lodge is conducting, and he may just be unaware.
Case in point: These are changes, that you are recommending to Masonry, as you practice it.
==Not at all. See the title of this thread. I am not interested at all in changing MASONRY.
There are many, but the goal should never be to bring inactive members back into activities that will not nurture them and, by participation, deplete them. Mere participation is not a laudable reason in itself AND inactive members not only know this, they vote with their feet accordingly.
==There is no reason to bring an inactive Mason back into your lodge meetings, if all he is going to do, is become inactive again. The Masonic experience, must provide value to the man, or he will spend lodge nights at home watching cable TV.
This is an obviously dismissive response to the question. A better response is: What did the inactive members expect and what did they get? Will returning provide more of the same? If what "is" doesn't need to change, then the response to the unchanging system SHOULD remain the same for it depletes and doesn't benefit.
==I find myself in agreement, somewhat. If you invite an inactive man back to your lodge, and you do not LISTEN to why he is inactive, make the appropriate adjustments (if they are feasible, and do not go against your constitution and by-laws, and do not alter the landmarks), then you are wasting everyone's time.
As are all the other degrees, as in, fun and not real operative degrees. This should be obvious to anyone who has been a mason for even a short time.
Good. I am glad that you do not see this as THE solution.
But I thought you said:
That's because the system, that you claim doesn't need changing, provokes these responses.
Your view would change should you earnestly examined what is clearly hidden in plain sight before you. Well, that and being open to seeing things differently than you currently do. This would be necessary for something to change in your masonic experience. Have you considered the possibility that not seeing the society for what it is could be a problem in trying to make it better, even without changing it?